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Archaeology midterm
study guide
170
Archaeology
Undergraduate 1
10/14/2011

Additional Archaeology Flashcards

 


 

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Term
What is archaeology? Why is this an important question in archaeology?
Definition
the study of people, places, and the past through material remains
Term
What kinds of data do archaeologists look at?
Definition
archaeologists look at tools, food, and ways of eating, architecture, ritual, art, human remains, documents, iconography, sites, and landscapes
Term
How do we know what we know?
Definition
recurring theme of archaeology; general overarching question
Term
Fact vs inference
Definition
fact = something that is known to be true
inference = the "glue" connecting facts (linking arguments, theories, and assumptions)
Term
Hawkes' Ladder of Inference
Definition
less knowable --> religious institutions and spiritual life
Security of knowledge-->social organization
Security of knowledge-->subsistence economy
More knowable --> technologies of manufacture
Term
What is anthropology?
Definition
the study of humankind
Term
What are the four subfields of anthropology?
Definition
1. Socio-cultural: human culture; uses ethnography
2. Biological: humans as biological species
3. Linguistic: languages and ways of communicating
4. Archaeology: study of people through material remains
Term
How is archaeology similar to other subfields?
Definition
Similar:
-long term projects: research question, grant writing, permissions / logistics, fieldwork, labwork, publicating / presenting
-commitment and passion
Term
How is archaeology different from other subfields?
Definition
different:
-work is collaborative = archaeologists as project managers
-legal work = levels of permissions for digging in ground
Term
What are the steps involved in implementing archaeological research?
Definition
1. Grant Writing
2. Form Research Team
3. Request Permissions
4. Logistics
Term
Early archaeology (5 main things): The Speculative Phase
Definition
-called the speculative phase because curiousity, archaeology was not yet professionalized (treasure hunting)
-Renaissance, Age of Exploration (1492-1600)
1. Colonial chronicles
2. Exploration and "Natural History"
3. Hobbyists
4. Patronage
5. Collection
Term
Thomas Jefferson
Definition
the "first" archaeologist; excavations in his backyard
Term
John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood
Definition
-Incidents of Travel in Central America
-Myans: 1st recorded detail; natural historians; drawings
-archaeology as a hobby
Term
What is the myth of the Moundbuilders and how was it debunked?
Definition
The mounds were built by a group of superior beings, a "lost race", who were eventually killed off. It was debunked because excavations showed that the burials in the mound contained the same bodies as Native Americans.
Term
What was Cyrus Thomas' contribution to the myth of the moundbuilders?
Definition
From the Bureau of American Ethnology. Did seven years of excavations on the mounds and discovered that the bodies buried in the mounds were Native American.
Term
Heinrich Schliemann
Definition
searched for the location of the trojan war in EUrope, 1870s
first grand scale archaeological excavations
found Priam's Treasure; took it back to U.S.
early archaeology was his field
Term
Napoleon Bonaparte expedition
Definition
found the Rosetta stone (key to deciphering hieroglyphics)
Term
What was Jean-Francois Champollion's contribution?
Definition
Champollion translated it--3 different languages of carvings (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Demotic Egyptian, and Greek)
Term
Museum collectors & push for national museums-- Why were museums built and what were their collection methods?
Definition
Became a way of making your country great. Effort to create a unified history; links to a glorious past. "Race" for antiquities, so methods were not particularly careful.
Term
Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon
Definition
Funded by Lord C, Carter found King Tut's tomb

