this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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Archaeology

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Archaeology or archeology[a] is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes.

Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.

The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Read more...

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Ancient polychrome wall found in northern Peru likely over 4,000 years old (www.reuters.com)
submitted 1 year ago by FlyingSquid@mander.xyz to c/archaeology@mander.xyz
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[–] Ubermeisters@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

not a great article at all for those of us who have no preexisting idea what a polychrome wall actually is.

from wiki:

Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors."[1] The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors.

When looking at artworks and architecture from antiquity and the middle ages, people tend to believe that they were monochrome. In reality, the pre-Renaissance past was full of colour, and all the Greco-Roman sculptures and Gothic cathedrals, that are now white, beige or grey, were initially painted in bright colours. As André Malraux stated, "Athens was never white but her statues, bereft of color, have conditioned the artistic sensibilities of Europe... the whole past has reached us colorless."[2] Polychrome was and is a practice not limited only to the Western world. Non-Western artworks, like Chinese temples, Oceanian Uli figures, or Maya ceramic vases, were also decorated with colours.

[–] FlyingSquid@mander.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

No offense meant here, but I think it is fair to either know or figure out archaeological terms yourself if you're going to be reading articles, even lay articles, in an archaeology community, not to expect them to be defined each time.

I agree that in this case, since it is the main subject of a lay article, it should have been defined, but I don't think it should be expected to be defined.

Anyway, the photos are quite impressive.

[–] PassingDuchy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would expect a lay article to absolutely define these things. If nothing else, gets their word count up so the author can be paid more and helps the lay person understand what they're reading about, win-win. I know Reuters is more of a gives the mere basics so other news sources can pick it up and write more encompassing listicles site though so I'm not gonna have greater expectations for them here. Thanks for posting!

[–] FlyingSquid@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, the article should have. I was speaking in generalities about the community.

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