Archeology Eam 1 Study Guide

Front 1

What is Archeology?

Back 1

is the study of ancient human societies using material remains to reconstruct human behavior in the past

Front 2

What constitutes as archeological evidence?

Back 2

The totality of the archaeological remains from a site constitutes the arch record for that site

Front 3

Arheology is the science of what?

Back 3

rubbish

Front 4

Who is the Archer of Amsbury

Back 4

Southern England near Stonehenge
He was a bronze age archer (gold earring, physical pathologies, jaw abscess)

Oxygen isotope analyis of teeth shows variations in drinking water, shows that he may have travelled long distances/ spent his youth in the Swiss Alps

Front 5

How do you locate a archeological site?

Back 5

Looking along river systems-reflect the abundance of resources
Using satellite images
After locating an area
Shovel testing-50 cm holes as deep as you can, dug every 15 cm, look for high concentration of items

Front 6

What is the law of super position?

Back 6

Site build up over time
Stratigraphy and Relative dating
More modern materials on top older on bottom

Front 7

What is plowzone archeology?

Back 7

If you get below the plowzone you reveal the sterile clays, you can identify features (hearth)

such as the housing formations

Front 8

What is seriation?

Back 8

relative dating technique which means the types of arrowheads used in different periods and therefore changes in technology

Front 9

What are some types of items that can be used for dating? What can they tell us?

Back 9

gravestone, glass wine bottles, corn cobs(agriculture), Oysters shells and middens, Seed remains(tobacco)

They can tell us about the attidtudes towards death, wine. What the agricultural developments were.

Front 10

What is the difference between historical history and archeological history?

Back 10

History is the documentary record and oral traditions

Arch material culture and ethnographic analogy

Front 11

What is ethno history?

Back 11

Anthropologically informed history

Front 12

Types of Archaeology?

Back 12

Text aided is arch practiced with the aid of document
Documentary bias because of the conquerors and scribes
Prehistoric is Archaeology of ancient societies that were non-literate

Front 13

What is cultural research management?

Back 13

any building project must submit to tests for arch sites

Front 14

What is world prehistory?

Back 14

The study of human prehistory on a global scale

Front 15

What is culture?

Back 15

a society’s traditional systems of belief and behavior, as understood by the individuals and members of social groups, and as manifested in individual or collective behavior

Front 16

What is a cultural system?

Back 16

complex system of interacting variables (e.g. tools, burial customs, food production, religious beliefs) that function to maintain a community in a state of equilibrium

Front 17

What is the cultural process?

Back 17

The processes by which human societies have changed in the past

Front 18

What are the three main mechanisms for culture change?

Back 18

Invention, diffusion (spreading of ideas through individuals), migration

Front 19

What is processual archaeology?

Back 19

Culture as adaptation

Processualist argue that culture is best interpreted as adaptations to the subsistence and ecological requirements of a region

Front 20

What is unilinear evolution? (Processual Arch)

Back 20

Human societies evolve in a linear progression from simple to complex
Barbarism > savagery > civilization

Front 21

What is multilinear Arch.?

Back 21

Assumes that each human society pursues its own evolutionary course determined by the long term success of its adaptation, via technology and social systems, to its natural environment

Front 22

What are different types of social organizations?

Back 22

are Bands, Tribes, chiefdoms and states

Front 23

What are the aspects of Postprocessual Arch?

Back 23

Emphasizes human agency
,People are active players in culture change, Interaction, Gender roles, Trade and exchange, Ideologies

Front 24

How can the similarities between humans and primates be explained?

Back 24

identical characteristics that each a group inherited from common ancestor millions of year ago.

Front 25

When was the Oligocene era? What hominid came from this era?

Back 25

(35-23 m.y.a)
Aegyptopithecus=Small fruit-eating primate

Front 26

When was the Miocene era? What hominid? What are the hominid's characteristics?

Back 26

(23-5 mya) Proconsul found in Kenya) Arboreal, Quadrupedal Some ape-like teeth with monkey-like bodies

Front 27

Who is Kenyapithicus?

Back 27

Miocene hominid, semi arboreal, he brought the primates out of the trees perhaps due to climate change

Front 28

What is the best method for dating early hominin fossils?

Back 28

Potassium argon dating

Front 29

When did the split occur?

Back 29

Pliocene but maybe earlier?

Front 30

What problems did early hominin face?

Back 30

1. Being large led to greater food requirements
i. Adaptive solution = broaden territorial range and broaden diet
2. Being terrestrial on open grasslands made them vulnerable to predators
a. Adaptive solution =bipedalism

Front 31

Advantages to bipedalism?

Back 31

1. Freed the hands so food could be carried over a greater distance
2. Stimulate cognitive development
3. Food production more efficient
4. Traveling long distances
5. Monitoring females

Front 32

Describe Adipithecus ramidus?

Back 32

4.5 mya Aramus, Ethiopia, Probably bipedal, Likely very close to the first hominin to diverge from African apes

Front 33

Describe Australopithecus anamensis ?

