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115 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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4 types of discard behavior
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1. reuse
2. lateral cycling 3.recycling 4. secondary use |
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reuse
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continued use of the same artifacts for the same purpose for which it was originally designed without having entered the archaeolgical record
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lateral cycling
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recovery of artifacts from AR, no change in form, reuse for the same purpose as originally designed
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recycling
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recovery of artifacts from the archaelogical record, modification of form, use for different purpose as originaly designed
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secondary use
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recovery of artifacts from the archaeolgical record, NO modification of form, use for different purposes than originaly designed
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construction
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inadvertent damage to archaeolgical sites
-Cultural Resource Management archaeolgy - survey to make sure no archaeolgical sites will be affected by construction |
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vandalism
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deliberate targeting of archaeolgical sites or objects for destruction
-ex. taliban destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 -Pharoh Tothmosis III defaces Hathshepsuts monuments |
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Zipf principle
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given the choice people will take the action that requires the least effort
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looting
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removing artifacts from archaeolgical sites
-looting of sites in Iraq after US invasion |
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stratigraphy and principle of superposition
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number levels from the surface down, the highest number (lowest level) is the oldest
-this is complicated because sediments move around |
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reverse stratigraphy
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older sediments ending up on top of younger ones
-can happen if someone digs a hole and leaves the dirt next to the hole -also caused by earthquakes |
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correlating straigraphy
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helps you establish the relative ages of different sites
-similarly colored soils or types of artifacts at two sites might indicate that two levels are from the same era |
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Case study: Piltdown Man
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-skull shape similar to modern humans, teeth were very apelike, which suggested that modern brain evolved beofre modern face shape
-mandible wasnt even fossilized, was the jaw of an orangutan! -HOAX! |
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index fossils
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a type of biostratigraphy that is used to cerrelate sediments from different deposits
-not all specimens make good index fossils -pigs good -hippos bad |
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seriation
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refers to the ordering of artifact-types through tike
-automobile designs or stone-bronze axe design -terminus post quem- "date after which" |
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occurence seriation
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looks at presence/absence of particular "indext fossil" artifacts
-kind of like biostratigraphy for inanimate objects |
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Case study: Predynastic pottery from Abydos, Egypt
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-Sir WM Flinders Petrie
-pots buried with each skeleton -principle of superpostion while excavating to map out how different kinds of pots occured in time -worked out a sequence of pottery types through time - people working on this time period would now know what time periods their site was from if they had examples of pottery |
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frequncy seriation
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looks at the relative frequency of different artifact- types in assemblage
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Case study" James Deetz's study of changes in 18th- 19th century New England gravestone designs
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-great example because they have dates on them!
-carvings on the stone can help you date them to a general period ex. death's heads, cherub, urn and willow -distribution of designs tracks the breakdown of early puritan religion |
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battleship curve
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the frequency seriation of anything follws a predictable pattern that looks like a battleship from above
inception: where it first appears acme: distribution is the broadest decline: becoming less common |
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Radiocarbon dating
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-nitrogen 14 exists in the upper atmospher, and can be transformed into carbon 14
-carbon 14 is absorbed in all living organisms -once and organism dies it stops absorbing C 14 and decays into C12 -can track date based on half life of carbon -they are statistical estimates of the age of a sample |
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half life
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the amount of time needed for 50% of the parent isotope to decay into daughter isotope
-there is a limit to how far back this can be applied (~40,000 years) |
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2 methods for measuring C14 content of a sample
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1.beta particle counting
2. accelerator mass spectrometry |
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beta-particle counting
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-cheap, requires large samples, destructive, takes a long time
-at many sites, you wont find objects large enough to take a sample this large for dating |
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accelerator mass spectrometry
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-expensive, requires small samples (less destructive), quick, more accurate
-often sent to a professional firm who maintains equipment |
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known problems with radiocarbon dating
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1. radiocarbon dating assumes that the rate at which C14 is produced in the atmosphere is constant over time, it isnt
2. radiocarbon dates must be recalibrated into calendar years 3.when people burn coal, it mixes old dead carbon from the Mesozoic in, confusing your dating |
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dendochronolgy
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used to date trees based on tree rings
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speleothems
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carbonate rocks that form in caves
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callibration curve
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graph incorporating atmospheric C 14 levels which can be used to convert radiocarbon dates to actual calendar years
