- •Questions and Answers about Anthropology
- •Q: When did people first settle in the Americas and where did they come from?
- •Q: Before a money system was developed, how was trade conducted between people and different nations?
- •Q: Has the field of anthropology changed in recent decades?
- •Q: How do archaeologists determine whether animals were wild or domesticated?
- •Q: Do archaeologists really have adventures like Indiana Jones’s?
- •Q: How do scientists determine weather conditions of the past?
- •Q: Why are archaeologists interested in simple things?
- •Q: When and where did civilization begin?
- •Q.We take for granted the use of heat and fire to destroy contaminants in our food. How did it come to pass that that early man decided to “cook” his food? What necessitated it?
- •I don’t think anything necessitated cooking food. I think it simply happened as a logical extension of the domestication of fire, which was vital both for protection and as a hunting weapon.
- •Q: Why were the Maya so interested in astronomy?
- •Q: When were the Dead Sea Scrolls written and why?
- •Q: When and why was Stonehenge constructed?
Q: When were the Dead Sea Scrolls written and why?
A: Archaeologists believe the Dead Sea Scrolls are some 2,000 years old, written at various times between about 200 bc and ad 68. They were once the treasured possessions of a Jewish community at Khirbat Qumran in Jordan, an austere group who were enjoined “to seek God and do what is good and upright before him.” The scrolls are important religious texts, written as acts of devotion, and they reflect the historical milieu in which Christianity was to emerge.
Archaeological excavations show the community at Khirbat Qumran flourished twice, the first time for about 70 years before an earthquake drove the people away in ad 31, and again until ad 68, when Roman persecution made life unbearable. It was then that the community buried their precious scrolls, wrapped in linen cloth and placed in clay pots, in a nearby cave.
Q: When and why was Stonehenge constructed?
A: Late Stone Age farmers began building the concentric circles of tall standing stones that constitute Stonehenge around 3000 bc. The innermost ring encloses a central stone or altar. Over many centuries it developed into a complex series of stone circles protected by a shallow ditch. Stonehenge changed constantly, like a medieval cathedral, reaching its greatest elaboration between 2500 and 1600 bc. Scholars believe ceremonies or religious observances took place at Stonehenge, but no one knows exactly what the rituals were. Because Stonehenge is aligned on the summer and winter solstices, these rituals may have been connected with the passage of the seasons.
Q: How do archaeologists estimate the age of stone tools?
A: Archaeologists cannot precisely date stone tools themselves using existing dating methods. Most methods used to date stone tools are still highly experimental. Usually archaeologists determine the approximate age of stone tools from the age of the sediment levels in which they are found. Datable elements in these sediments, including radioactive isotopes and organic matter, can provide an age estimate for stone tools and other nondatable artifacts found nearby.
Q: When and where did writing originate?
A: Writing first developed before 3000 bc in southern Mesopotamia and Egypt. It probably came about from the need for accurate records to administer trading activities in distant lands and along trade routes. Some experts believe writing evolved from the use of clay tokens, which developed into picture script and then cuneiform, the wedgelike script of the ancient Sumerians. Egyptian hieroglyphs are a distinct script that developed independently, and perhaps a little later, along the Nile.