Term
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Definition
| The study of human cultures through recovery, documentation, preservation, and analysis |
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Term
| What are the sub fields of Anthropology? |
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Definition
• Linguistic
• Physical
• Anthropological
• Cultural |
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Term
| How is Archaeology Dynamic? (There is a specific diagram you should know) |
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Definition
• Theories
• Discoveries in the field
• Research methods |
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Term
| What types of sub fields exist in Archaeology? Describe them |
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Definition
Experimental Archaeology
The recreation and replication of processes involving material culture
Ethnoarchaeology
Looking at modern populations to create models or inferences about past populations
The study of contemporary cultures with a view to understanding the behavioral relationships which underlie the production of material culture
Mexican Archaeology
African American Archaeology
Archaeology of Children |
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Term
| What four kinds of Archaeology exist, according to Reid, et al.?(Diagram) |
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Definition
•Present–present → use of the present to study the present
•Past–present → use of the past to study the present
•Past–past → use of the past to study the past (ex: written documents, pottery, etc.)
•Present–past → use the present to study the past (analogy) |
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Term
| What is taphonomy? Name four types of taphonomic processes. |
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Definition
How the objects were buried and what happens to them after they were buried
•Sand Erosion
•Water Erosion
•Wet Preservation
•Cold Preservation |
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Term
| How is Archaeology connected to the other sub fields of Anthropology (i.e. how does physical anthropology contribute?) |
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Definition
| Physical anthropology connects to archaeology in that archaeologists use the tools of physical archaeology to reveal evidence the past |
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Term
| Why should archaeologists study modern material culture? (Reid, Rathje AND Ethnoarchaeology) |
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Definition
| Archaeologists should study modern material culture because it gives us insight to the present and the future |
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Term
| What is Material Culture? |
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Definition
Anything we use to manipulate the world around us
Human beings perceive and understand the material things around them as they have learned to from their culture.
Archaeologists try to understand the general articulation of past human societies by inferring what the less permanent aspects of cultures may have been like from the material record they have left behind. |
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Term
| What is the difference between a hierarchical and egalitarian society. What examples have we talked about? |
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Definition
Hierarchical is a seperation of classes where there is power both at the top and the bottom
Egalitarian is a society where everyone is equal. For example, the tribe in Africa where the English would give a hat to a designated person to govern over the land when they were gone and when they came back the entire tribe had shared the hat |
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Term
| How does empiricism and theory work in Archaeology? |
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Definition
| Empiricism is a theory of knowledge emphasizing the role of experience and evidence in the formation of ideas, while discounting theories |
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Term
| What is the difference between a site and a feature? |
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Definition
Site – the place
Feature – something (i.e. an artifact) that cannot be moved or removed from the site (ex: a stone wall) |
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Term
| What are the two types of dating? Name three methods for each type. |
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Definition
Relative Dating -(Stratigraphy, Typological Sequences, Climate & Chronology)
Absolute Dating -(Dendochronology, C14, Historical Documents) |
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Term
| What is the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative data? |
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Definition
Qualitative → descriptive data
Quantitative → numbers |
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Term
| What are the three types of Methodology? |
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Definition
Survey
Excavation (Phase 1, 2, & 3)
Post-excavation analysis (Analysis, Curation, Publication) |
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Term
| What is palynology, and what type of dating could it be a part of? |
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Definition
| Study of pollen & Relative Dating |
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Term
| What is Dendrochronology? How does it work? |
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Definition
| Dendrochronology is the dating of past events (climatic changes) through study of tree ring growth |
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Term
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Definition
Geological principle or concept that if things happen in the past a certain way they’re probably happening now in the same way
Certain things are uniform through time
The assumption that the natural processes operating in the past are the same as those that can be observed operating in the present |
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Term
| What are the pros and cons of Contract Archaeology? |
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Definition
Pros: paid, sponsorship
Cons: limited to what they want |
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Term
| Susan Kent uses which type of archaeology to conduct her research? What does she do with it? |
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Definition
| Susan Kent is n ethonoarchaeologist who uses experimental archaeology (present-past) |
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Term
| What is the difference between the “New Archaeology” and “MultiVocality”? |
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Definition
“New Archaeology” → processualism (very scientific, studies dominant group)
“Multivocality” → post-processualism (more point-of-view, starting from another vantage point) |
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Term
| Describe Archeological Field Survey technique |
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Definition
| Archaeological site surveying is the process of locating and initially evaluating sites in a given area |
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Term
| Describe archaeological Excavation technique. |
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Definition
| It is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains |
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Term
| Are Historical Documents good or bad for an archaeologist? |
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Definition
| Historical documents are both good and bad. They are good because we are able to learn from a first-hand account of what was going on during the time period. However, it is also bad because it is very one-sided and limits what we are able to know. |
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Term
| How does dendrochronology work? |
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Definition
| For the entire period of a tree's life, a year-by-year record or ring pattern is formed that reflects the climatic conditions in which the tree grew. Adequate moisture and a long growing season result in a wide ring. A drought year may result in a very narrow one. |
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Term
| What is the difference between Prehistoric, Ethnohistoric and historic time periods? Are they mutually exclusive? |
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Definition
Prehistoric – refers to a time before writing
Ethnohistoric – a person from a different culture writing about another culture which in turn documents history example: when the Spanish invaded the gulf region and wrote about it
Historic – a culture’s collection of writings to document history
Prehistoric, ethnohistoric, and historic are not mutually exclusive because there are people who are not writing about their culture while others do write about their culture |
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Term
| How can Status be reflected through Zooarchaeology? |
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Definition
In the past those that ate good food, rare foods, or a lot of protein (like cows and other livestock) were higher class and archaeologists discover this through the clues they find
ex: slavery video |
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