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68 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Upper paleolithic |
c 40,0000-16,000 BP |
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Epipaleolithic |
c 16,000-10,000 BP |
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Neolithic |
c 10,000-6,200 BP |
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Holocene |
c 10,000 BP - Present (arguably) |
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Hassuna culture dates |
8000-7500 BCE |
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Samarra culture dates |
7500-7000 BCE |
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Modern states of ancient Mesopotamian area |
Iraq Small parts of Iran, Syria, and Turkey |
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Significant 'firsts' by Mesopotamian cultures |
Development of: -agriculture -Earliest urban centres &/or civilizations -bureaucracy, legal systems |
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Main reason for sparked interest in Mesopotamian Archaeology |
Napoleon invasion of Egypt -People looking for similar treasures in Mesopotamia |
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Reasons for early interest in Mesopotamian Archaeology |
-Napoleon invasion - >treasures -people attempting to verify the Bible and it's historicity |
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Reason for Napoleon invading Egypt |
To disrupt British communications |
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Gertrude Bell |
-Independently wealthy woman -responsible for the building of the Iraq National Museum -revised the local laws of artifacts and archaeological research to benefit the findings security |
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Pottery slipping |
-Use of very watery version of the clay used to make pottery -rubbed on surfaces of pottery to make it water tight -often infused with ochre or other pigment for colouration |
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Pottery burnishing |
The use of an object such as a piece of wood or stone to coat and smooth pottery with the slip mixture |
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Ceramic/pottery seriation |
Form of relative dating -pots sequenced oldest to newest -no absolute dates -important to west Asian Archaeology due to rapidly changing pottery styles/techniques |
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Flinders Petrie |
First to recognize what a tell was, along with its significance |
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Tell |
A type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries |
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Tell (in Arabic) |
Tel |
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Tell (in hebrew) |
tall |
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Grid balk method |
5x5 m excavation site - excavate individual squares within larger square while leaving a thin wall between all inner squares as a way of preserving stratigraphy |
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Processual (new/scientific) Archaeology |
-Theoretical movement rooted in the 1960-70's -presented a (then) radical break from historical and antiquarian approaches -central focuses include: 1) Archaeology as a science 2) focus of culture process 3) expressly theoretical approach to explaining the past processes |
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Post-processual Archaeology |
-More than anything else is a critique of processual Archaeology -focuses more on the man: behaviour, gender, & culture of the people |
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Primary features of the Geography and environment |
-Zagros mountains -'Mesopotamian' limestone trough -northern Mesopotamia plain -central Mesopotamia -southern Mesopotamia -the Delta |
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Zagros mountains |
-folded mountains, creates multiple ecological zones in which plant and animal life are very different zone to zone -intra-montagne valleys with rivers and terraces |
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Zagros region Flora & Fauna |
Flora - oak, pine, diverse range of grasses Fauna - cattle, deer, elk(red deer), sheep, goats |
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Northern plain |
Rain fed plain River and river valley Above the samarra hit line |
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Central region |
Transitional zone Below the samarra hit line River valley broadens into plain Soil regeneration due to dropping of sediment from River |
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Southern region |
South of samarra hit line Shallow River valley and flood plain |
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Delta |
-Wetland area located in southern Iraq and partially in southern Iran -rare aquatic landscape in the desert |
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Founder crops |
Emmer wheat Einkorn wheat Barley Chickpeas Peas Lentils (legumes) Flax Bitter vetch |
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Natural Fauna |
Onager Boar Gazelle Elk (red deer) Wild goat Auroch (large bovine) Sheep |
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Bitter vetch use |
-Main source of feed for animals -Not consumed by humans |
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Impact of land use north vs south |
-More crop cultivation in the south -More animal domestication in the north |
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Distribution of natural resources |
Uneven Resulted in trade, competition, and the development of elites in civilizations |
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Shanidar cave |
-In Iraq, dates 50,000 BP -Neandertal burial with flower pollen -shanidar IV burial- injured specimen, amputated arm, damage to eye socket, possibly blind |
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Zawi Chemi |
c. 10,000-8,900 Bp -Early village site near shanidar cave -circular pit houses, depression in ground w/ structure built around -sickle blades and grinding stones -sheep and goats |
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Karim Shahir |
