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What Is Archaeology? - How Is It Different From History? - What Is Culture?

Archaeology studies past human cultures through scientific excavation and analysis of material remains from periods before written records, while history focuses on more recent time periods with written documentation. The document defines culture as the behavioral, material, and ideological products of human cognition that are influenced by environmental, political, historical, and societal factors. It describes culture as having an "atomic structure" embedded in practices, habits, norms, traditions, and institutions that evolve and transform over time under changing influences.

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128 views8 pages

What Is Archaeology? - How Is It Different From History? - What Is Culture?

Archaeology studies past human cultures through scientific excavation and analysis of material remains from periods before written records, while history focuses on more recent time periods with written documentation. The document defines culture as the behavioral, material, and ideological products of human cognition that are influenced by environmental, political, historical, and societal factors. It describes culture as having an "atomic structure" embedded in practices, habits, norms, traditions, and institutions that evolve and transform over time under changing influences.

Uploaded by

stephen nimo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction Cont’d: Lesson 2

Prof Wazi Apoh

Lecture outline

• What is Archaeology?

• How is it different from History?

• What is Culture?
Archaeology?

• It is a practice and discipline that conducts research into the things


that humans once produced, used and discarded in order to
reconstruct past behavior, preserve the past and to exhibit the
findings in museums to promote education and tourism

• Archaeologists engage in scientific excavation, description, analysis


and interpretation of their finds before the publication or the
exhibition of their findings

• So what is your own definition of Archaeology?


ARCHAEOLOGY VRS HISTORY

• How is archaeology different from history?

• Archaeology is the grandparent of history…it begets history by excavating material


culture and providing deep time cultural knowledge beyond the periods of written
records and oral histories

• It studies the human ancestry from 4 million BCE until current times

• History on the other hand concentrates on oral history, past events and areas with
written records

• However the link between the methodologies of both disciplines is that both deal with
the documentation of human culture…but one goes back further in time than the
other through the use of scientific excavations.
WHAT IS CULTURE?
What is culture
• Culture is a term that refers to the
behavioural products, material cultural
products, and Intangible ideological
products of our cognitive thinking processes
which are often influenced by the
environment, politics, history, globalization
and societal cultural practices.
Atomic Structure of Culture

T, HI
EN SO STO
N M GL CIE RY,
RO S, OB TY EN
V I IC A , P VI
E N IT LI OL RO
, OL N Z A IT NM
RY P IO T I IC
,
O TY A T ON S, EN
I T
S IE LIZ CULTURAL BEHAVIOR/ T,
H C A IDEOLOGY/
Mannerism
O
S LO B MATERIAL CULTURE
Intangible culture/ policies/
Speech
G THINGS
rituals
Rituals

HISTORY, ENVIRONMENT, SOCIETY,


POLITICS, GLOBALIZATION
Origins and Development of Culture

• The atomic structure of culture is found imbedded in every new


practice or invention

• A new practice evolves to become a cultural habit


• A habit evolves to become a cultural norm
• A norm evolves to become a cultural tradition and a cultural institution

• The atomic structure of culture is never lost but reshaped, influenced


and transformed by changing environments, history/time/generations,
government policies and societies/globalization
Study Question

• What is meant by this phrase?

• The cultural context of development.

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