Anthro Exam 2

Front 1

relative dating

Back 1

dates expressed relative to one another (earlier, later, more recent) instead of in absolute terms

Front 2

absolute dating

Back 2

date expressed as specific units of scientific measurement, such as days, years, centuries, or millennia

Front 3

seriation

Back 3

dating method that orders artifacts based on the assumption that one culteral style slowly replaces an earlier style over time

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index fossil

Back 4

idea that strata containing similar fossil assemblages are similar in age.

Front 5

dendrochronology

Back 5

use of annual growth rings in trees to assign calendar ages to ancient wood samples

Front 6

andrew e. douglass

Back 6

created dendrochronology (tree-ring dating)

Front 7

radiocarbon dating

Back 7

the amount of carbon-14 in a living organism can be calculated

Front 8

willard libby

Back 8

chemist who invented radiocarbon dating

Front 9

AMS dates

Back 9

method of radiocarbon dating that counts the proportion of carbon isotopes directly, thereby dramatically reducing the quantity of datable material required

Front 10

potassium-argon (argon-argon) dating

Back 10

high-precison method for estimating the relative quantities of argon-39 & argon-40 gas; used to date volcanic ashes that are between 500,000 & several million yrs ago

Front 11

thermoluminescence

Back 11

trapped charge dating technique used on ceramics & burned stone artifacts--anything mineral that has been heated to more than 500 degrees celsius

Front 12

trapped charge dating

Back 12

rely upon the fact that electrons become rapped in minerals crystal lattices as a function of background radiation

Front 13

optically stimulated luminescence

Back 13

used to date sediments; the age is the time elapsed between the last time a few moments exposure to sunlight reset the clock to zero & the present

Front 14

electric spin resonance

Back 14

used to date tooth enamel & burned stone tools; it can date teeth that are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating

Front 15

reservoir affect

Back 15

when organisms take in carbon from a source that is depleted of or enriched in carbon-14 relative to the atmosphere

Front 16

dosimeter

Back 16

measures the amount of gamma radiation emitted by sediments

Front 17

terminus post quem

Back 17

date after which a stratum or feature must have been deposited or created

Front 18

conservation

Back 18

first step after the excavation; cleaning of the artifacts

Front 19

cataloging

Back 19

writing all the minute numbers on artifacts & entering the info into a database

Front 20

typology

Back 20

classification of artifacts into types

Front 21

space-time systematics

Back 21

delineation of patterns in material culture through time & space

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morphological types

Back 22

descriptive & abstract grouping of individual artifacts whose focus is on overall similarity

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temporal type

Back 23

morphological type that has specific chronological meaning in a particular region

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functional type

Back 24

class of artifacts that perform the same function

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attribute

Back 25

characteristic in an artifact that distinguishes it from another artifact based on size, surface texture, form, material, method of manufacture, or design pattern

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phase

Back 26

block of time that is characterized by one or more distinctive artifact types

Front 27

period

Back 27

time distinguished by particular items of material culture, such as house form, pottery, or subsistence

Front 28

assemblage

Back 28

collection of artifacts recovered from a defined context, such as a site, feature, or stratum

Front 29

component

Back 29

a culturally homogeneous unit within a single site; components make up a phase

Front 30

oldowan tools

Back 30

earliest tools found

Front 31

achulean handaxes

Back 31

first tool used by humans; oval & pear shaped

Front 32

clovis points

Back 32

bifacial projectile points first found in clovis, nm

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reductive technique

Back 33

using a hammer or tool to detach flakes from a core to form a projectile point

Front 34

soft & hard hammer

Back 34

hard: stone on stone
soft: bone, antler, or wood used

Front 35

percussion & pressure flaking

Back 35

striking a stone tool with a hammer
(or)
using a sharp tool to shape the stone tool

Front 36

core

Back 36

piece of stone that is knapped

Front 37

flake

Back 37

length is less than 2 times the width

Front 38

blade

Back 38

length greater than 2 times the width

Front 39

cortex

Back 39

outer, weathered rind of a stone

Front 40

unifacial

Back 40

flakes removed from one side of the parent core or flake

Front 41

bifacial

Back 41

flakes removed from two or more faces of the parent core or flake (e.g., projectile point)

Front 42

projectile point

Back 42

last stage of bifacial production

Front 43

ethnoarchaeology

Back 43

study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record

Front 44

taphonomy

Back 44

study of how organisms become part of the fossil record

Front 45

experimental archaeology

Back 45

designed to determine the archaeological correlates of ancient behavior

Front 46

burnt rock midden

Back 46

low, donut-shaped mound of heat-fractured rocks and other cooking debris that accumulated over time from many plant-baking episodes that took place in a baking pit in the center of the midden

Front 47

analogy

Back 47

notes similarities between two entities & infers from those facts that an additional attribute of one is also true of the other