early archaeology; patronage
Term
What were the primary reasons that archaeolgoy became a discipline?
Definition
-theory of evolution, contributions from sciences, museums starting to appear in Europe, unify theory of time
Term
Archbishop Ussher
Definition
-said earth was created in 4004 BC
-implication for archaeology is that nothing can be older than that and all evolution is crammed into that tiny space of time
Term
James Hutton and Charles Lyell
Definition
uniformitarianism: the same processes that are taking place in the world today took place in the past
-Lyell's Principles of Geology
-Implication for archaeology: Earth is OLD!
Term
William Smith
Definition
-recognized significance of strata in the rock
-first geological map of England
Term
Georges Cuvier
Definition
catastrophism
Term
Charles Darwin
Definition
-On the Origin of Species
-change through evolution, even humans, so great antiquity
Term
Straigraphy and Law of Superposition
Definition
-Nicolas Steno = stratigraphy
-Law of Superposition = in a profile of soil, the stuff on the bottom was deposited first and is therefore older than top layers (fundamental to archaeology)
Term
CJ Thomsen
Definition
-three age system
-Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age
-an example of a classification system; ordering through time
Term
Sir John Lubbock
Definition
-Prehistoric Times
-Paleolithic = Old Stone Age
-Neolithic = New Stone Age
Term
Worsaae
Definition
-Law of Association: things found at the same level were events that occured at the same time
-studies gravelots and realized that artifacts and burials are the same age
Term
Montelius
Definition
-grand sequence of Europen artifacts
-refined seriation
Term
Professionalization of Archaeology
Definition
-museums, journals, institutions
-anthropology departments
-field schools
Term
Which methods were developed in te late 1800s?
Definition
the first SYSTEMATIC excavations occured in the late 1800s
Term
Sir Flinders Petrie
Definition
-archaeologists need to record EVERYTHING they find
-Methods and Aims of Archaeology
-defined goals of discipline
-systematic recording and analysis
-preservation
Term
Early 20th Century Archaeology: Culture History (1900-1960)
-3 goals
Definition
-Asks the same question
1. Stratigraphy
2. Classification
3. Direct Historic Approach

-creating history of culture by looking at change in time in materials
Term
Classification
Definition
organizing objects on the basis of shared attributes
Term
Attribute vs. Type
Definition
Age vs. Old or New
Term
diagnostic artifacts
Definition
artifact types specific to time and place

-with this information, you can begin writing culture histories because they are typical of a particular culture
-try to put together a large-scale synthesis
Term
Culture areas
Definition
culture as a unified set of norms, materials

trace cultures through time -->region, spatial unit of things pertaining to a particular culture
Term
James A. Ford
Definition
-seriation (a technique used to order assemblages into relative age sequences)
-assumes that artifacts change and certain styles are popular at a given time
Term
William Duncan Strong
Definition
-Direct Historic Approach
-Work back through time to get archaeological deposits
-working from known to unknown using ethnography
Term
By 1940s, tensions developed
Definition
-Is archaeology history or science?
-Is chronology the only goal?
-What is the role of ethnographic information?
-Artifacts or people?
Term
Culture History, Part II (1940-1960)

(3 themes)
Definition
-how do we put people into this
-particular places influence decision making of life
1. Context and Function
2. Culture and Environment
3. New Analytical Techniques (environmental data, radiocarbon dating)
Term
Walter Taylor
Definition
-holistic view of archaeology
-how cultures behaved and how things were used
-CONTEXT AND FUNCTION
Term
Julian Steward
Definition
-culture and environment
-how cultures interact and adapt to environment (where to live, how to live, what to eat)
Term
why include paleoenvironmental data?
Definition
-helps us understand environment
-processual archaeology
Term
Settlement patterns
Definition
analysis of where people choose to live through time (location and size of sites)
Term
Processual / New Archaeology (1960-1980)
Definition
-theory building
-archaeology should be: scientific, anthropological, focus on cultural process, optimism
Term
Lewis Binford
Definition
-Processual Archaeology
-archaeology is dependent upon inference to the past from things in the present
-study people in the present to make theories about what happened in the past
Term
Middle Range Theory
Definition
-linking arguments between present and past
-Binford - statics you see on ground to actions that took place in the past
Term
ethnography vs. experimental archaeology
Definition
-studying living people to see how archaeological record was formed = ethnography

-setting up experiments in the present, recording what you see through time, this is what must have occured in the past = experimental archaeology
-connecting statics to dynamics
Term
explanation
Definition
Term
universal laws
Definition
Term
behavior
Definition
Term
adaptation
Definition
Term
systems theory
Definition
culture is an adaptive system; subsystems in dynamic equilibrium (study guide picture)
-culture = everything works together in a system
Term
scientific method
Definition
-Culture History
1. data retrieval
2. classification and seriation
3. outline history

