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57 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Strata |
Layers of human or geological origin |
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What is a problem of strata? |
Natural events, human/animal behaviour can alter the stratigraphic profile (intrusions) |
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What kind of less fragile material is preserved? |
Stone, iron, bronze, baked clay |
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What kind of more fragile material is preserved? |
Wood & plant fibers, leather & fabric. Anything organic is likely to decay |
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Name the extreme sites |
1) hot, dry climates ex: Egypt, peru 2) cold climates (refrigerate, dry out) 3) oxygen free sites ex: volcanic eruptions, mudslides, peat bogs, underwater |
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Relative dating |
Determine objects to be younger or older relative to other objects. Material is then arranged in a temporal sequence |
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What are the problems of relative dating? |
It doesn't include how long ago a sequence began or how long a sequence lasted |
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Absolute (chronometric) dating |
Laboratory analysis of artifacts or other material recovered from a site. Assigns an age in years to material evidence. Considered an absolute date |
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Seriation |
Ordering artifacts through time by tracking changes in styles over time |
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Name the 4 major subfields of anthropology |
1) social/cultural 2) linguistics 3) physical/biological 4) archaeology |
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What is anthropology? |
A discipline of infinite curiosity about human beings |
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George Mercer Dawson |
Was responsible for the establishment of a professional Canadian anthropology at the end of the 19th century |
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Holistics |
Refers to an approach that studies many aspects of a multifaced system |
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Biological or physical anthropology |
Concerned with the biological diversity of humans, their ancestors, & closely related primates. The study of humans as biological organisms dealing with the emergence & evolution of humans & with contemporary biological variations among human populations |
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Archaeology |
The study of past human cultures, primarily through their material remains. Seeks to reconstruct the daily life & customs of people's who lived in the past & to trace & explain cultural changes. |
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Socio-cultural anthropology |
The study of cultural variation & universals. Concerned with the study of recent or contemporary cultures |
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Anthropological linguistics |
The anthropological study of languages |
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Primatologists |
Anthropologists, psychologists, & biologists specializing in the study of primates |
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Primate |
A member of the mammalian order. Divided into the 2 suborders of prosimians & anthropoids |
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Human variation |
The study of how & why contemporary human populations vary biologically |
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Culture |
The customary ways of thinking & behaving of a particular population or society |
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What does the culture if a social group include? |
It's language, religious beliefs, food preferences, music, work habits, gender roles, how children are reared, how houses are constructed, etc |
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Ethnology |
The study of how & why recent cultures differ & are similar. Concerned with cultural patterns of behaviour, such as marriage customs, kinship organization, political & economic systems, religion, folk art, & music, & with the ways in which these patterns differ in contemporary societies |
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How do ethnologists collect their data? |
Through observation & interviews with people |
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Ehtnographer |
Type of ethnologist, usually spends a year living with, talking to, & observing the people whose customs they are studying. |
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Ethnohistorians |
Studies how the way of life of a particular group of people has changed over time. They rely on the reports of others. They investigate historical documents, such as missionary accounts, reports by traders & explorers, & government records to try to establish the cultural changes that have occurred. They are concerned with the history of a people who did not themselves leave written records |
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Cross-cultural researcher |
Interested in discovering why certain cultural characteristics may be found in some societies but not in others. Their work can be done with the data collected & analyzed by an ethnographer & Ethnohistorian. |
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What is the distinctive feature of cultural anthropology |
It's interest in how all the aspects of human existence vary from society to society in all historical periods & in all parts of the world. |
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Historical linguistics |
The study of how languages change over time |
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Structural linguistics |
The study of how languages are constructed. |
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Sociolinguistics |
The study of cultural & subcultural patterns of speaking in different social contexts. |
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Cultural ecologist |
A person concerned with the relationship between culture & the physical & social environments |
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Applied anthropology |
The branch of anthropology that concerns itself with applying anthropological knowledge to achieve practical goals, usually in service of an agency outside the traditional academic setting. |
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Ethnocentric |
Refers to judgment of other cultures solely in terms if one's own culture |
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Provenience |
The location of an artifact or feature within a site |
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Midden |
A pile of refuse, often shells, in an archeological site |
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Fossil locales |
Places where fossilized remains of animals are found. A locale has no bearing on the life of the animal but is a product of a serious of processes that affect the remains following death. |
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Paleoanthropologist |
A type of anthropologist. Studies fossils of ancient humans and their ancestors |
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Paleontologist |
A type of biologist. Studies ancient animals. |
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Taphonomy |
The science of burial. The study of changes that occur to organisms or objects after being buried or deposited. |
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What do most development plans in Canada require? |
An archaeological assessment to ensure that cultural heritage is not being destroyed by modern development |
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What is the first phase of archaeological investigation? |
Documenting the boundaries of a site |
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Surface techniques |
Archaeological survey techniques for finding and assessing archaeological sites from surface finds |
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Subsurface techniques |
Archaeological survey techniques that map features beneath the surface. Can be mechanical or electronic |
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What is the first step of a controlled excavation? |
Choosing a datum point |
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Datum point |
A fixed, permanent reference point within or near the site used to define the location of all info and specimens collected from the site |
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Artifact |
Item manufactured by people and found in archaeological context. Ex: tools, clay pots, figurines of stone |
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Ecofacts |
Natural objects that have been used or affected by humans. Ex: bones from animals, seeds, and pollen |
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Feature |
The non-portable portions of an archaeological site, some of which can include artifacts. Ex: houses, fences, hearths, middens, burials, fireplaces |
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Association |
The relationship between artifacts and features within archaeological sites |
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Lithics |
The technical name for the tools made of stone. The most common artifact |
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Stratigraphy |
The study of how different rock formations and fossils are laid down in successive layers or strata |
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Law of superposition |
States that older layers are generally deeper or lower than more recent layers |
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F-U-N trio |
Fluorine, uranium, and nitrogen tests, chemical methods used in the relative dating of fossil bones |
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Palaeomagnetic dating |
Method used to identify the geometric patterns in rocks and to date the fossils within those rocks |
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Osteology |
The study of the form and function of a skeleton |
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Remodeling |
Occurs after growth has ceased and replaces old tissue with new formed bone to maintain bone strength from microscopic fractures from normal biomechanical stress |