Back 33

4.1 mya, Allia Bay, Kenya, Brain size 400-500 cc,Probably bipedal weighing more than 100 lbs

Front 34

Describe Australopithecus afarensis?

Back 34

Hadar, Ethiopia (3.5 – 3 mya)
“Lucy”, Almost complete skeleton, 3-4 feet tall, 19-21 years old female

Front 35

Mary Leaky discovered what?

Back 35

Footprints of Australopithecus afarensis (3.75-3.59 mya)Footprint confirm bipedalism

Front 36

Raymond Dart uncovered what hominin?

Back 36

Australopithecus africanus, Taung, South Africa
Slight/Slender build
Gracile Australopithecines
Fossil displayed apelike and human like feature
Apelike skull, but w/ humanlike teeth

Front 37

Louis Leaky discovered what?

Back 37

Homo habilis in the Olduvai Gorges, (2 mya), showed evidence of tool use, Large brain and round head, brain size 600-700cc, meat eating, less apelike facial features, Micro wear studies show that he was prodimately fruit eating, walked upright but could still climb

Front 38

Describe Toumai?

Back 38

Fossil evidence 7 to 3 m.y.a
Chad, 7-6 mya (earlieast and most recent hominin fossil found – though some say ape), Chimpanzee-sized skull, ape-like braincase w/ human-like teeth and face, Possibly bipedal

Front 39

Describe the Homo Habilis?

Back 39

2.5 mya and used Oldowan stone tool tradition,

Front 40

What was the Oldowan stone tool tradition?

Back 40

Precussion flaking: one stone used to strike another to form a tool (2.5 mya)

Front 41

What is the Central Place Hypothesis?

Back 41

Were hominins spread out from a central place, like Africa

Front 42

Louis and Mary Leaky found what at the Oldouvai Gorge?

Back 42

evidence that the group stayed in one place, socialized, tool and carnivore teeth marks, bones

Front 43

Who is Dubouis and what did he do?

Back 43

heads to the East Indies island of Java
-he finds fossil teeth that are ape like
-1891he finds a skull cap much like that of Neanderthal
-his find is ½ mya
-the proof is in the brain size -leg bone suggests that the ape-man walked upright pithicaprious

Front 44

Describe Homo erectus ?

Back 44

brain size 900cc and 6 ft tal
-success is in their diet-hair disappears because of skin pores and panting isn’t used anymore freeing up the vocal chords for speech
-tamed fire

Front 45

Who was Dawson, where did he come from, what is he known for?

Back 45

He finds Piltdown man, but later it was found that it was a hoax

Front 46

What does Raymond Dart find in southern Africa?

Back 46

Tang child astrolophithicus africanus
2 mya-place the ancestral home in south Africa
3ft tall, 75 pds, 440cc
-the skull was found with eggs shells and other nesting fragments

Front 47

What did the Leaky's find in Tanzania in the 1950's?

Back 47

-humans and humanlike organisms existing at the same time

Front 48

What does Johansson find in the Hader, Ethiopia?

Back 48

A whole skeleton

Front 49

Describe the The Pleistocene era?

Back 49

The Great Ice Age1.6 mya 1.Toumai and Ardipithecus ramidus
2.Various Australopithecines
3.Homo habilis (Leaky) – stone tool traditions

Front 50

Who came up with the central place hypothesis?

Back 50

Leaky

Front 51

Describe Homo erectus?

Back 51

1.9 up until 200,000 ya in Africa, large skeleton, Massive brow ridge, large projectin face, long low skull, 700-800 cc brain size

Front 52

Describe Turkana boy?

Back 52

Nariokotome (on the shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya)
Found by Leaky
1.6 mya, 11 yr old boy, 700-800 cc brain size, 5’44’’ tall, complete skeleton
-Homo erectus

Front 53

Who was the first Hominin to radiat out of Africa?

Back 53

Homo erectus

Front 54

What would a sophisticated tool kit consist of?

Back 54

Bamboo -= knives, spears and ropes Wooden Spears – 400,000 ya found with animal bone, Yet these materials do no survive well

Front 55

Describe the advantages of fire?

Back 55

1mya evidence in china and 1.6 in South Africa, Fire helped Erectus survive in the more temperate climates of Erope and Asia, Cooking helped to increase diet

Front 56

What is the acheulian tool tradition?

Back 56

Large tools: the teardrop shaped hand axes probably used for butchering animals, Tools found widely in Europe and Africa, Unlike Oldowan stone tools, acheulian stone tool makers had a vision of what the final stone tool would look like Implies greater intellectual capabilities, Other potential uses, Grubbing up roots, wood working scraping

Front 57

What was found in Boxgrove England?

Back 57

cooperative hunting, Cliff site=bones of bison, deer, bear/horse scapula with hole from a wooden spear

Front 58

What was found in Torralba and Ambrona, Spain?