Problem-Oriented Research
1. Research Question
2. Hypotheses
3. Test Implications
4. Data Retrieval
5. Analysis
6. Results and Rethink
Term
cultural evolution
Definition
how we explain large transitions over time
Term
Jarmo, Iraq (Robert Braidwood)
Definition
-guided by a clear research question, so exemplifies processual archaeology; origins of domestication
Term
Broken K Pueblo and James Hill and William Longacre
Definition
-matrilineal pueblos in past? since they are matrilineal in present..exemplifies processual archaeology
Term
systematic recovery
Definition
screening, attention to sampling bias, being very explicit about questions and methods
Term
1980s, tensions develop
Definition
-Is behavior predictable? Do humans always act rationally?
-Do universal laws exist?
-Is culture adaptive?
-Is archaeology really an objective science?
-Can we really do hyptohesis testing?
Term
Postprocessual archaeology (1980-present)
Definition
-influenced by: postmodernism, critical/marxist theory, and feminist critiques of science
Term
Ian Hodder
Definition
-postprocessual archaeologist
-wanted to explain ceramic designs in different places
-using ethnoarchaeology, analyzed decorations on groud pots (cow and pig decorations separate -->believed to symbolically protect men and women from pollution)
-remains must be read and interpreted, have to focus on cultural context
Term
Interpretation
Definition
remains must be read; not explanation
Term
Critical and Marxist archaeologies
Definition
-the kinds of questions we ask are colored by what we see in our modern world
-feminism critiques of science
-the kind of biology being produced, is being produced for present day concerns
Term
Feminist philosophies of science
Definition
-Margaret Conkey and Janet Spector
-feminist views introduced -->people reevaluating prior interpretations of the ancient world; different research methods
Term
Meaning
Definition
Term
what are the major differences between CH, PA, and PPA?
Definition
-CH
-PA
+behavior
+laws
+adaptation
+environment
+technology
+economy
-PPA
+historical context
+symbolism
+ritual
+identity
+agency
+memory
Term
What are the major things of CH, PA, and PPA that get used today?
Definition
-CH: seriation, classification, settlement pattern research
-PA: scientific method, explicity, systematic recovery, sampling
-PPA: emphasis on meaning, multiple interpretations, recognition of present, natural and social science
Term
what might an archaeology of the future be like?
Definition
-community based, participatory
-non-invasive
-cultural resource management (CRM)
Term
How do you start archaeological work?
Definition
-previous research at this location? known sites from those reports? chronology already worked out? how old?
-what is your research question?
Term
Scales of analysis
Definition
-the research question defines the scale of analysis
-large to small
-Marco-region: broader area to answer broader questions
-Region: local region (i.e., one place (flood plain, etc.))
-Site: one place to answer small question (what was life like?)
-Feature: a building, hearth, etc. (What did people eat?)
-Microscale: pot, etc. (What was in that pot?)
Term
Reconnaissance
Definition
-going out and asking people to show you where go out on the field
-looking out at river cuts, road cuts, etc.
Term
remote sensing--what is it? when would you use it? benefits?
Definition
-satellite imagery using false color to look at landscape change; terrain will determine whether to use remote sensing or LIDAR
-Benefits= non-invasive, more efficient & cost-effective; discover things you can't see on the ground, conveys complex material, can study remote areas...biggest advantage = non destructive!
-to use when you are NOT in jungle
Term
LIDAR Mapping
Definition
-light detection and ranging; measures reflection of objects
-smaller wavelengths than radar = accuracy and resolution
-equipment mounted on small aircraft
-to use when: in jungle because it penetrates foliage
Term
What is left to find? Major issues
Definition
1. How things are used and deposited by people (cultural formation processes)
2. How things decay or preserve (natural formation processes)
3. Samples! Things archaeologists do (what we find is always incomplete)
Term
use life
Definition
Term
abandonment
Definition
gradual (planned) vs. rapid (unplanned)
Term
cultural formation processes
Definition
processes resulting from human action; acquisition of raw material through manufacture, use, discard, loss, or burial
Term
taphonomy
Definition
the study of the processes affecting materials after death and deposition
Term
Preservation / decay of organic and inorgani materials (Which materials survive? When, where, and why?)
Definition
Organic Materials do not preserve well
-plant materials, animal products bones (things once living)

