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108 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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How do archaeologists find sites? |
-Archaeological survey is needed -By accident -Historical documents -Toponyms (place names) -Aerial surveys (right conditions needed) -Fieldwalking surveys -Ground Penetrating Radar |
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Aerial survey |
Method used to detect and record arcahaeological evidence present on or beneath the ground by airborne sensing methods. -aerial photography -infrared film -satellite scanners -geographic information systems |
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Surface/fieldwalking survey |
An ideal method for looking at the distribution of sites across the landscape. |
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Ground penetrating radar |
A technique that sends sonar waves down into the ground and then measures how long they take to come up with in order to determine what is buried below the surface without actually excavating. |
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How do archaeologists excavate sites? |
Penetrating excavations= deeps probes of surface deposits. main vertical thrust and their principle objective is to reveal the depth, sequencing and composition of archaeological remains. Includes test pits, trenches, and tunnels. Clearing excavations= aim primarily at the horizontal investigation of deposits. Main thrust is outward or across and their principle objective is to reveal the horizontal extent of an archaeological deposit and the arrangement of objects within the deposit. |
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Strata/stratum |
The word used by archaeologists for levels of soil. |
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Law of superposition |
The principle that in undisturbed contexts, lower strata arenecessarily older than strata higher up. |
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Penetrating/Vertical excavations |
Excavations that reveal the vertical dimensions of archaeological deposits to define the depth, sequence, and composition of buried data. |
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Clearing/Horizontal excavations |
This type of excavation clears off a large area of a site for one level, but has little time depth. |
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How are archaeological sites formed? (Stratified vs. Non-stratified site) |
Stratified: formed by multiple/continuous occupation (only one who used vertical excavation)
Non-stratified: one or a short period of occupation basically leaving no layers |
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Tell |
A Near Eastern term that refers to a mound site formed through successive human occupation over a long time span. |
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How do houses reveal the way people think? (Deetz) |
Through the meanings and social and utilitarian implications they represented
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Academic vs. Vernacular architecture |
Academic architecture= display popular values and ideology, more individual (Georgian) Vernaculararchitecture= not a specific plan, no prestige, folk values and ideology |
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What different ways are there for archaeologists to obtain relative and absolute dates? |
Relative Dating: -stratigraphy -law of superposition -typology -seriations Absolute Dating: -historical texts -typologies with relative dates -three ring dating -radiometric dating |
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Relative vs. Absolute dating |
Relative Dating= The form of dating in which the actual age of an object is not determined, but rather simply whether an object is older or more recent than another object. Giving a date not fixed. Absolute/chromatic Dating= determination of age using a specific time scale, as in years before present (B.P) or according to a fixed calendar. Giving a fixed date. |
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Direct vs. Indirect dating |
Direct Dating= Determination of the age of archaeological data by analysis of the artifact, ecofact, or feature itself. Indirect Dating= Determination of the age of archaeological data by using its association with a matrix or object of known age. |
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Typology and Seriation |
Typology= The groupings of artifacts based upon their stylistic characteristics. Seriation= Techniques used to order materials in a relative dating sequence in such a way that adjacent items can in the series are more similar to each other than to items farther apart in the series |
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Tree ring dating (dendrochronology) |
The study of tree-ring growth pattern, which are linked to develop a continuous chronological sequence. |
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Radiometric dating |
A variety of absolute dating technique based on the transformation of unstable radioactive isotopes into stable elements. |
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Radiocarbon Dating (Carbon 14) |
A radiometric dating technique based on measuring the decay of the radioactive isotope of carbon (C14) to stable nitrogen (N14). |
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Half-Life |
The time (in years) when half of all the radioactive atoms will have decayed into other elements. |
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What are the advantages/disadvantages of different dating techniques? |
many |
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Terminus Post Quem |
The term for the earliest possible date given to an archaeological find, feature, or context. associate with the latest artifact. |
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Terminus Ante Quem |
The latest possible date given to an archaeological find, feature, or context. associated with the absence of stuff
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Ethnoarchaeology |
The study of contemporary societies, generally non-Western, in order to understand the relationship between people and the material record. |
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Experimental archaeology |
Studies designed to aid archaeological interpretation by attempting to duplicate behavioral processes experimentally under carefully controlled conditions |
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What threats are there to archaeological sites today? |
Looting, urban expansion, intentional destruction. |
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Cultural Resource Management (CRM), Professional Archaeology |
The conservation and selective investigation of prehistoric and historic remains; specifically, the development of ways and means, including legislation, to safeguard the past. |
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How does archaeology become involved in modern politics and the creation of modern political identities? What are the problems potentially associated with this? |
through the use id archaeological evidence to form national identities which furthers an agenda which may cause problems if the agenda is oppressive and tyrannic
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What are the three different approaches to explaining things in the past? |
Cultural history interpretation: 1900s-1960s. descriptive. basic interpretations. inevitable variation. little analysis. cultural invention. diffusion. Problem: dates are constructed as data, and diffusion becomes inaccurate with carbon dating New Archaeology/Processualinterpretation: 1960s-present. ecological, materialist (looking at human ideas/material explanations that cause change), multilinear evolution. focus on why cultures change w/a scientific approach. systems models. cultural ecology. "Emergent" (post-processual) interpretations: people are active thinking agents w/culture. emphasis on ideological. ideological: things change because of systems of thought not bc of the environment. Societies are not stable: divided at times by class and gender distinctions. |
