For this assignment, we were asked to write a story about the day in the life of someone in any of the civilizations we learned about. I chose to write about the Moche and their attempts to stop the rain from falling that was possibly caused by El Niño. The morning sun never came that day. Fausta awoke to the screaming sounds of thunder and rain outside her melting, mud-brick home. This had to stop. She had heard rumors that the Priest Theon would be performing a ritual at the Huacas des Luna to stop the constant rainfall, but she didn’t believe it. If it were any of the other priests in the city, sure, but the Priest Theon was not one who could be heavily relied on in times of crisis. It would seem that he had doomed them on numerous occasions before. The gods never listened to the Priest Theon. When the Priest Theon would sacrifice for crops, their fields would remain barren. When the Priest Theon sacrificed for fertility, many women would lose their children within days of their birth. He was a mess, and Fausta always wondered why the priesthood allowed him to stay. Maybe they should sacrifice him to the gods. Fausta laughed at the thought. The gods would probably throw him back up, bringing him back to life and ask for another sacrifice. It was a wonder how they were still alive today with the Priest Theon out and about.
Fausta wrapped herself in her robes and headed out in the rain. People were scattered about, running with jars, children, and their prized possessions. It was the third day of rain and the women of the city had no brains to think with. They all knew the men were out, seeking war to find those worthy of the gods. They would be back soon, Fausta thought, her feet sloshing around in the mud. On her way to the storehouse, Varinina, one of Fausta’s sisters, spotted her. Varinia ran up to her, then skidding to a halt before she could run into her. “What is it?” Fausta asked as her sister caught her breath. “The men are back!” Varinia exclaimed, pointing towards Huacas des Luna. “Preparations for the sacrifices have begun. The Priest Theon is going to kill every last one of the prisoners brought back.” “Okay,” Fausta said, not sure what had her sister so excited. They knew this was coming. “What’s the big deal, then?” “Ahmose is with them! He is among those who are going to be sacrificed!” Varinia gripped her child close. “That makes no sense,” Fausta frowned. Ahmose, her betrothed, had gone out with the men to bring sacrifices back Huacas des Luna. Why was he now among those to be sacrificed? “He could not be with the sacrifices, he is an honored member of society.” “I know, but when I saw the men march the sacrifices in, I saw Ahmose bound to the other sacrifices. I tried calling out to him, but they would not let me near him. Rumor has it that a captive challenged Ahmose for his freedom and Ahmose lost.” “Why would he do such a stupid thing?” Fausta asked. “Status? I don’t think he was expecting to lose, Fausta,” Varinia said. “I must get to the Huacas des Luna at once,” Fausta told herself, looking at the melting structure which was only a mile or so off. “You will not get there in time, Fausta,” Varinia warned. Fausta ignored her sister. She began to run towards Huacas des Luna, her vision blurred by the rain, which seemed to come down even harder now. Everyone was flocking towards the large pyramid, their arms full of offerings to the gods. Fausta weaved and dodged them, determined to get there first, though she did not know what she would do when she got there. She doubted they would let her see Ahmose, but she had to try something. By the time she reached the pyramid, she saw that she was too late. From the ground she could see the Priest Theon stand, high and mighty in his gold and silver adornments. Ahmose stepped up next to him, his head high. Fausta cried out to her love, but she was silent in comparison to the thunderous rain. The Priest Theon spoke, but he could not be heard either. The Priest Theon held up a tumi knife, displaying it to the gods and to the city. With one quick jerk, the tumi knife sliced Ahmose’s neck, causing him to fall to his knees. The Priest Theon waved a hand and two guards came up behind Ahmose’s corpse. The Priest Theon grabbed Ahmose’s hair, yanking his skull from this body. They pulled Ahmose to his feet and threw him down the side of the Pyramid. His body rolled and crashed all the way to the bottom, landing unceremoniously at the feet of the crowd. They all backed up, falling to their knees and bowing. However Fausta stood, unable to breathe. She felt an arm grab her and pull her down. “If it brings us no more rain, than he died for a worthy cause,” Fausta heard Varinia whisper. The next sacrifice was brought out and the same thing happened to him. This continued till every last captive was killed and lying above Ahmose’s dead corpse. When the ceremony concluded, to everyone’s surprise, the rain lightened up. It did not stop, but it was bearable now. The crowd stood and dispersed, returning to their normal duties. All but Fausta, of course. Varinia grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away, both to go and sculpt pottery, as was their job. Fausta never forgot about Ahmose. She would go to name her first son after him, who too would give himself up when his mother and thousands of others would begin to starve due to the abundance of sand that would prevent their crops from flourishing.
