Classical archaeology
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Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the
Cultures discussed
Classical archaeology in its strictest, most traditional sense applies only to the study of Classical Athenian culture and the culture of the Roman Republic and Empire. However, over the course of the last century, the field has expanded to include discussions of the elaborate mosaic of cultures that produced the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome. Classical archaeologists interested in Greece frequently discuss Crete and the
Classical archaeologists interested in Roman civilization discuss the influence of the
Excavations
While inspired by ancient texts and sometimes using them to interpret artifacts, classical archaeology would not exist without ancient artifacts. Though much of classical archaeology (like any kind of archaeology) is performed by scholars in their studies, the most vibrant and crucial parts of classical archaeology are the archaeological excavations, more commonly known as "digs". Excavation techniques at first were modelled after excavations in Egypt and the Near East and searched for large artifacts and walls without much care for the delicate remains that might have existed in the ground around these artifacts. Many of the earliest sites still cannot be dated in a satisfying manner because the stratigraphy, soil layers with embedded artifacts used to determine the age of a site, was completely stripped away. Early excavations also often failed to record the items they found in sufficient detail, making it difficult to date artifacts, determine precisely where they were found, or establish a connection between objects that may have been found together. Over time, excavation techniques have greatly improved and the amount of information gleaned from each excavation is exponentially greater than that recorded in early excavations. While excavation reports now take many years to compile due to the level of detail included and analyzed.
See also
References
- ^ "The Beazley Archive". Beazley.ox.ac.uk.
Further reading
- Alcock, Susan E., and Robin Osborne, eds. 2007. Classical archaeology. Oxford: Blackwell.
- Beard, Mary, and John Henderson. 2001. Classical art: From Greece to Rome. Oxford History of Art. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
- Davis, Jack L. (2001). "Classical Archaeology and Anthropological Archaeology in North America: A Meeting of Minds at the Millennium?". Archaeology at the Millennium. pp. 415–437. ISBN 978-0-387-72610-6.
- Ellis, Linda, ed. 2000. Archaeological method and theory: An encyclopedia. New York: Garland.
- Hodder, Ian, ed. 2001. Archaeological theory today. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
- Laurence, Ray (2012). Roman Archaeology for Historians (PDF). ISBN 9780203115480.
- Morris, Ian (2006). "Classical Archaeology". A Companion to Archaeology. pp. 253–271. ISBN 9780470998618.
- Osborne, Robin (2004). "Greek Archaeology: A Survey of Recent Work". American Journal of Archaeology. 108: 87–102. S2CID 147415690.
- Pedley, John Griffiths. 2007. Greek art and archaeology. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
- Woolf, Greg (2004). "The Present State and Future Scope of Roman Archaeology: A Comment". American Journal of Archaeology. 108 (3): 417–428. S2CID 147643397.
External links
- The Beazley Archive is a collection of Classical artifacts
- Classical Archaeology – A site with many links to classical archaeology sites