Front 48

microwear

Back 48

evidence of use damage on the surface & working edge of a flake or artifact

Front 49

principle of uniformitarianism

Back 49

asserts that the processes now operating to modify the earth's surface are the same processes that operated long ago in the geological past

Front 50

luis binford

Back 50

did ethnoarchaeological research among the nunamiut eskimo of alaska

Front 51

robert kelly

Back 51

studied the mikea people in madagascar to see how they moved around for hunting & gathering

Front 52

hudson-meng site

Back 52

site in nebraska where at least 500 bison were discovered

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chicha

Back 53

corn beer

Front 54

clay

Back 54

alumina + silica + water

Front 55

temper

Back 55

material added to a clay in the formation of vessels or other objects

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firing

Back 56

to heat a clay object in a kiln to a specific temperature

Front 57

reduced vs. oxidized

Back 57

firing with reduced oxygen in the kiln
(or)
firing with a full supply of oxygen (which changes its colors)

Front 58

dolni vestonice

Back 58

site in the czech republic with first sculptures of representations of humans

Front 59

theories on the first uses of pottery

Back 59

believed that pottery was first handmade in bonfires, found in dolni vestonice

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jomon

Back 60

patterns of rope on pottery made in japan

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barra

Back 61

phase in ceramics when bowls were made to hold chicha or chocolate

Front 62

vessel form

Back 62

shape & size of a given vessel

Front 63

rio azul

Back 63

site of the mayan civilization along the river

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professor hamilton

Back 64

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Front 65

osteology

Back 65

the study of bones

Front 66

burial population

Back 66

individuals who came from a specific area & who died over a short period of time

Front 67

determining sex

Back 67

looking at the hip size of bones of a human or the skull

Front 68

sciatic notch

Back 68

the angled edge of both halves of the rear side of the pelvis

Front 69

age

Back 69

looking at the bone fusion or teeth of a dead person to dermine its:

Front 70

epiphyses

Back 70

ends of bones that fuse to the main shaft; most bones are fused by age 25

Front 71

paleopathology

Back 71

study of ancient patterns of disease, disorders & truama

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porotic hyperostosis

Back 72

symptom of iron deficiency anemia in which the skull takes on a porous appearance

Front 73

harris lines

Back 73

horizontal lines near the ends of long bones indicating episodes of physiological stress

Front 74

enamel hypoplasia

Back 74

horizontal linear defects in tooth enamel indicating episodes of physiological stress

Front 75

osteoarthritis

Back 75

disorder in which the cartilage between joints wears away

Front 76

caries

Back 76

dental cavities

Front 77

nazca tomb

Back 77

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Front 78

molecular archaeology

Back 78

use of genetic info in ancient human remains to reconstruct the past

Front 79

nuclear dna

Back 79

genetic material found in a cell's nucleus

Front 80

mitochondrial dna

Back 80

genetic material found in the mitochondria

Front 81

molecular clock

Back 81

calculations of the time since divergence of two related populations using the presumed rate in mtDNA & the genetic differences between the two populations (dates when humans appeared)

Front 82

eve hypothesis

Back 82

that eve lived 200,000 years ago & first humans came out of africa

Front 83

paisley caves

Back 83

in oregon; has evidence of oldest dated people in north america

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stillwater burial population

Back 84

people suffered from osteoartharitis due to hard work

Front 85

faunal analysis

Back 85

identification & interpretation of animal remains from an archaeological site

Front 86

zooarchaeology

Back 86

archaeologist who specializes in the study of the animal remains recovered from a site

Front 87

element

Back 87

in faunal analysis, a specific skeletal part of the body

Front 88

taxon

Back 88

in faunal analysis, the classification of a skeletal element to a taxomic category--species, genus, family, or order

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NISP (number of identified specimens)

Back 89

raw number of identified bones per species

Front 90

MNI (minimum number of individuals)

Back 90

smallest number of individuals necessary to account for all identified bones

Front 91

seasonality

Back 91

estimate of what part of the year a particular site was occupied

Front 92

chavin de huantar

Back 92

most celebrated ceremonial centers of the andes; one of earliest civilizations in south america

Front 93

macrobotanical remains

Back 93

nonmicroscopic plant remains recovered from a site (recognizable parts)

Front 94

flotation

Back 94

method for recovering plant remains

Front 95

palynology

Back 95

study of fossil pollen grains & spores to reconstruct past climates & human behavior

Front 96

pollen diagram

Back 96

chart showing the changing frequencies of different indentified pollens through time from samples taken from sites

Front 97

shanidar cave

Back 97

cave in iraq with several neanderthal skeletons with flowers growing above them

Front 98

phytoliths

Back 98

tiny silica particles contained in plants

Front 99

hinds cave

Back 99

site in south west texas

Front 100

coprolite

Back 100

feces found that are used to find info on human diet

Front 101

quid

Back 101

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