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For this assignment, we had to analyze an object that we (the student) used everyday and look at it as if we were an archaeologist 500 years from now. Since I play the oboe, I decided to do my analysis on an oboe staple. During today’s dig of the old School of Music Building on Central Michigan University’s campus, we found a rather odd artifact. This object is 46 millimeters in length and is made up of a metal tube, half of it covered in cork. The top of the tube is not circular, rather more of an oval shape. The bottom end of the object where the cork ends is larger and more circular than the top of the tube, where there is no cork. The metal tube is a golden color, suggesting it is made of copper. This object was found on the second level of the building, in one of the rooms we believe to be a small room for students at the school to practice their instruments. Nearly fifty other objects like this were found in the same room, suggesting this room had a different purpose than the other practice rooms.
The other objects we found had different types of corks and different types of tubes, suggesting these all were not made in the same place. It was apparent that these objects were mass-produced, due to the fact that after sorting through all of them, many of them were identical in their own in groups. On the artifacts with rougher cork, a faded manufacturing ink stamp is visible, depicting the letters HB. We assume this is where the artifacts were originally made and that they may have been sold to the staff or students who needed them. Taking into consideration the time period of the object based on the previous artifacts found in the building, it was most likely that these objects came here through the old mailing system where packages were taken by truck or plane. What baffled us most is what these were used for. The object was found in a building that would have been open to the public, so we think that it was used in a social setting of some sort. Since it was found in the School of Music Building, we looked towards professionals in music history to help us answer this question. It could have been used for performance or for instrument repair, however we were lost as to find any rhyme or reason for it to be involved in either action. After submitting pictures of the object to music professionals, they claim that this object was most likely an oboe staple, which is half of an oboe reed. They explained to us that when crafting an oboe reed, the actual reed, or cane, is tied to the staple. The staple is then put into the instrument to provide an airway between the reed and the instrument. Essentially, it is like the mouthpiece of a clarinet or saxophone except it has two reeds instead of one. They also told us that staples could be traded among students, but they usually stay with one student until they were no longer of use to them. They could be reused for multiple reeds, unless the metal was bent or broken. The only real way to tell if the staple was used or not is to see if the tube is bent out of shape, as some oboists would do to help change the pitch of the reed if they couldn’t fix it any other way. This was certainly an important item to those who used it. For them, this was a key tool to playing their instrument. Through this staple music could be made, allowing the musician to enchant the ears of those who listened. Without this tool, students who studied oboe would not have been able to expand their knowledge and learn the fine craftsmanship of reed making. Since it was manufactured primarily for oboe, no other students used it unless they were studying or learning how to play oboe for the first time. Though to many, this object has no significance, but to music students, this tool allows for bands and ensembles to expand their color and sound with the use of the oboe. With this find we were able to learn more about the past and the activities that took place in the School of Music, on the land where Central Michigan University once stood. For this assignment we had to go to a museum and analyze an exhibit about Michigan's indigenous people. For this assignment I went to Central Michigan University’s Museum of Cultural and Natural History in Rowe Hall on campus. While I was there, there was one exhibit that I kept coming back to. The exhibit depicted Michigan’s first hunters from around 10,000 to 5,000 B.C. Even though the exhibit did not show or provide much information, a lot could be inferred from the recreated event and small description that was provided.