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Inevitable variation |
The premise that all cultures vary and change over time without specific cause; a general and unsatisfactory descriptive model sometimes implied in cultural historical explanations |
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Cultural invention |
The origin of new cultural forms within a society whether by accident or design. |
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Diffusion vs. migration |
Diffusion= Transmission of ideas from one culture to another, in the models for the ancient Mediterranean/Europe/Middle East,the flow of ideas is usually from East to West. Migration= Movement of human populations from one are to another, usually resulting in cultural contact. |
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Systems Model |
An organization that functions through the interdependence of its parts |
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Cultural Ecology |
The study of the dynamic interaction between human society and its environment. |
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Multilinear Evolution vs. Unilinear Evolution |
Multilinear Evolution= divided human social complexity into Band, Tribe, Chiefdom, State. sees society pursuing an individual evolutionary career shaped by accumulated specific cultural adaptations rather than seeing all societies as pursuing the same course. Unilinear Evolution= divided human social complexity into Savage, Barbarism, Civilization. The view that all societies change according to a fixed evolutionary course, passing through the same stages. |
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A feminist-oriented approach in archaeology is generally part of what of the three archaeological approaches to interpretation. |
Emergent/Post-processual |
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Focusing on class conflict and social inequality is a characteristic of this approach in archaeology. |
Marxist approach |
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Crop Marks
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The distinctive marks noticed above in fields that can indicate the presence of buried structures. |
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Frequency seriation |
The discussion of tombstones in colonial New England by James Deetz involved this kind of seriation. A relative dating technique in which artifacts or other archaeological data are chronologically ordered by ranking their relative frequencies to conform battleship-shaped curves (a lens graph representing changes in artifact type frequencies over time from origin, to expanding popularity, decline, and, finally, disappearance) |
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According to UN conventions, if an object can be proven to have been removed illegally from a country after this date, it must be returned. |
1970- UNESCO convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import export and transfers of ownership of cultural property. countries who sign this agreement have the right to ask for the return of any object since 1970 |
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This archaeological site was the center of a conflict of interpretation between the government of Rhodesia and local peoples. |
Great Zimbabwe |
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Emergent/Post-processual |
Archaeological interpretation aimed at understanding the past by reconstructing the point of view of past peoples who produced the archaeological record. |
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Forensic Anthropology |
The study of human skeletal remains from legal contexts. |
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Bioarchaeology |
The study of human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts. |
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Why do archaeologists want to excavate/disturb human remains? |
They want to excavate/disturb human remains bc of the (reliable) information they hold |
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What can we learn from excavating human remains? |
We can learn about religious beliefs and worldviews, ethnic and cultural identity, social status, gender roles, biological sex of individual, age of individual, stature, disease, health, diet and nutrition of the individual, work and activity of individual over lifetime, and trauma and cause of death. |
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Why is excavating human remains controversial? |
Excavating human remains is controversial bc the body means different things to different people. It can often be a sacred part of someone's culture. |
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NAGPRA (what is it and why is it important?) |
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 1990, guarantees repatriation only to federally recognized tribes. The three categories that fall under NAGPRA are human remains, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. |
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What does NAGPRA say? |
Purpose is “to address the rights oflineal descendants, Indian tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations to Native American cultural items, including human remains, funerary objects, sacredobjects, and objects of cultural patrimony." |
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Kennewick Man controversy |
The name of the skeleton found in the western United States that has provoked a number of court cases related to NAGPRA.Asatru FolkAssembly sued for ownership of skeleton, claiming the Kennewick man was theirEuropean ancestor |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying: biological sex |
Examining the pelvic bone, the bone that is the most informative when looking at the sex of theindividual skeleton. As well as by looking at protrusions on the skull |
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Porotic hyperostosis |
Presence of Porotic hyperostosis = iron deficiency anemia. It is most noted in The parietal bones of the skull, teeth. |
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Cribra Orbitalia |
Pitting or porous growth on the undersides of the eye sockets. tied to porotic hyperostosis |
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Periostitis |
Evidence of periostitis on the bone is evidence of infections. inflammation of periosteum, from infections. mark of poor hygiene |
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Hypoplasia (linear enamel) |
Patterns of interrupted deposition of enamel on the teeth, evidence of malnutrition or disease |
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Dental Caries |
evidence in skeleton for different types of diet. produced by bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates esp. sugar |
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Osteoarthritis |
reveals lifestyle and workload, also affected by climate, genetics and other projects |
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What conclusions did Larsen make concerning the transition from hunting-gathering to farming, based upon the physical evidence of skeletons? |
Larsen concluded that the transition from hunting-gathering to farming is that humans began expereienceing more illness such as dental caries, hypoplasia, periosititis, and Porotic hyperostosis but workload lessened |
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How did Deetz relate creolization to his structuralist approach? |
d |
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Creolization |
The interaction between two or more cultures to produce an integrated mixwhich is different from its antecedents. |
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What aspects of life in African communities in the United States showed evidence of creolization? |
