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85 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Grid
and
site datum
grid - map based off of site datum

site datum - fixed starting point, ex. magnetic north, true north, or grid north
Debitage
pieces of shatters and flakes produced when stone tools are made
Munsell Chart
chart of soil colors used to compare to soil from a site
Resistivity
Non-invasive:
used to measure electrical conductivity in soils that may be due to the presence of buried disturbances
Ground penetration radar (GPR)
Non-invasive:
instrument that sends radar waves through the ground to reveal buried features
Test pits
Non-invasive:
digging of small trenches to look for wall profiles and darks stains of mixed soil from the original digging of graves
remote sensing
a variety of techniques used for obtaining information about surface or buried objects. Above-ground techniques normally involve aircraft or satellites using photography, radar, etc., to locate and map features on or near the surface. Below-ground techniques use radar, resistivity, magnetic properties, or chemistry to search for buried features
Magnetometer
Non-invasive:
looks for magnetic or iron anomalies; measures earth's magnetic field to locate buried walls and pits
Metal detectors
Non-invasive:
emit an electromagnetic field that is disrupted by the presence of metal objects in the ground
Bog people
bodies of people sacrificed to the bogs, dating to the time of Crist in the peat bogs of Northern Europe, remarkably preserved due to the accumulation of peat and organic detritus
Lindow Man
Bog man found in England, brutally sacrificed to the bogs.
Needed conservation when removed from bogs, or would have disintegrated into dust
Classification
grouping
attribute
Classification - process of putting objects into groups based on attributes
grouping - process of sorting
attribute - detailed characteristics of archeological materials and information
typology
a formal system of classification for assigning time and space meaning to archeological materials
Holotype
The best case scenario for an artifact, creates a bell curve that similar artifacts fall into in order to be classified
An artifact can overlap into 2 types by fitting into the bottom of 2 holotype bell curves
Lumping
and
splitting
Lumping - larger range of variation in a type
splitting - smaller range of variation in a type
Elements of types
Raw material of artifact
technology - how it was constructed
function of artifact
Temporally diagnostic
Can tell what type of culture an artifact was from - shows ethnicity, tribe, time period, etc.
ex. pottery and projectile points
Seriation
graphical method for ordering in time and percentages
battle ship curves
1) inception
2) peak
3) extinction
4) revival
Relative dating
vs.
Absolute dating
Relative - determines whether an object or layer is older or younger than another
Absolute - provides an age in calendar years
Terminus ante quem
vs.
Terminus post quem
ante - date before which
post - date after which
Law of Superposition
governs interpretation of stratigraphy;
youngest layers on the bottom, oldest layers on the top
Bone age dating
Relative:
Measures fluorine and nitrogen from ground water in bones
dendrochronology
the study of the annual growth rings of trees as a dating technique to build chronologies
Flourine dating
Relative:
Based on the assumption that fluorine accumulates at a constant rate in burned bone
Dating Bell curve
and
sigma
Curve to calculate probability that an artifact's age is between 2 dates
Sigma = 1 range of dates
the larger the range, the higher the probability
| S1 |
| ←S2 → |
Carbon dating
Absolute:
-dates organic objects from the proportions of C12 and C14 that it contains
-The ratio changes as radioactive C14 decays
-Good for 250-40,000 years old, as C14 will eventually run out
Obsidian hydration dating
Absolute:
-Measures thickness of the hydration (weathering) layer on the fresh surface of obsidian objects
-Obsidian = volcanic deposits
-Is region specific
-Done when C14 dating is not possible
Potassium-Argon dating
Absolute:
-K40 1/2 life decay turns into Ar40
-Larger 1/2 life means useful for old samples, all the way back to beginning of earth
-Many times sample from volcanic deposits
Thermoluminesence dating
Absolute:
-There are trapped electrons in rocks or pottery shards from a hearth
-Reheat to view luminescence
-Dates up to 500,000 years ago, older than means not a lot energy left
Electron spin resonance
Absolute:
Measures trapped electrons in tooth enamel, assuming the accumulation rate is constant
Pueblo Bonito
-Large town in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico
-Dated using dendrochronology by analyzing wooden beams from the pueblos
Geomorphology
branch of geology that studies the shape of the land
classification
description
origin
change of land forms
Uniformitarianism
Geological principle that the processes of erosion and deposition still active today also operated in the past
oxbow lakes
Stranded river meanders, left behind as a lake in the floodplain
midden
any substantial accumulation of garbage or waste at a locus of human activity
ex. shell midden
plow zone
The upper part of soil layers that has been disturbed by plowing
soil texture
the size and sorting of sediments
flotation screening
used to recover charred plant remains using water and density differences
Harris Matrix
Developed by Ed Harris
A method for depicting intricate archeological stratigraphy in a schematic way
matrix
soil around artifacts → inclusions – lumps of things (clay lumps, organic deposits, ash lenses)
plan views
a bird's-eye view of a site that maps out the features and characteristics of the place
Joya de Ceren
and
Pompeii
Joya - small Mayan village in El Salvador buried beneath Volcanic ash

Pompeii - Roman town buried beneath Volcanic ash
Black Sea Flood
-Proposed flood of this sea between Asia and Europe that was postulated to be the basis for the Biblical Flood
-Found to be wrong
Metamorphic
rock that has undergone transformation by heat, pressure, or other natural agencies
curated tools
special-purpose tools that require specific raw materials and substantial time and labor in manufacture. Can normally be repaired or recycled
expedient tools
quickly made, used, and discarded
Faunal remains
animal ecofacts in archeological contexts. Include bone, teeth, antler, etc.
