Shoen Tell Assignment
Mortuary remains are a major source of data on human social relations. In this exercise, you will analyze data from a fictive mortuary assemblage (described below and separate data sheet), and then discuss some of the ambiguities and pitfalls of this sort of analysis.
Shoen-Tell Site:
An unscrupulous archaeologist by the name of Henirich Hochstetter excavated the Shoen-Tell site in Turkey in the late 1920s. Hochstetter was interested more in antiquities than in data, so he provided little substantive information tot eh professional community about his dig or his findings. However, a conscientious assistant of Hochstetter’s, Roxanne Browne, managed to collect detailed information on fifty of the burials Hochstetter plundered. Her data is the only information we have for the site. The only thing we know is that Hochstetter postulated that the Shoen-Tell burials reflect the rise of the first ranked societies in this part of Asia. You may assume that Browne’s data are a representative sample of the mortuary practices at Shoen-Tell. You may also assume that the burials are more or less contemporaneous. Using the provided data, please answer the following questions. Be sure to support your answers with data from the burials and/or information discussed in class or the text.
Type your answers for all questions, including the tally chart for Question 1.
1. What are the differences in the types and quantities of grave foods associated with the following groups of people: (a) infants; (b) children; (c) adult males; (d) adult females? Compare each of these categories for (a) presence/absence of grave goods; (b) quantity of grave goods; (c) different kinds of grave goods present. Also, describe the variation within each age/sex category.
Tally your results below: | Presence/Absence of Grave Goods? | Number of Grave Goods | Types of Grave Goods Present | Infants (1 or under)10 Total | 2- With8- Without | #1-5#2-2 | Jewelry, Colored Pottery bowls and figurines, Beads
Shoen-Tell Site:
An unscrupulous archaeologist by the name of Henirich Hochstetter excavated the Shoen-Tell site in Turkey in the late 1920s. Hochstetter was interested more in antiquities than in data, so he provided little substantive information tot eh professional community about his dig or his findings. However, a conscientious assistant of Hochstetter’s, Roxanne Browne, managed to collect detailed information on fifty of the burials Hochstetter plundered. Her data is the only information we have for the site. The only thing we know is that Hochstetter postulated that the Shoen-Tell burials reflect the rise of the first ranked societies in this part of Asia. You may assume that Browne’s data are a representative sample of the mortuary practices at Shoen-Tell. You may also assume that the burials are more or less contemporaneous. Using the provided data, please answer the following questions. Be sure to support your answers with data from the burials and/or information discussed in class or the text.
Type your answers for all questions, including the tally chart for Question 1.
1. What are the differences in the types and quantities of grave foods associated with the following groups of people: (a) infants; (b) children; (c) adult males; (d) adult females? Compare each of these categories for (a) presence/absence of grave goods; (b) quantity of grave goods; (c) different kinds of grave goods present. Also, describe the variation within each age/sex category.
Tally your results below: | Presence/Absence of Grave Goods? | Number of Grave Goods | Types of Grave Goods Present | Infants (1 or under)10 Total | 2- With8- Without | #1-5#2-2 | Jewelry, Colored Pottery bowls and figurines, Beads