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Archaeology Test 1
ch. 1 - 3
64
Archaeology
Undergraduate 2
09/18/2012

Additional Archaeology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Archaeology
Definition
systematic study of humanity in the past
Term
pre-history
Definition
portion of human history that goes back before written documents
Term
classical archaeologists
Definition
study ancient greece, rome, etc. - use same techniques
Term
historical archaeologists
Definition
discover artifacts up until the recent past - ex. colonial america, spanish southwest. Trying to learn the culture and evaluate the exactness of some old documents
Term
Underwater archaeologists
Definition
studying ancient shipwrecks, learning about cargo, why they were there, when they were there
Term
pre-historical archaeologists
Definition
covering 99% of history - from extremely far back up until 1700s- very complex, vast studies
Term
James Ussher
Definition
calculated that Earth was created 4004 BC, making it 6000 yrs old at the time.
Term
Charles Darwin
Definition
Came up with theory of evolution- decided humans probably came about in a different way
Term
Edward Tylor
Definition
classified human societies - 1870s
Term
Savagery
Definition
hunters and gatherers
Term
barbarism
Definition
grow own food
Term
civilization
Definition
people living together for a longer period of time- communities
Term
Human pre-history begins...
Definition
with the earliest concentration of artifacts and animal bones.
Term
Human pre-history ends...
Definition
with the first urban civilizations
Term
Adolf Bandelier
Definition
traveled around southwest and discovered things about Pueblo Indians. Saw connections of past generations through his studies
Term
Important archaeological principle
Definition
move from the known to the unknown
Term
social or cultural anthropologists
Definition
studying people/cultures who are still alive
Term
biological anthropologists
Definition
studying the biological aspects of humans
Term
Cushing
Definition
studied Zuni Indians, lived with them, immersed himself in the culture
Term
Archeologists want to know...
Definition
about the human condition, about the aspects of past human society. Not objects.
Term
Goals of Archaeology
Definition

1. to study culture history

2.reconstruction of ancient lifeways

3. to look at or investigate the ways in which human cultures changed in the past and why

 

Term
Archaeology was a lifeless catalog of artifacts until...
Definition
1950s when they started looking at cultural context of the environment
Term
Gordon Willey
Definition
started settlement pattern studies. took surveys, arial photos, geographical info in Peru.
Term
New 1960s archaeologists
Definition
came about through GI bill, started using computers, trying to search for explanations for cultural change
Term
Lewis Binford (New Archaeology)
Definition
models and methods to be tested. no longer enough to just discover artifacts, had to know why they are the way they are.
Term
the correct term for the new archaeology
Definition
processual Archaeology
Term
Why is human culture unique?
Definition
much of its content is translated from generation to generation
Term
Humans are the only animals who...
Definition
use our culture as a primary means of adapting to our environment
Term
Every cultural system...
Definition
is in a constant state of change.
Term
process implies...
Definition
a sequence of events. one discovery of an event to another.
Term
the archaeological record
Definition
the archives of human history. all of the facts collected through research and documentation.
Term
Archaeology looks at...
Definition
change over time. Humans are convervative in that change comes slowly and gradually. In order for a tool to be used by culture it has to be accepted by it.
Term
the archaeological site
Definition
the place where traces of ancient human activity are found.
Term
Archaeological sites are classified...
Definition
by the activities that took place there
Term
habitation site
Definition
where people slept, ate, cooked,etc.
Term
kill site
Definition
where animals were slaughtered
Term
quarry
Definition
place where stones or clays were mined
Term
art site
Definition
place where walls or stones were painted on
Term
artifacts
Definition
objects that are found in archaeological sites. either made or modified by human activity. covers every kind of object.
Term
tradition
Definition
helps to recognize forms/styles that continue through generations
Term
We enter a significant chronological background...
Definition
after 5000 years ago.
Term
superposition
Definition
relating items to each other, layering, so we can say where/when approx. items were used.
Term
palynology
Definition
using pollen to understand a sequence over a long period of time.
Term
dendrochronology
Definition
tree ring dating (form of absolute dating)
Term
radiocarbon dating
Definition
dev. in 1940s, more absolute, can get within a specific time window (ex. 400 +-100yrs)
Term
fieldwork
Definition
search for archaeological sites in the landscape through surveys and excavations
Term
GPR (ground penetrating radar)
Definition
instrument for remote sensing of buried structures through the use of radar maps of subsoil features
Term
bioturbation
Definition
activities of plants and animals that disturb archaeological materials
Term
primary context
Definition
an object found in its original location
Term
provenience
Definition
the place of origin for archaeological materials
Term
primate
Definition
order of animals that includes monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, apes, and humans
Term
hominoidea
Definition
the taxonomic group that includes the human and ape members of the primates
Term
paleoanthropology
Definition
branch of anthropology that combines archaeology and physical anthropology to study the biological and behavioral remains of the hominins
Term
cutmark
Definition
trace left on a bone by a stone or metal tool used in butchering a carcass
Term
percussion flaking
Definition
technique for producing stone artifacts by striking or knapping a crystalline stone with a hammer
Term
flake
Definition
a type of stone artifact produced by removing a piece from a core of a rock through chipping
Term
hammerstone
Definition
stone used to knock flakes from cores
Term
debitage
Definition
all the pieces of shatter and flakes produced and not used when stone tools are made
Term
flint
Definition
a fine-grained, crystalline stone that fractures in a regular pattern, producing sharp edged flakes
Term
assemblage
Definition
the set of artifacts and other remains found at a site or within a level of a site
Term
lithic
Definition
pertaining to stone or rock
Term
handaxe
Definition
large, teardrop-shaped stone tool bifacially flaked to a point at one end and a broader face at the other
Term
achuelean
Definition
major archaeological culture of the lower Paleolithic, named after the site of St. Acheul in France
Term
clactonian
Definition
term used for assemblages from the lower paleolithic, lacking handaxes and characterized by large flakes with heavy retouching and notches.
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