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Radiopotassium dating
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-can be used to date volcanic materials
-used for primarily very OLD sites, hominid sites -paleomagnetism: instances when the earth's magnetic field flipped from north to south |
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other dating methods
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-uranium-series dating, luminescence, fission-track, electrom spin resonance
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Scales of measurement
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chronological:
nominal-"columbus day" ordinal- morning, afternoon, evening interval-monday tuesday (equal length) ratio-10:35:02 AM (can have theoretically infinite precision -if you change the scale of time measurement, you can change the kinds of questions you can ask of the evidence |
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geological periods
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-begin and end at the same time everywhere
-based on major climatic/environmental changes -goal of dividing up time is to break up time into homogenous and meaningful units |
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cultural periods
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-begins and ends at different times in different places
-based on the changes in the contents of asseblages |
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cultural sequences
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-differ between regions
-bronze age did not happen in sub-saharan africa because bronze never got there -neither bronze age mor iron age in australia to define a period, you want to pick a technology that is relatively common which exists as a signature of that period |
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Bronze Age
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-occured during different time periods in the near east and central europe
-not likely to find finished, beautiful bronze tools, more likely broken tools |
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relative chronolgy
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putting things into sequence, ALL archaeologist use this in essentially the same ways
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absolute dating
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how much time seperates certain events, generalized among archaeologists, most used the same methods
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periodization
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once you have order and age, dividing up the record into blocks of time, variable among archaeologists
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scientific models
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how archaeologists and other scientists describe reality (including the environment)
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iconic models
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represent appearance, reproduces the appearance of your data
-ex a painting of ice age european fauna |
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analog models
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represents function, how something operated relative to something now
-ex. climate in Israel during the ice age was like the climate now in central turkey |
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symbolic models
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represents structure, mathematical or systematic relationships
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LH Agassiz reconstruction of Ice age
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proposed that a huge ice age had covered the earth from pole to pole to explain the presence of large boulders that he observed around the earth
-didnt know the cause thought it occured only once |
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Penck and Bruckner
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proposed that multiple ice ages had occured based on the formation of moraines-long rigged hills which marked the end point of glaciation
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Shakleton and Emiliani
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continuous glaciation model, confirmed with several different kinds of evidence
-glaciation is a continuous process and we have had many ice ages |
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interglacials
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warm periods in between glaciations
-landscapes can change in a short time! |
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how do we use foraminifera?
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extract an ocean core and take samples of foramenifera
-establish the age of samples -measure ratios of O |
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Results of Shakleton and Emiliani's ice cores
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-plot of changing O isotope compostion shows fluctuation over time
-more recent dramatic shifts compared to past -helps to predict climate patterns -glaciations driven by variation in the earth's orbit around the sun, position of the continents and circulation of earth's oceans |
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Why can digging in caves be important?
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-helps reconstruct regional environments
-artifacts are well preserved -ex. La Ferrassie Cave, France: reflects variation in microclimates in vicinity of cave |
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Cave formation process
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1. start with a layer of softer sediment in the middle of two harder sediments
2. erosion, roof erodes, caves in |
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Eboulis
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diffenren in cave sediment
-dcomposed bedrock, usually from the cave seiling 1. angular eboulis- process of freezing and drying causes particles to for ceiling caves 2. rounded eboulis- rocks that fall to cave floor during wet periods |
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palynology
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study of fossil pollen
-Iversen noticed that after people started farming in Europe, elm pollen levels plummet and never recover |
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swidden
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slash and burn agriculture, clearing forest for farmland by burning it down
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coppicing
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cuttinng newly growing elm branches and sorting them for cattle fodder
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site catchment analysis
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Pioneered by Claudio Vita- Finzi and Erig Higgs
-focuses on resources in local environs of archaeological site |
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microfauna
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fossil remains of small animals like insects, molscs, or rodents
-valuable bc they cant migrate long distances, good indicators of local environments |
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commensals
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microfauna that have adapted specifically to eenvironments created by humans
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Case study: sedentism and agriculture in the Near East
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-most archaeologist beleive that agriculture was necessary for people to become sedentary
-natufian (pre agriculture) -Neolithic( post sedentism) -but there is evidence for sedentism in the natufian, houses with stone lined foundation |
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Which came first sedentism or agriculture?