Inorganic materials survive best
-stone, pottery, metals, mud houses, etc.
- can be broken, battered, eroded, BUT won't decay
Term
Preservation / decay of organic and inorganic materials (Which materials survive? When, where, and why?)
Definition
Organic Materials do not preserve well
-plant materials, animal products bones (things once living)

Inorganic materials survive best
-stone, pottery, metals, mud houses, etc.
- can be broken, battered, eroded, BUT won't decay
Term
natural formation processes
Definition
proceses that include how nature affects the archaeological record
Term
How do you test and understand the taphonomic proceeses?
Definition
Experimental taphonomy testing usually consists of exposing the remains of organisms to various altering processes, and then examining the effects of the exposure.
Term
Experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeolgoy differences
Definition
-experimental: setting up an experiment to replicate
-ethnoarchaeology: looking at modern pieces
Term
sample bias in archaeology
Definition
-only find a mere fraction of what was going on in the past --> what wer find is always incomplete
Term
Under what conditions do organics preserve well?
Definition
1. lack of oxygen
2. little fluctuation (i.e., constant temperature or water environment)
3. mineral replacement (fossilization)
4. human actions (chance events, i.e., heating / charring; impressions)
5. Natural disasters
Term
fossilization
Definition
mineral replacement
Term
Sites with good preservation and why
Definition
1. Ozette Site, Washington = wet preservation
2. Bog bodies of Denmark (skin, nails) = wet preservation
3. Southwest, U.S. (perishables) = arid conditions
4. Egypt (mummies) = arid conditions
5. Inca mummy bundles, knotted strings, textiles = arid conditions
6. Chimu Architecture, Chan Chan (mud brick) = arid conditions
7. The Ice Man of Austria- Italy (Otzi) = frozen
Term
coprolites
Definition
poop; good because we can see plant remains, parasites, etc.
Term
systematic survey
Definition
stand in straight line, 20 m apart, walk in straight line, marking artifacts until the end
-for regional scale data
Term
sampling strategies
Definition
-full coverage (100% sample), probabilistic sample (defined %; random, systematic, stratified), non-probabilistic
Term
probabilistic sampling
Definition
-defined percent (when not enough time, labor, or money)

-RANDOM: numbers from sample units chosen at random
-SYSTEMATIC: 1st element drawn randomly, others followed in intervals
-STRATIFIED: tiered sample (some areas covered more intensely; i.e., skip over cliffs, lakes, etc.)
Term
Non-probabilistic sampling
Definition
selection of sample units not based on statistical principles; judgmental in that it is based on the judgment of the person selecting the sample
Term
When would you use these different sampling strategies? What kind of data do they provide?
Definition
-Most sampling strategies are non-probabilistic because most will go where they know they may find something.
-Probabilistic is used when you want to make generalizations.
Term
survey toolkit
Definition
topographic map, compass and long tape, GPS, notebook / PDA, sketchmap
Term
topographic maps (What are they? How do you read them? When and why are they used?)
Definition
-represent the 3D shape of land surfaces in 2D media; accurate within 12 meters
Term
contour lines
Definition
connect points of equal elevation
Term
contour intervals
Definition
the elevation change between 2 contour lines
Term
GPS (rover and handheld) (why do you use them? advantages and disadvantages?)
Definition
rover = communicates with satellites by triangulating your position (3+ satellite)
handheld= accurate within 3-50 m
high precision = 20 cm RTK
survey grade = can eliminate error (2 mm accuracy) BUT have to do it post processsing
Term
sketch maps are used for?
Definition
Term
What kinds of information are surface survey data going to give us? How might these data be problematic?
Definition
-Surface survey data will give us:
-Will be problematic because of surface bias:only see things made of sturdier material, things that preserve well, the most modern deposits, sites that don't decay, larger sites
Term
How do we test surface bias?
Definition
-Groundtruthing either with Shovel Test Pits (STPs) and soil probe/soil auger
Term
geophysical remote sensing
Definition
-identify site boundaries and locate underground features
-magnetic data to make magnetic maps of a site
Term
magnetometry / gradiometry
Definition
-measures differences in magnetic alignment in iron oxide; will detect burned areas fired clay, ironworks
-patterns of magnetism in soil
Term
ground penetrating radar (GPR)
Definition
-sends pulses into the ground, echoes bounce back against dense objects; doesnt work well in clay
-non destructive
Term
What can survey data tell us?
Definition
Survey data can tell us: 1. Site register / inventory (date, cultural affiliation, site use) 2. settlement pattern (layout of human settlement across a landscape; environmental parameters) 3. regional economic and political organization (site size hierarchies)
Term
How do archaeolgists define sites?
Definition
-where artifacts are most concentrated (dense)
-high density areas of overlap
Term
Site size hierarchies and how can they tell us about sociopolitical organization?
Definition
-continuum from smaller to larger sites
-distribution of sites according to population or size estimate
-bigger circles = bigger sites
Term
Central Place Theory
Definition
on a boundless plain, sites distributed by size

