Welcome to the Simulation Program for an Excavation!

In this application, you will act as directors of archaeological projects, and you will be allotted $10,000 for the project.  In addition, you will have 60 minutes (two minutes is equivalent to one day of excavation) or 30 days to uncover artifacts.   Whichever resource is exhausted first, you will have to stop the excavation and make deductions about what you have uncovered. 

The program consists of a map with 100 squares.  You can "excavate" one square at a time by clicking a specific square with your mouse.  Each square is worth some amount of money, which will be subtracted from your total amount.  When you reach $0, you will be asked to answer some questions. 

There will be a clock in the program.  If 60 minutes have elapsed without using all your money, then the program will stop and will ask you to answer some questions.

It is recommended that you either take notes or print what you uncover as you go along.   If you are using MS Internet Explorer, to print the frames, click on File, Print and choose Only the Selected Frame.  If you are using Netscape, to print the frames, click on File and Print Frame.

Instructions and Notes:

There are two parts to this exercise: 1) the excavation, 2) the interpretation. designed by Foluso Adebayo(Sir Folly).

Excavation

The site occupies approximately 100 square meters. How much of the site can you understand after having excavated 20 square meters (10%)? 40 square meters (20%)? 100 square meters (50%)? What is the best strategy for choosing which squares to excavate? Random sampling? Systematic sampling? Stratified sampling? Quadrats? Transects?

After completing the excavation, you should determine the seven activity areas on the site, locate them in terms of coordinates of the quadrants in which they are found, and determine, whenever possible, what general kinds of activities took place in each.

The Availability of Raw Materials

A very real problem that archaeologists always face concerns the location of resource areas. Where do the raw materials used by the ancient people they are studying come from? With good luck and a great deal of field survey, they can pinpoint the location of some of these resource areas.

The following data indicate the closest resources where certain raw materials occur:

Interpretation

Assuming that people were buried with objects they used, in what productive activities were the six individuals buried at the site involved? What are the chronological relationships of the six burials? Using the genetic information provided by the Carabelli cusp trait, is there any evidence that indicates the biological relationships of the individuals? What can be said about the sexual division of labor? Is there any evidence for a division of labor based on age? Where did the individuals buried at the site carry out the various tasks in which they were involved? Specify the particular activity area or areas where these tasks were performed. How did each individual obtain the materials from which the tools he or she used were made? Where did the raw materials they used come from, and is there any evidence concerning how they were obtained? Was labor a simple process involving the individual laborer working alone, or was it a complex process involving a number of individuals working simultaneously or sequentially? Try to be specific for each work task represented at the site. Is there evidence for work activities that did not take place at the site? Is there any evidence that certain activity areas were used at particular times and not others? Were certain tasks carried out in more than one activity area?

Note: This problem is modified from Thomas C. Patterson, The Theory and Practice of Archaeology (Prentice-Hall, 1983), problem 6.

Note: In order to view the map, you need Internet Explorer 4.X or Netscape 4.X.