Pre 9000 BP seasonal settlement Sickle blades with sheen found |
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Sickle blades showing sheen |
-Suggests being used to cut plant material -Silica in plants leaves Polish on blade when cut |
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Ganj Dareh |
10,500-10,000 BP -site in Iran -Earliest evidence for managed sheep and goat herds. Not yet domesticated, only managing -80% S+G bones, mostly males |
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V. Gordon Childe |
-Used term neolithic revolution to describe transition of hunting & gathering towards agricultural & food production -supported oasis hypothesis |
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Robert Braidwood |
Suggested that humans would only change subsistence patters in a time of comfort, when resources were in a surplus |
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Lewis Binford & Kent Flannery |
-marginal zone theory -Population pressure -Thought agriculture would have begun when naturally occurring food sources became scarce |
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Brian Hayden |
Thought food production to have originated when ancient peoples would hold large feasts, in turn having the attendees indebted to them Holder of the feast = informal leader |
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Jacques Cauvin |
-Argues that a fundamental cognitive shift is necessary for agriculture to take form -human view shifts from being part of nature to being 'above' it |
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Donald Henry |
Theorized that the younger dryas was a trigger mechanism that brought in need for agriculture |
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Younger dryas |
Climate event Climate gets dryer, followed by colder |
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Effects of younger dryas on humans |
-Gave need for greater food supply -some reverted back to nomadic hunting/gathering -some stayed in marginal zones and began to cultivate land and practice agriculture |
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Ali Kosh |
-site w similar animal bone deposits to ganj dareh |
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Iraq-Jarmo Project |
-Headed by R. Braidwood in an attempt to prove his theories correct -assembled an all-purpose team to go looking for sites that illustrated the transition to agriculture |
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Sites found during Iraq-Jarmo Project |
Ganj Dareh Karim Shahir Jarmo among others |
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Braidwood theory of agriculture |
-Cultural readiness -nuclear zone hypothesis |
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Jarmo |
9000 BP -established agricultural village in foothills of Zagros, 8000m altitude -permanent residence buildings -12 levels of strata documented -no distinctive change in artifacts from any level to the next |
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Jarmo architecture |
-20-25 'tauf' (mud) houses with stone foundations -permanent houses |
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Jarmo artifacts |
-Celts, mortars & pestles, querns, millstones, weights and beads, maceheads (rare) -Grinders and grinding stones, figurines (mostly female), sickles, possibly rings made of stone -Suggests there being individuals who had nothing better to do -obsidian found, not local to site |
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Jarmo Pottery |
Early pottery from this site is really well decorated, but over time becomes more and more uniform and 'boring' |
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Mureybet |
-one of the earliest known agriculture settlements from the neolithic -excavation began by Jacques Cauvin |
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T. E. Lawrence |
-Archaeologist & British military leader -aided in the Arab uprising against the turks/ottoman empire |
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Hassuna culture |
8000-7500 BP -Small but sophisticated agricultural village -Evolved, technologically, into the Samarra culture. Evident in pottery styles as well as architecture |
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Samarra culture |
7500-7000 BP south of 200m isohyet -Evolved technologically from the hassuna (pottery & architecture illustrate the change) |
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Hassuna pottery |
This pottery was remarkable not only for its new shapes, but also for is bold and innovative use of elaborately painted motifs |
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Samarra pottery |
- diverse designs, whether painted on or incised -animal and human forms depicted -burnished, slipped, and painted |
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Samarra vs hassuna pottery |
-Very similar but was better quality -walls were thinner -had better control over kiln temperature -designs more diverse |
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Umm Dabaghiyah |
Hassuna site Begins aceramic, quickly develops pottery however |
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Hassuna architecture |
-Six layers of houses uncovered, each layer progressively more substantial than the last -utilized buttresses on larger walls - buildings generally have an 'L' shape |
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Samarra architecture |
-Tendency in the building to be made with a 'T' shape -multi family homes, heavily buttressed |
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Tell es-Sawwan |
-Samarra site -'T' shaped buildings -multi family homes -heavily buttressed -large wall of hand-made mud brick built around the site -moat dug outside the wall -defensively fortifications, signs of conflict, outside pressure - |
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Choga Mami |
7000 BP Samarra site -Eastern side in the foothills of the Zagros -Earliest evidence of irrigation -Suggests crop cultivation and specialization
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Halaf culture |
7000-6300 B.P. only culture to originate and live in the north |