-hierarchically nested pattern
-fewer large centers, more smaller ones
-distributed by function (the most stuff going on)
-more levels in hierarchy = more complex society
Term
limits of settlement pattern data
Definition
-assumes that SIZE means something; large-scale patterns only; sampling / surface issues
Term
When do you excavate?
Definition
-only when necessary; dont want to destroy site
-to answer a research question
-mitigation --> know a site will be destroyed soon by another project
Term
What are the steps involved in excavation?
Definition
1. Define site boundaries
2. Controlled surface collection
3. Lay out the units
4. Record provenience
5. excavation documentation
6. screening
7. collect samples
8. excavation drawings
9. record stratigraphy
Term
Topographic vs. Planimetric map
Definition
-topographic shows elevation
-planimetric is a flat map (like a campus map)
Term
Types of excavation
Definition
excavation methods
-test pits (1x1 m): like telephone booths; goal = chronology
-trenches: to get a good, continuous line / sense of stratigraphy
-horizontal clearing/excavation : big, broad areas; open up everything; to use if you wanted to understand relationships at a particular point in time; goal = spatial context
Term
controlled surface collection
Definition
materials on surface collected, bagged, analyzed
Term
digging toolkit
Definition
shovel, trowls, dental picks, toothbrush, icepick, bucket
Term
provenience
Definition
horizontal and vertical position of an artifact (measures depth by 2 coordinates; below surface; below datum)
Term
site datum
Definition
point from which we take all measurements at a site
Term
EDM ("electronic distance mapper" or total station)
Definition
distance, height, and angle to 1 mm
Term
GIS (Geographic Information System)
Definition
-vertical and spatail date; layers; expandable (add data years later)
-to do archaeology, you need to know GIS
Term
screening
Definition
put through wire mesh of particular size
Term
plan and profile drawings
Definition
plan view = projected surfaces, flat map (above ground)
profile view = of pits and cuts; stratigraphic profile (below ground)
Term
Harris matrix
Definition
diagram that represents the relationships between strata
Term
laboratory methods
Definition
1. wash and label artifacts
2. artifact analysis
3. data entry
4. collections management
Term
collections management issues
Definition
-where will these things be stored?
-display, storage, discard, alternatives
Term
relative vs. absolute dating
Definition
-relative: placing things into order of older and younger
-absolute: getting a specific age in years
Term
What do you date?
Definition
-undisturbed contexts, objects / artifacts in situ (place where originally put), something in same deposit
Term
seriation
Definition
-ordering of artifacts
-frequency and contextual
-assumes a given style or set of artifacts is only popular for a certain length of time
-know the before and after, but not the specific year
Term
frequency seriation
Definition
ordering artifacts by frequency of styles / types; battle ship curves
Term
contextual seriation
Definition
ordering assemblages by association of artifacts into groups
Term
index fossil
Definition
-diagnostic artifacts that help date strata across regions
-very good time keepers
-relative dating technique
Term
dendrochronology
Definition
-counting tree rings laid down in annual cycles
-overlap multiple samples to get a sequence
-need preserved wood, seasons, and a master sequence to get year tree was cut
-8500 years to present
-Bristle Cone Pine Tree (5000 years)
Term
varves
Definition
-annual shoreline deposits caused by melting glaciers
-15000 years to present
Term
radioactive clocks
Definition
Term
isotope
Definition
any of two or more forms of a chemical element, having the same number of protons in the nucleus, or the same atomic number, but having different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus, or different atomic weights.
Term
radiocarbon dating
Definition
an absolute dating technique invented in the 1950s by Willard Libby

