Archaeologist decodes the past

A visiting archaeologist recently shared her research on eastern European digs and how scientists use geological information to better understand the past.

Sarah Sherwood, a geoarchaeologist from the Archeological Research Lab at UT and professor at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., spoke last week about how new technology has influenced current understandings of the Bronze Age and past civilizations.

The lecture, titled “Using Earth Science to Address Archaeological Questions: Case Studies from the Bronze Age and Beyond,” addressed modern archaeological techniques and their recent application to digs in Romania.

As a geoarchaeologist, Sherwood combines both geology and archaeology in her work to analyze past environments.

At the core of Sherwood’s discussion was the availability of new research methods.

“The history of geology and archaeology have always been combined. Geoarchaeology has always had its roots in stratigraphy (the study of rock layering). We can now look at various scales, while I focus on a micro scale,” Sherwood said.

Sherwood analyzes landforms to determine their geomorphology and how the formations have changed over time.

“We use a lot of techniques to understand landscapes,” Sherwood said.

One technique available to today’s scientists is mechanized digging. Hydraulic coring allows archaeologists to see ground samples in their natural setting, without causing great damage to the soil or samples, Sherwood said.

Another change in technological resources has been the availability of both computers and high-powered microscopes, Sherwood said.

“We can make small samples up to analyze what makes the matter and decipher how the land might have been used,” she said.

The use of these techniques give greater precision to the findings of scientists, who work to determine what may have happened in a given culture in its time, as well as lengthen the scope of time they are able to look at, Sherwood said.

Specifically, one hope of Sherwood’s is that her findings increase our overall knowledge of the Bronze Age, in the third millennium B.C., and other historic periods.

Sherwood recounted a recent archaeological dig on the edge of a plateau in Romania, where a team of Romanian students and American scientists were able to research the environment enriched by constant flooding and wind and water deposits.

“We’re looking at things like climate and climate change, and cultural adaptation that have real potential for the future and impact communities. I think learning about social situations in the past will continue our knowledge of ourselves and our history,” said Sherwood.

Gabriel Woodson, a sophomore in business who attended the lecture for a classics class, found value in Sherwood’s lecture.

“I didn’t really think that studying the Bronze Age would be interesting, but looking at Greek and Roman archaeology has been,” Woodson said. “We’re actually studying the Bronze Age right now, and this lecture really related to what we’re talking about.”

Sherwood said the crew hopes to continue its research in the future.