The exhibit was titled, ‘Michigan’s First Hunters.’ It displayed a mastodon hunt that included about five hunters. It was a static exhibit, using hand crafted dolls to depict the scene. The display was also very dark, but I wasn’t sure if that was meant to be or if the light bulb that illuminated the exhibit burned out. In the scene, two of the hunters seemed to be distracting the mastodon, while two more were trying to kill it with spears. One of the hunters seemed to be stuck, either under the mastodon or trying to crawl away from the mastodon. To the left of the scene was a small description about the exhibit, telling of the time in which Native Americans would have hunted mastodons. What I took away from this exhibit was that it took a lot of work to take down a mastodon. For starters, it must have taken a lot of resources and manpower to kill it, since the scene showed multiple hunters and there were already a few spears stabbed into the mastodon. It also must have taken a lot of skill and a developed technique for taking one of these beasts down, inferred from the hunters waving sticks and branches around to possibly distract the animal as it died. It also was apparent that hunting mastodons was a dangerous game, since one of the hunters seemed to be struggling to escape from under the mastodon. Even though the exhibit was static, I still took a lot away from the display. The attention to detail was intriguing and it was an exhibit I kept coming back to. When we talked about the Native Americans hunting mastodons in class, I never really imagined how they would be hunted, and this brought a whole new light to the subject. It was surprising to think that these hunters followed the mastodons and mammoths all the way to the Americas, even though it seemed like such a chore to kill them. However, I completely understand why. It was a major food source and it could provide for a lot of people, but the time and effort it took to kill one of these animals seems to be underappreciated in the grand scheme of things. The way I see it, the only way this exhibit could have been thought up would be from the help of archaeologists over the years. It didn’t seem like any actual artifacts were used in the exhibit, but the description that went with the display mentioned that the hunters used ‘fluted points’ and ‘flint tools.’ Descriptions like that can only be confirmed if such artifacts were ever found. To be able to date them and confirm the tools is more likely than not the work of an archaeologist. The display also mentioned that the fluted points they used were also found in other parts of North America, which allows for confirmation on the dates of these tools. Without archaeologists, no one would know about this terrific feat of survival. Even though the exhibit didn’t specify a certain group of Native Americans, it did bring the viewer back to the beginning of Native Americans in Michigan, sharing the skill and techniques of those people. It told us a story about how these people needed this animal to survive, and the lengths they went to kill it. This scene seemed to be the beginning of life in Michigan, therefore telling us where hunting began for the rest of the Native Americans to come. It may not be focused on one particular Native American group, but it speaks for all Native American groups and how, as time passed, they learned how to survive based off the techniques and strategies from their ancestors. If the first Native Americans were not as intelligent and skilled as they were, they probably would have died out along with the mastodons and mammoths. The assignment was to find an article about an archaeological event in the new (the event must have happened in the United States). In the modern world, many archaeologists are asked to excavate a site before other people build upon the site. This is exactly what happened when the Museum of American Revolution in Philadelphia wanted to do some construction work. The archaeologists were only trying to find anything of value and to record it before the museum began construction. The archaeologists found twelve privies which dated back to the 18th century. In these privies they found a variety of trash, but what stood out to them were pieces of pottery that have extravagant designs to a degree in which they have not encountered before for this time period. Not only were these pieces of pottery elegant, but also intact with their original pieces. The archaeologists say that these pieces of pottery were most likely made by a French or German potter who lived and worked in Philadelphia.
Human waste is a great resource for preservation, so when dating these materials, I would assume that the archaeologists would use the concept of relative chronology to identify the time period of the pottery. They must have found other artifacts that correlated with other artifacts dating in the 18th century in the privies, so the pottery could have been from the same period. They could have also used thermo-luminescence to date when the item was last heated. Since it is pottery, it must have been heated at some point to complete the project and serve its purpose in human life. The article does not specify what kind of analysis they did, but I can make a few assumptions as to the kinds of analysis the archaeologists used on the site and the artifacts. What may have happened is that they found the privies by either building transects or digging shovel test pits. The privies are obviously unconformities to the stratigraphy of the land, so they can date the privies based on the layers around and above them. They could have also used ground penetrating radars to determine soil composition and depth of the privies. Probing could have also been an option in order to determine the different kinds of deposits in the soil. The significance of this find is that it is something new and different to what archaeologists have for pottery of this century. It is also important to note how the pottery found was intact, so it is important to find out why or how these ceramics have lasted through the centuries. It also brings a new light to the techniques used to create the design on the pottery. The article says that the designs on these ceramics were made with a method called ‘slip trailing,’ where they pour liquid clay onto the ceramic to create the abstract designs. This all helps confirm interpretations about 18th century Philadelphia and their taste in decoration. I picked this article because of its simplicity and unique findings. I recall that we spend what felt like a half hour discussing how important privies were to archaeologists and how well they preserve artifacts. The article was straight to the point and talked about how cool these ceramics were. It relates to our class because it gives us a common example of archaeology in the real world and how these types of findings can bring a new light to old facts. It tells us that people of the 18th century used these kinds of ceramics to decorate their houses or occasionally eat on them. Not many people use plates as decorations anymore, but that’s what makes these plates so cool. This article was an interesting read and taught me a great deal about the importance of looking before you build something. You never know what could be underneath your feet. References Tableware from the Toilet: Colonial Pottery ... - Live Science. www.bing.com/cr?IG=EEBCD8031E19483CBF5B53F4C755713A&CID=28661AA6F9EB6B7808CA1172F8446A09&rd=1&h=vW41UTRDOpVEN_Eykr68_TvNRzuSRvMnscngZEBXhJQ&v=1&r=https://www.livescience.com/61481-colonial-toilet-pottery.html&p=DevEx,5038.1. |
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