Expert: John J. Shea - 4/21/2005

Question
Hi, I just have a few questions about monumental architecture.

why is monumental architecture a significant focus of archaeological research?

is there a danger focusing narrowly on monumental architecture?

thank you so much!

Answer
Dear Elizabeth
Archaeologists have focused a lot of attention on monumental architecture for several reasons.
1. the technical aspects often provide information about a society's technological and organizational capabilities.  The society that built the Giza stone pyramids (3rd Dynasty) obviously had more control over labor and better construction technology than the ones that built the mud-brick ones of predynastic Egypt.
2. monumental structures are often renovated, so you can get clues  about chronology from remains associated with different phases of construction.  For example, you can track changes in pottery from finds in fill levels.
3. Such monuments are hard to miss, and so they are often the first thing archaeologists excavated when they were exploring a new areas.
Dangers:
Most very large monuments (e.g., pyramids) are built by the elites of stratified socieites. The main risk of focusing narrowly on the monuments is doing so overlooks the remains of more everyday things, the lives of the common people, trade, agriculture.  The other risk is that if archaeologists take on the monuments first, there is less possibility of future excavation with more advanced scientific techniques.
Cheers,
John Shea