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-microfaunal remains help answer this question
Eitan Tchernov proposed using commensal mammal remains to solve the agriculture-sedentism question about the natufian |
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Eitan Tchernov experiment ag/sedentism
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-did experiment in modern setting, setting traps in urban, agricultural, and seasonally occupied human settlements
-argued that the dominanace of house mouse, house sparrow, indicated humans have become sedentary enough for our garbage to sustain them -showed that Natufian settlements were permament, settlement preceded agriculture |
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tools vs. technological strategies
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-tools are static objects (cannot evolve)
-technological strategies are sets of decisions humans make about how to make, use tools (strategies evolve) -ex potters wheel -humans are not the only animals that use tools, but we use tools far more regularly and for more purposes than any other animal |
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four components of any technological strategy
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materials
tools actions technical knowledge |
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primary tools
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tools used for securing and processing foodm other basic purposes
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secondary tools
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tools used to make other tools
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how do humans learn technology?
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through imitation
-particular sequence of gestures provides clues about the culture |
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theory about tools
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diff groups of humans might make similar tools, but it is unlikely that diff and seperate groups whoul make them using identical operation sequences
-Exception: simple tools for which there is a high likelihood of convergent technological strategies -culture contaact or adaptive convergence |
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acheulean hand axes
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seem to have been used for quick butcherym but quickly gummed up with fat and muscles
-prolly not first technology (wooden tools) |
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main sources of information about stone tools
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mechanics
ethnography experimentation wear pattern analysis |
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chonchoidal fracture
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shell shaped fracture of a stone tool
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conditions necessary for choncoidal fracture
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1. brittle fracture
2.isotropy- force passes equally through the material ina any direction 3. cryptocrystalline- rock crystals are invisible to naked eye 4. silicate-composed primarily of quartz |
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ethnography of stone tool usage
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-Australian Aborigines made stone tools until recently
-north american stone tools production flintknapping comes from the last survivor of CA Yashi tribe |
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problems with ethnography of stone tool technology: inadequate description
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few cultural anthroppologists know about stone tool technology
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problems with ethnography of stone tool technology:small sample sizes
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few groups remain who make stone tools, and they typically do so for only a limited range of tasks
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problems with ethnography of stone tool technology:memory culture
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stone tool users are often older individuals, whose memories are not always accurate
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problems with ethnography of stone tool technology:bad information
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information may be fabricated or culturally biased
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basic terms in flint knapping
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hammerstone- used to strike
flake-flat peices detached from rock core- peice of rock left behind when flakes are removed flake scar- surface left when a flake is detached |
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Bordes' methods for recognizing stone tool use
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1. hard hammer percussion- striking with a hard hammer like a rock
2. soft hammer percussion- striking with a softer object like and antler 3. pressure flaking- smaller, finer flaking |
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In-class flint knapping demo: important message
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1. tools do not take long to make, thus no incentive to hang onto
2. you can tell a lot about the tool by flakes left behind, a hammerstones arent that valuable 3. simple unretouched flakes are highly effective butchery knives |
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experiment vs. eperience
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few archaeologists are competent at making or using stone tools; hard to evaluate results of experiments
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rudimentary skill levels
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those archaeologists who do flintknap rarely obtain the same level of proficiency as prehistoric craftsmen
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experimental controls and documentation
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many experiments are anecdotal, few published enough detail to evaluate them
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triviality with stone tool experimentation
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may just be exploring things that dont actually matter
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waer/trace analysis
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tries to reconstruct tools from microscopic fractures, striations etc
-Sergei Semenov first documented microwear patterns to interpret prehistoric fossil -Lawrence Keeley developed modern methods of recording polish variations |
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Sickle polish
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the wear pattern that results from cutting silica- rich grasses like wheat and barley
-people harvesting grasses before cultivating them as cereals |
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problems with wear patter analysis
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1. subjective interpretation- objective measurement of wear analysis is expensive and time consuming
2. ambiguitiy- not all tool uses leave unambiguous wear traces 3. equifinality-diff tools leave similar wear traces 4. preservation- trampling can erase, alter, and imitate some polishes |
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Prof. Shea: Levalloi points usage
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-made replicas of points and hafted them to handles
-wounds were deep and large showing effectiveness; possible doesnt equal probable -1999 Umm El Tlete, Syria: levallois point embedded in vervical of ass |
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subsistence
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how people eat/ get energy from the environment
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Evidence for acquiring food
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-stone sickle blades are highly visible bc of polishes left behind
-stone arrowheads less visible because they break -variability doesnt mean one tool was used more than the other, just that one preserves better |
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evidence for preparing food
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-variable
-grinding stones visible bc they are large, made of stone and used at habitation sites |
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evidence for distributing amd storing food
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-very visible!
