Jurassic Park: Archaeologists Dig Up Dinosaurs
“Dinosaur footprints. I don’t know anything about dinosaur footprints. Dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago. The earliest fossil forms of human ancestors have been dated to a little more than 4 million years old. I reminded the reporter of our lengthy discussion of just a few months before about what it is that I do, about how archaeology focuses on the human past. There had been nothing in our previous conversation that even hinted at a connection between archaeology and dinosaurs.”
–Kenneth L. Feder, Linking to the Past, pg. 41 (1)
This quote, by Kenneth L. Feder, shows just how much archaeologists like talking about dinosaurs. They don’t. I have come across many people who believe that the main character in Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant, is an archaeologist. When I asked them why, they told me, “Because he digs up dinosaur bones”. Unfortunately, Dr. Grant is not an archaeologist, and Jurassic Park has nothing to do with archaeology. Archaeology is the study of human culture and activity through material culture. Material culture can be any type of artifact, architecture, earthworks, refuse pits, tombs or remains. This means that anything that relates to humans, including human remains, things made by humans like ceramics or tools, architecture left behind by humans, and even coprolites (or fossilized feces…yes, feces) left by humans. As you can see, everything that an archaeologist cares about has to do with people. Through the artifacts that they find at archaeological sites, archaeologists can analyze what past cultures were like (1).
On the other hand, paleontologists study dinosaur fossils, among many things. Dr. Grant is indeed a paleontologist. Dinosaurs were never alive when humans were alive (contrary to The Flintstones…this topic is for another time), so that means that archaeologists are not interested in them. There are archaeologists that study the remains of animals, or zooarchaeologists, but the important difference between paleontologists and zooarchaeologists is that “zooarchaeologists specifically study the relationships between people and animals in the past” (2). Again, archaeologists may involve themselves with animals, but ultimately, they still have something to do with humans.
A question that zooarchaeologists may ask is, “What kind of animals were these people eating?”. One of the many ways this can be analyzed and understood is through studying animal bones that are found in ancient refuse pits. The frequency that the people ate the specific animal can also be figured out by looking at the amount of animals’ remains in the pit. If there are 7 rat skeletons (or what could comprise 7 rats) and only 2 birds, this would lead the zooarchaeologist to infer that rats were more common in these ancient peoples’ diets (1).
In the end, archaeologists generally have nothing to do with dinosaurs. I am sure that if an archaeologist came across a dinosaur fossil when they were in search of artifacts, they would hand the discovery over to paleontologists. Paleontologists are people educated to handle and analyze dinosaur fossils, and archaeologists are not.
Sources:
(1) Feder, Kenneth L. Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
(2) Fancher, Jason M. "Do Archaeologists Dig Dinosaur Bones?". Society for American Anthropology, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <website>
–Kenneth L. Feder, Linking to the Past, pg. 41 (1)
This quote, by Kenneth L. Feder, shows just how much archaeologists like talking about dinosaurs. They don’t. I have come across many people who believe that the main character in Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant, is an archaeologist. When I asked them why, they told me, “Because he digs up dinosaur bones”. Unfortunately, Dr. Grant is not an archaeologist, and Jurassic Park has nothing to do with archaeology. Archaeology is the study of human culture and activity through material culture. Material culture can be any type of artifact, architecture, earthworks, refuse pits, tombs or remains. This means that anything that relates to humans, including human remains, things made by humans like ceramics or tools, architecture left behind by humans, and even coprolites (or fossilized feces…yes, feces) left by humans. As you can see, everything that an archaeologist cares about has to do with people. Through the artifacts that they find at archaeological sites, archaeologists can analyze what past cultures were like (1).
On the other hand, paleontologists study dinosaur fossils, among many things. Dr. Grant is indeed a paleontologist. Dinosaurs were never alive when humans were alive (contrary to The Flintstones…this topic is for another time), so that means that archaeologists are not interested in them. There are archaeologists that study the remains of animals, or zooarchaeologists, but the important difference between paleontologists and zooarchaeologists is that “zooarchaeologists specifically study the relationships between people and animals in the past” (2). Again, archaeologists may involve themselves with animals, but ultimately, they still have something to do with humans.
A question that zooarchaeologists may ask is, “What kind of animals were these people eating?”. One of the many ways this can be analyzed and understood is through studying animal bones that are found in ancient refuse pits. The frequency that the people ate the specific animal can also be figured out by looking at the amount of animals’ remains in the pit. If there are 7 rat skeletons (or what could comprise 7 rats) and only 2 birds, this would lead the zooarchaeologist to infer that rats were more common in these ancient peoples’ diets (1).
In the end, archaeologists generally have nothing to do with dinosaurs. I am sure that if an archaeologist came across a dinosaur fossil when they were in search of artifacts, they would hand the discovery over to paleontologists. Paleontologists are people educated to handle and analyze dinosaur fossils, and archaeologists are not.
Sources:
(1) Feder, Kenneth L. Linking to the Past: A Brief Introduction to Archaeology. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.
(2) Fancher, Jason M. "Do Archaeologists Dig Dinosaur Bones?". Society for American Anthropology, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <website>