The East Terrace Site - Archaeology is an Interdisciplinary Field

The East Terrace Site
Archaeology is an Interdisciplinary Field

For every day excavating in the field, two weeks are spent back in the laboratory and at the computer, analyzing artifacts and writing up the final report. All the raw data in the world is of no use if you are unable to interpret and understand it. Many of the clues that archaeologists use to interpret past human activity at a site are read with help from specialists in other fields.

For instance, zooarchaeologists can determine the species of animals eaten at a site by looking at small fragments of bone. Geologists interpret sequences of soil deposition and determine what natural or cultural causes created these layers. They also help date soils and identify the source of stone tools. The geomorphologist working at the East Terrace site, for example, provided valuable information about the varying water levels of the Mississippi River when the site was occupied. Ethnographers study modern hunter- gatherer groups and provide us with analogies of what life might have been like in ancient Minnesota. Reconstructions of past environments help us imagine what life might have been like at different times in the past. Was fishing in the river better or worse during different time periods? What types of plant resources were available and edible? How cold were the winters and what kind of shelter was needed to survive that kind of winter? Was high quality chert available nearby or did people have to gather extra resources to trade for it? Was the site covered with water in the past? What was the earliest date when people could live at the site at the end of the ice age?

The 'Preserving Minnesota's Cultural Resources' web site is jointly sponsored by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) under Agreement No. 75077.