-ceramic bowls; shape lends function -ancient storage-Greek amphorae -modern storage vessels- metal cans, plastic bottles instead of ceramic, but similar shape -ancient cooking - exhibit heating damage, and cooling -ancient serving vessels- open and flat, to display food, decorative -ancient ceremonial vessels- elaborate and impractical designs, female imagery |
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evidence for food remains
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zooarchaeology and paleoethnobotany
-rarely preserved, mostly animal bones and carbonized plants |
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Zooarchaeology ex. Israel
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ex. hippo skeleton in israel
-Dr. Sabine Gaudzinski determined scratches on bone were lions teeth not stone tools; suggest human left hippo for carnivore, and were not able to drive away carnivores |
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zooarchaeology
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reconstruct whcih animals humans ate and how they acquired them
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zooarchaeology: body part analysis
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useful to figure out the utility of different parts of the animal
- somepart have greater caloric content -can help archaeologists see the decisions hunters made about what parts of the animal were valuabel |
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zooarchaeology: breakage analysis, fracture patterns
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spiral fracture: bones tend to fracture diagonally and have sharp edges and points
lateral fracture: dry bones break at a 90 degree angle -V shapes stone tools -U shaped carnivores |
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Ex of zooarchaeological analysis
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Henry Bunn discovers cut marks on bones from early human sites at Olduvai
-carnivore markes on meat bearing limbs -stone tool marks on prox and dis ends - indicates humans scavenging meat for carnivore kills |
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paleoethnobotany
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analysis of plant microfossils
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domestication
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when humans take control of reproduction of another species and adapt that species to human needs
-rachis- holds the cereal grain to the stalk -gradually cultivated cereal grasses inherited the genes for thick, tough rachises |
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analysis of bones
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1. bones remodel itself during life
2. variation win what we eat influences bone compostion 3. can help tell the type of diet of a societ |
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Bone chemistry (Nitrogen)
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1. nitrogen levels in bone are higher in higher trophic levels
(carnivores most, herbivores least) 2. humans eat a little of everything (hard to tell diet) |
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Bone chemistry (carbon)
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-reflects greater or lesser consumption of grasses or animals that eat grasses, such as horses and sheep
-carbon varies more than nitrogen |
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Isotopic analysis of diet
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Herve Bocherens published C13/N14 data for neandertaals
-plotted isotop rations of various animal bones -high values of C and N for neandertaals suggest thery were highly carnivorous -ate mainly terrestrial foos |
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symbolic behavior
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using objects to convey symbolic information that has meaning
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exosomatic symbols
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symbols outside of the body used to express status , ethnicity, social roles, gender, emotional states
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personal adornments
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we can learn by studying culture
-sometimes we dont know what symbols mean -some we know because its part of our daily experience |
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problems with symbols and meaning
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-linkages are arbitrary
-archaeologist who work in recent time periods can often interpret symbols from past societies by linkin gthem to symbols used by historic cultures |
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phonogram
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symbol that stands for sounds
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pictogram
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symbol that stands for a tangible object
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ideogram
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the symbol stands for an abstract concept
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H. Martin Wobst
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argues that artifacts used as ymbols are most useful in communicating with srangers, people who share the same cultural beleifs, but who are not intimate acquintances
-people from completely different cultures that dont share common cultural beleifs may not understand the same symbols |
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problems with use of exosomatic symbols
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Imitation!
-individuals can "sham" membership in a group by acquiring the symbols that signify membership |
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costly signaling theory
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using expensive/ risky symbolic behavior to advertise status, affiliations, fitness as a possible mate
-king tut: burying precious items preserves value -ancient societies regulating kinds of clothing people from diff social classes could wear -symbolic artifact made out of expensive material so non elites couldnt "sham" |
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symbol use varies
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-most societies had multiple and complex usage of strategies
-people used exosomatic symbols creatively much as we do today |
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Case study in creative symbol use: The "maya" of the Ulalua Valley, Honduras
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-classic maya civ
-effective at warfare -complex writing system very difficult to translate -study aided by computers can now read much of maya writing --mostly wrote about elite lineages religous events, military conquests -valley lies betwee maya civ and non maya neighbors: late classic pottery features non-grammatical Maya writing -- Rosemary joyce argues attempt of non maya to appear maya (more powerful) to non maya neighbors |