Burials, houses, and dishes. |
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What was the African Burial Ground in New York City and why was it important? |
The remains of an African burial ground for slaves in the 1600's. Displayed the poor conditions in which slaves lived in. We seek to reverse the false histories that deny theAfrican material contributions to the building of the Western world. |
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Holism |
The idea that the whole is larger than the sum of its parts, and that anyexplanation must take into account the totality of factors. |
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Anthropology |
The study of human societies of both the past and the present,including their social, cultural, and biological aspects. |
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Pseudoarchaeology |
offers astonishing and incorrect information. typically motivated by money |
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Synchronic |
The study of one specific moment or period in time, rather thanlong-term history. |
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Diachronic |
the study of multiple periods of time |
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Cultural Evolution |
Unilinear cultural evolution: The model developed by Lewis Henry Morgan of a progression in humansocieties from “savagery” to “barbarism” to “civilization” |
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Culture History |
The school of archaeological interpretation popular in the first half ofthe 20thcentury that emphasized a descriptive approach |
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New Archaeology (Processual) |
1960's-present humans adapt to env. predictive scientific or science based |
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“Postprocessual” |
Feminism, Marxism This type of archaeological interpretation was a reaction to the scientific focus on archaeologists in the 1970’s – 1980’s. |
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Artifacts |
Any portable object that is used, modified, or made by humans. |
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Ecofacts |
Non-artifactual organic and environmental remains which have cultural relevance. |
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Features |
A non-portable artifact |
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Sites |
spatial clusters of artifacts, features, and ecofacts |
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Behavioral Processes (Deposition) vs. Transformational Processes (Preservation) |
behavioral processes: consist of 4 consecutive stages: acquisition , manufacture, use, and deposition while transformational processes begins after material remains have been deposited include: changes by natural agents and changes caused by humans |
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Matrix |
The physical material within which artifacts are embedded or supported. |
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Provenience |
a 3D location of any kind of archaeological data within the matrix |
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Association |
refers to 2 or more artifacts occurring together in the same matrix |
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Context |
evaluation of archaeological data based on both behavioral and tranformational processes |
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Cultural Landscape (Palimpsest) |
the land and how people interpret it, (palimpsest, something where things are put on top of another in history) |
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Absolute Time and Space |
The chronological, physical realities as they are measured. |
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Relative/RelationalTime and Space |
The idea of a landscape, without specifically locating it within a fixed time and space. Such as through maps, or calendars. |
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Representational Time and Space |
Encoding with rich cultural symbols and values. An idea of the landscape. |
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Antiquarian |
A nonprofessional who studies the past for its artistic or culturalvalue. |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:age |
By looking at the fusion of growth plates of theindividual or teeth eruption (the most reliable). Using the fusion of long bones, cranial suturesLooking atpresence/absence of osteoarthritis: common on spine |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:stature |
Measuring the long bones of a skeleton can indicate stature. |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:disease |
Through the presence of periostitis |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:health and nutrition |
Evidence inskeleton for malnutrition: irondeficiency anemia:deficiency in diet, chronic diarrhea, blood loss, parasites… Through Porotic hyperostosis, cibra orbitalia Periostitis |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:work and activity over time |
evidence of osteoarthritis: poor nutrition, strenuous activity and long life span. |
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Physical anthropology techniques for identifying:trauma and cause of death. |
evidence of broken bones and then healing |
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Where did the shotgun style house first appear in the United States? |
New Orleans |
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Colono Ware |
Ceramics made by enslaved African communities which reflected Africancooking traditions |
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The individuals buried in the African Burial Ground in New York Citywere almost always laid out in this alignment. |
East-West |
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The shotgun style house has its roots inparticular among this group of people in Western Africa. |
Yoruba |
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Parting Ways |
The name of the small settlement excavated by James Deetz inMassachusetts that showed evidence of creolization with African culture. |
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A heightened number of dental caries in prehistoric populations cansometimes be indicator of over reliance on this crop. |
Corn (Maize) |
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The skeletons excavated from the African Burial Ground in New York Citywere ultimately studied by this university. |
Howard University |
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Repatriation |
The return of human remains back to its descendant community |
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Something found sometimes in certain mines that can help preserveorganic materials. |
Salt |
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With the Georgian Revolution, there was a new emphasis in colonialAmerica on these two types of ceramics |
Plates and channi |
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According to Deetz, the Georgian Revolution brought a change fromemphasis on the corporate group to the: |
Individual |
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This kind of ceramic is the lowest fired of the three types. |
Earthenware |
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The method used by archaeologists for recovering ecofacts that areoften not visible during excavations |
Flotation |
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Historical Archaeology |
The archaeology of the spread of European cultures throughout theworld, and their impact and interaction on indigenous peoples. |
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Harris Matrix |
a system of numbering units of statigraphy in order to show their statrigraphical relationships
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Most reliable and accurate absolute dating method? |
dendorochronology |