Back 58

30-35 butchered elephants = they used fire to frighten elephants into a muddy bog, some believe the elephants died of natural causes and Erectus scavenged

Front 59

What is the Grandmother Hypothesis?

Back 59

Reaction to overemphasis on hunting and meat eating, Plant remains do not preserve well in archaeological record, Microwear studies on teeth, Female foraging provided a regular and reliable source of food (tubers)
With longer life spans, grandmothers could forage while their daughters cared for newborns, Lower juvenile moirtality, Closer spaced births, Increase population

Front 60

What were the archaic Homo Sapiens?

Back 60

Neanderthals
Descendents of Homo Erectus, emerged before 100,000 ya and lasted until about 30,000,
Bun-shaped skull, heavy brow ridge, forward projecting face, muscular, slightly larger brain than modern humans, Late Neanderthal sites can be dated with Radiocarbon Dating methods, Lived in rock shelters, caves and temporary open stie camps, Hunted bison, deer, and horse
Close contact with prey, injuries caused by wrestling animals to the ground

Front 61

What the Mousterian stone tool tradition?

Back 61

Prepared cores, Levallois technique = broad, flat flakes, triangular points, Disk-core reduction technique= round core, numerous flakes of varying sizes

Front 62

Describe what proof we have of burials (Neanderthal)?

Back 62

Shanidar cave, Iraq, Pollen analysis indicates flower burial, First signs of a preoccupation with an afterlife
, Fetal position

Front 63

What was found at Gwisho Springs?

Back 63

-very marshy areas-plant remain, -there was a wide variety of plants****
,poisonous plants that may have been used to hunt
-cave paintings

Front 64

What is ethnographic analogy?

Back 64

-using modern day hunter/gatherer groups to study how humans may have behaved -iiland is an animal that provides food

Front 65

What does studying the Kalahari san tell about the late stone age occupants of the Gwisho Springs site?,

Back 65

Ethnographic analogy: What does studying the Kalahari san tell about the late stone age occupants of the Gwisho Springs site?, Highly portable and disposable toolkit, Small bands of 10-30 individuals, A highly flexible kinship system

Front 66

What do cave paintings tell us?

Back 66

Depict life in camp, game, and hunting strategies, Religious symbolism

Front 67

Describe the settlement of Sunda?

Back 67

Colonized 75,000 BP, Fishing and exploitation of maritime resources, Bamboo and mangrove rafts

Front 68

Describe the settlement of Sahul?

Back 68

Lower sea-levels, Deliberate attempts to colonize new regions?, Accidental crossing?, Nursery for seafaring?

Front 69

Describe Homo Floresiensis?

Back 69

Island of Flores, Liang Bua Cave (Michael Moorewood),They were especially small (3ft tall)

Front 70

What was discovered in Southwest Asia Gafzeh cave and Et-Tabun Cave Israel?

Back 70

100,000-40,000 BP, Anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted
Interbreeding?

Front 71

What was the upper Paleolithic transition?

Back 71

Dryer environment leads to greater mobility among H/G’s, Cultural explosion 30,000 BP,Cognative fluidity Steven Mithen , Competitive edge over archaic homo sapiens

Front 72

Describe Upper Paleolithic Blade Technology?

Back 72

Long parallel sided blades replace the Mousterian levallouis techniques
Economical (more blades from a single core, which was an important consideration for mobile people, Blade technology like a swiss army knife, Composite tools made with bone/antler, Blade technology allowed homo sapiens to settle colder parts of northern Europe and asia, The sewing needle

Front 73

Cro-Magnon The Upper Paleolithic leap Forward (42-10,000 BP?

Back 73

Shift in the elaboration in thecnology, Broadening of subsistence, Much larger social groups, Focus on art, ritual, and ornamentation

Front 74

Describe the Aurignacian period , 33-24?

Back 74

Venus figurines, some cave art, Elaboration of stone and bone technology

Front 75

Describe the Grevvitian 35-23?

Back 75

Smaller blades and backed knives

Front 76

Describe the Solutrean era 23-18?

Back 76

Sophisticated pressure flaked stone spearheads, Bas relief sculpture, Laurel leaf blade, Heat treated flint to which were then pressure flaked, symmetrical

Front 77

Describe the Magdalenian era 18-10?

Back 77

Very skillful bone and antler work (harpoon, needles, and figurines, Apogee of cave and figurine art, Clear use of big game, mammal herds, small animals, and a wide variety of plants

Front 78

Describe the Eastern Gravettian era 30-10 BP?

Back 78

Stone tool industry similar to Gravettian Industry in Western europ, Continues late in central/eastern eurasia, Hunted broad spectrum of animals including fox, rabbit, and bison, Focused big-game hunting, Mammoth bone houses

Front 79

Describe the Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia?

Back 79

Siberia: Mal’ta and afontova-gora, by 22,000 BP Focused on periglacial steppe mammals, especially mammoth and woolly rhinoceros
Far Ne: D’uktai (people) cave, by 18 BP
Unigue micro blade and Biface technologies, Possible connection with new world