Revision as of 22:17, 5 September 2012

A Bone from a Dry Sea Pages 133-142

History 8 Archaeology Bone From a Dry Sea

Summary

Vinny starts a new day by helping her father dig a trench. She gets some alone time with her father and they discuss personal issues as well as the sea-ape theory, which bothers Vinny's dad a lot. Vinny promises to never mention the sea-ape theory in camp, but she makes her dad promise that if he ever finds a toe bone he would look at it for webbing. Not long after their talk, the rest of the archaeologists come. Everyone starts to work on their trenches, while Vinny pieces together shells. As Vinny was asking her dad to look in his bucket, Sam finds a toe bone. Vinny automatically asks her dad to look for webbing and then asks whether she should get Joe (Dr. Hamiska), to which her dad says to give him five more minutes, but Dr. Hamiska is already there. Joe, ecstatic, calls everybody over and hypothesizes that the fossil died in a river, to which Sam shakes his head in disbelief, but says if he (Dr. Hamiska) wanted to tell everyone that the creature was female and died of hiccups on a Thursday afternoon, then he'll keep his mouth shut. Everyone laughed and dispersed as the day drew to an end. ^[1]

Funnel of Certainty

The funnel of certainty is an imaginary funnel in which explanations move up and down in. As explanations move up the funnel, they become more likely to be correct and accurate. As they move down the funnel, they become less likely. At the bottom of the funnel of certainty, is the speculative phase. At this phase the possible explanations begin to narrow and decrease. Then more possibilities are weeded out by seeing if they are or are not predictive, parsimonious and powerful. The next phase/level is the level of probable theory. At this point, there are relatively certain solutions. The weeding out and decreasing goes on until eventually laws (the third phase/level of the funnel of certainty) are identified. However, there will always be a gap between laws and reality, but we can continue to introduce new explanations until one day the gap between laws and reality will not be so vast. ^[2]

Examples of the Funnel of Certainty in BFDS

"'If you find another one, will you look at it and try and see if it might have been, you know, webbed?..." Pg. 134.

In this quote, Vinny is asking her dad if he will look for webbing in a toe bone, if he finds a toe bone. Finding webbing in a toe bone will prove that the sea-ape theory is predictive, allowing it to move further up in the funnel of certainty.

"'Don't forget about the webbing.'" Pg. 139.

In the quote above, Sam has just found a toe bone, and Vinny is reminding him to look for webbing. Again, finding webbing in a toe bone will prove the sea-ape theory is predictive, allowing it to move upward in the funnel of certainty. This quote is basically like the first quote.^[3]

References

1. ↑ Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1992. Print.
2. ↑ Beniretto, Rosie, and Clay Elliot. "Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilizations." 2012. The Geologic Time and Archaeology. By Linda Symcox. Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools University of California, 1991. 3-4. Print
3. ↑ Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1992. Print.

("Summary", "Funnel of Certainty", and "Examples of the Funnel of Certainty in BFDS" are by Annie Ren)

Summary

Vinny and her dad start Wednesday morning by digging a hole. While having breakfast later, they discuss personal issues, including Vinny's mother. Vinny's father recalls how they had strong love for a while, but it didn't work out because they needed different things (i.e. Vinny's mom needed levelheadedness, but her father didn't have that). Vinny and her father also discuss the sea-ape theory, a questionable theory written by Elaine Morgan stating that humans are derived from sea creatures. Vinny agrees to not mention the sea-ape theory to anyone else in camp because it would just create a mess for her father. Her father thinks that the theory is nonsense, but agrees to look at the toe bones to see if they are webbed. Soon, the rest of the crew arrives: Dr. Hasmika, Michael, Dr. Wessler, and more. Everyone starts digging and people start to find artifacts, such as Dr. Wessler finding a crocodile jaw. Vinny puts together a shell, which seems to have been deliberately smashed. Vinny's dad finds a toe bone and Dr. Hamiska rushes over. He hypothesizes that a female died in water and the stream made the bones scatter. Vinny's dad shakes his head and tells Dr. Hamiska wanted to say that the female died of hiccups on a Thursday afternoon, he would keep his mouth shut. Soon after, the day ended. ^[1]

Christina Ru

Elements of a dig

Archaeologists almost never dig an entire site, because there is not enough time/money. They also have to be careful when digging because once the site is dug, it is destroyed. ^[2]

Excavating the site

Site Grids: The first step to excavating a site is laying out a grid. Archaeologists often use lots of string, stakes, and flags. The grid helps archaeologists keep horizontal control. Every square can be assigned a number however the tactics.

Levels: The opposite of grids are levels. Levels help archaeologists keep vertical control. The easiest way to work with levels is to work in thin, evenly spaced layers. Sometimes though, there might be obvious layers of different material (such as a layer of topsoil and a layer of clay).

Tools: There are many tools used in excavating sites. Some used for location purposes are measuring tapes, topographic maps, and GPS systems. 2 common excavating tools are the shovel and the mason's trowel. Instead of digging, archaeologists are supposed to trim and scrape the soil without damaging the artifacts/features underneath. Sometimes when more delicate tools are needed, they use wooden/bamboo picks, dentists' picks, spoons, brushes, etc. Mason's trowel: ^[3]

Screening: Soil is usually sifted after dug, usually 1/4" or 1/8" to find smaller objects that might have been missed.

Other tools: Over the years, archaeologists have used many different tools. Some examples are magnetometers, resistivity measurements, and ground penetrating radar. These helped to tell archaeologists kind of what was under the ground.

Artifacts: Archaeologists try to find artifacts when excavating a site. Artifacts are anything that have been made by people. It is one of the main ways we can learn about the past.

Features: A feature gives archaeologists an idea of how the site was used. A feature is something that cannot be physically taken back to a lab. ^[4]

Examples of elements of a dig in "BFDS"

"Dr. Wessler was held up by a crocodile jaw jutting sideways into his trench. It was large but fragile, so that he had to scrape around it and burrow into the side wall, hardening it section by section with resin as he went. Dad found pig teeth, the leg bone of a small deer, and in the second section of H layer some fragments of another clam, and then more in the third section." -page 138 ^[5]

"Michael and another African named Ali started to clear the topsoil for a third trench, further along, while Dr. Hamiska and Nikki made a systematic series of shallow excavations all along the sloping line of tuff, trying to chart how far the fossil layer extended." -page 138 ^[6]

Christina Ru

References

1. ↑ Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1992. Print.
2. ↑ http://www.enviro-explorers.com/archlearning.html
3. ↑ http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Masons_trowel2.gif
4. ↑ http://www.enviro-explorers.com/archlearning.html
5. ↑ Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1992. Print.
6. ↑ Dickinson, Peter. A Bone from a Dry Sea. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1992. Print.