stratum soil
layers in the soil
knapping
intentionally removing a series of flakes from stone to make tools
fracture mechanics
the physics of how materials break down
cryptocrystalline
stone with microscopic crystals, formed from silicia under pressure in marine deposits, such as quartz, chert, flint
nodule
unworked pieces of stone; the raw material for making tools
core
the stone from which other pieces or flakes are removed to shape a tool
Oldest stone tools
-The Oldawan Tradition
-about 2.5 mya
-technology = cryptocrystalline lithics
-formed by knapping
flint
a hard, siliceous stone that breaks in predictable ways to produce sharp flakes, common for making prehistorical stone tools
chert
a cryptocrystalline quartz with large crystal size and impurities that give it color and cloudiness
conchoidal fracture
shell-like breakage pattern of the interior surface of a flake
dorsal surface
and
ventral surface
d: the outer surface of a flake
v: the inner of a flake
bulb of percussion
impact point on flakes
striking platform
stone core's flat impact surface
Proximal end
and
distal end
Proximal end – end closest to worker
distal end – end farthest to worker
Types of percussion
Direct hard hammer
Direct soft hammer
Indirect percussion
Pressure flaking - to finish artifact
Hammer and anvil
Unifacial
and
bifacial
Uni - work on just one side of a tool
bi - work on both sides of a tool
chaine operatoire
means “sequence of production” the different stages of production of tools, all the way to disposal
cortex
a heavily weathered rind on the outside of flint or chert nodules
microwear analysis
microscopic studies of damage and polish on the edges of stone artifacts to reveal the materials that were worked
refitting studies
- a technique for reassembling the scattered pieces of stone, pottery, or bone to study patterns of manufacture and disposal
can tell:
-handedness – left or right handedness
- artifacts that left the sight
- single or multiple component site
- planning and decision making by looking at distance that lithics travel and quality of the lithics
Oldawan tradition
-Oldest stone tool making technique
-2.5-1.6 mya
-Used knapping
-Chimpanzees also make these
Acheulean tradition
-Second oldest stone tool making tradition
-1.6 m - 20,000 ya
-hand axes probably used as large cutting tools
manuport
a natural object which has been moved from its original context
inclusion
a body or particle recognizably distinct from the substance in which it is embedded
stone tool manufacture
1) Mining raw material
2) Reduction to blanks or cores
3) Stage 3 & 4 reduction for trade, cached, or further reduction
4) Finished tools
Sergei Semenov
Began the detailed study of the edges of artifacts, now known as microwear analysis
Ozette longhouses
Site in Washington state in which a great mudslide covered the houses, about 1500 CE
Laetoli
-Site in Tanzania where early footprints were fossilized into volcanic ash and give the earliest evidence of bipedalism
-Discovered by Mary Leakey
Olduvai Gorge
Location where
-the first K40-Ar40 dates were taken from the lava at its base
-Louis Leakey discovered the first Oldawan tools
Rift Valley
Location in Africa where Lucy was found
Keatley Creek
Site in Canada of an unusually large hunter-gatherer village. Economic and social organization was analyzed
Wealth of elite families was based on ownership to the best fishing sites, where access was restricted to the poor.
Elite also in control of long-distance trade
Shroud of Turin
The supposed shroud that Christ's body was wrapped in. AMS dating revealed that the shroud is not old enough to be authentic
Lawrence Keely
Introduced the use of high-powered microscopes to microwear anaylsis
percussion flaking
technique of striking or knapping crystalline stone with a hard or soft hammer
pressure flaking
technique by which flakes are removed from the core by pressing with a pointed implement
hard hammer
a percussion technique for making stone tools by striking one stone, or core, with another stone, or hammer
hammer and anvil
a hard hammer percussion technique which involves striking the core (hammer) itself against a large rock in the ground (anvil) to produce flake
soft hammer
a flintknapping technique that involves the use of bone, antler, or wood, rather than stone