-all organisms absorb carbon from atmosphere; all formerly living things can be dated (especially if preserved well)
-carbon 14 changes to carbon 12 when decaying (half life of 5730 years)
-45000 to present
-encompasses most of human history, so most common
Term
Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) Dating
Definition
-works well on volcanic rock
-potassium isotope changes to Argon
-half life = 1.3 billion years, so used on materials with age 100,000 years to 1 bya (early humans in east Africa)
Term
Uranium (U) series dating
Definition
-rocks rich in calcium (limestone), especially caves
-used on things that date 500,000-50,000 years ago (early humans)
Term
fission track dating
Definition
238U in volcanic glasses divides upon cooling so leaves microscopic "tracks" in glass
-5 to 1 million years ago (early hominids)
Term
Trapped eletron methods
Definition
1. thermoluminescence (TL) dating
2. optical dating
3. electron spin resonance

-must know surrounding context / sediment
Term
thermoluminescence dating
Definition
-minerals exposed to heat
Term
optical dating
Definition
-time since bleaching cause by exposure to sunlight
Term
electron spin resonance
Definition
time since burial of inorganic material in b
Term
obsidian hydration dating
Definition
a "rind" forms on surface of obsidian through water hybridization, thickness of rind indicates time since breakage
-i.e., a stone tool, freshly chipped, water molecules adhere and make rine
-100,000 years to present
-must know local chemical and climatological data to "calibrate"
Term
archaeomagnetic dating
Definition
-based on shifts in the earth's magnetic field
-iron particles line up to magnetic field at time of firing/ burning
-match up object / material in question to master sequence
-2000 years to present
Term
calendars
Definition
-old world = 6000 to present
-new world = 5000 to present (Americas)
Term
What is the environment?
Definition
-climate, vegetation, geography, topography, resource distribution, scenery
-everything going on = how things are being used
Term
paleoenvironments
Definition
the past environment of an area during a given period of its history
Term
subsistence
Definition
-food strategies
-what was eaten? which seasons? how obtained? how prepared? who participates?
Term
site catchment analysis
Definition
-distance to resources
-hunter / gathererers: 2 hour walk to collect resources
-farmers: 1 hour walk
Term
Is what we see now what was there?
Definition
no
Term
are there "pristine" environments?
Definition
no
Term
in what ways have humans changed the environment?
Definition
-regular burning, harvesting -->management
Term
harvesting
Definition
-affects population and distribution
Term
overmanagement
Definition
-overgrazing animals, cutting too many trees, not maintaining terraces

-Easter Island (Palm Forest in AD 1200, by the 1700s the population had crashed, trees can no longer grow: european disease and pesky rats probably caused population crash)
Term
erosion
Definition
Oaxaca, Mexico:
Term
Terraces
Definition
Term
salinization
Definition
Iraq
Once was fertile crescent; irrigation brough salt onto land
Term
Glaciation and sea levels
Definition
water table rises --> restricts amount of land to live on
-ancient coastlines now under water (at times up to 100 m lower)
Term
Pleiostocene / Holocene boundary
Definition
upper boundary in South America
Term
Why did cold adapted animals die out?
Definition
too warm, overhunting, human takeover of environmental zone
Term
Stages of food production
Definition
1. procurement
2. processing
3. cooking
4. storage
Term
omnivores
Definition
eats both plants and animals
Term
food as social phenomena
Definition
Term
Subsistence strategies
Definition
1. foraging 2. horticulture 3. agriculture 4. pastoralism
Term
foraging
Definition

-high mobility (movement)

-seasonal dispersement and aggregation

-food collectors, not food producers

-small groups of people related through kinship and marriage

Term
horticulture
Definition

-non intensive farming (garden plots)

-simple tools (bison scapula)

-shifting cultivation (slash and burn agriculture)

-mixed economies (still hunting and gathering from wild)

Term
agriculture
Definition

-intensive farming = high labor demand!

-domesticated animals, irrigation, terracing

-increased sedentism

-associated with larger, permanent communities

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