Arky, Exam 2

Front 1

BP

Back 1

Before Present (Present = 1950)

Front 2

Relative Dating

Back 2

Determining the date of something without knowing the exact time scale Ie. Stratigraphy

Front 3

Index Fossils

Back 3

Thefossil remains of an organism that lived in a particular geologic age, used toidentify or date the rock or rock layer in which it is found.

Front 4

Dating bone deposits

Back 4

•measuresnitrogen, fluorine, and uranium content of bones

•usedto determine whether or not bones found together date to the same time

Front 5

Typology

Back 5

Putting artifacts into types based on their shared attributes

Front 6

Seriation

Back 6

Contextual: Relative dating, (pioneered by Flinders Petrie); artifacts are arranged according to the frequencies of their co-occurrence in specific contexts (usually burials)

Frequency: Changes in the popularity (or frequency)

Front 7

Battleship curves

Back 7

In frequency seriation, the data will start small, get larger and then go small again; resembles a battleship.

Front 8

Glottochronology (linguistic dating)

Back 8

An arithmetic formula; controversial method of assessing the temporal divergence of two lungs based on changes in vocabulary (Lexicostatistics)

Front 9

Lexicostatistics (linguistic dating)

Back 9

The study of changes in vocabulary

Front 10

Deep-Sea Cores

Back 10

Cores consist of shells of foraminifera; temperature of water affects ratio of 2 O2 isotopes; therefore we know ocean temperatures for last 2.5 million years.

Front 11

Ice Cores

Back 11

Absolute dating; borings taken from Arctic & Antarctic polar ice caps containing layers of compacted ice useful for recreating paleoenvironments

Front 12

Pollen Dating/Palynology

Back 12

Study of fossil pollen to recreate past vegetation and climates. Can yield results back to 3 million years ago.

Front 13

Faunal Dating (relative dating)

Back 13

Based on observing the evolutionary changes in particular species of mammals; to form a rough chronological sequence.

Front 14

Absolute Dating (or Chronometrical Dating)

Back 14

Determination of age with reference to a specific time scale (such as a fixed calendrical system)

Front 15

Maya Calendar (pg 130)

Back 15

Very precise; use for recording dates & inscriptions on stone columns or stelae at Maya cities during Classical period

Front 16

Inscriptions

Back 16

Many Maya artifacts have a hieroglyphic inscription to date it; For Roman/medieval periods of Europe, the inscription would have the ruler as well as a date.

Front 17

Terminus Post Quem/Anti Quem

Back 17

Post Quem: "Date after which"; used on coinage.

Anti Quem: "Date before which"; for manufacture of pottery

Front 18

Varves

Back 18

Theannual layers of sediment deposited in lakes and fiords by meltwater fromglaciers.

Front 19

Dendrochronology

Back 19

1.Astree gets older, rings get thinner

2.Thicknessfluctuates based on climate.

Front 20

Floating chronology

Back 20

Sometimes local chronologies remain "floating" - their short-term sequences have not been tied into the main master sequence. Eventually master sequences are extended and the "floaters" are included.

Front 21

Principle of Radioactive Decay (pg. 137)

Back 21

Absolute bullsh*t scientific stuff I'll never remember. Carbon has three isotopes and then all this sh*t about Nitrogen. Just remember that Carbon has an isotope called C-14 and it's related to radiocarbon dating.

Front 22

Radiocarbon Dating

Back 22

- C-14are unstable because they have 8 neutrons instead of 6 in their nucleus (C-12)

- C-14in atmosphere ingested by animals and plants

- whenan organism dies, C-14 starts to decay since no more is ingested

Front 23

Calibration (pg 140)

Back 23

When calibrating a radiocarbon date it's important that the measured radio carbon date and its error estimate are calibrated

Front 24

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)

Back 24

Becoming dominant in radiocarbon dating;

Front 25

Uranium-series dating

Back 25

Based on radioactive decay of isotopes of uranium; particularly useful for the period 500 000-50 000 years ago since it is out of the time range for radiocarbon dating.

Front 26

* Fission-track Dating

Back 26

Depends on the spontaneous fission/division of radioactive uranium atoms (238U) present in a wide range of rocks and minerals, which causes damage to the structures of the minerals involved.

- Fission tracks left by decay process, SO, count the fission tracks

Front 27

* Radioactive Clocks (listed at top of notes as important) Pg 147

Back 27

- In this case, the radioactive clock is set at zero by the formation of the mineral or glass, either in nature or at time of manufacture.

- Many minerals and natural glasses contain small amounts of uranium

Front 28

Half Life

Back 28

– Libbythought it took 5568 years for HALF of C-14 to decay in any sample

–Approx 50 000 years for it all to vanish

Front 29

Potassium-Argon Dating

Back 29

Used to date rocks many many many millions of years ago; Also most appropriate method to date human sites in Africa up to 5 million years ago.

Front 30

Thermoluminescence Dating

Back 30

- Is used to date crystalline materials (minerals) buried in the ground that have been fires (i.e.. pottery, baked clay, burn stone/soil). It's a difficult method to make precise so is usually only used as last resort after trying radiocarbon dating.

- Energy released when fired

Front 31

Optical Dating

Back 31

Used to date minerals that have been exposed to light, rather than heat.

Front 32

Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating

Back 32

Is used for materials that decompose when heated (so where TL is not applicable). It's most successful application has been for dating tooth enamel.

Front 33

Obsidian Hydration Dating

Back 33

- involves the absorption of water on exposed surfaces of obsidian; when the local hydration rate is known, the thickness of the hydration layer can be used to find absolute date

- not uniform, needs calibration

Front 34

Amino-Acid Racemization

Back 34

method used in dating both human and animal bone. Even with a small sample, it can be applied to materials up to 100 000 years old - beyond the time range of radiocarbon dating.

Front 35

Archaeomagnetic Dating

Back 35

- Limited use in Arky; based on constant change, both in direction and intensity

- whenclay is heated, records direction and intensity of earth’s magnetic field

Front 36

Geomatic Reversals

Back 36

An aspect of archeomagnetism, relevant to dating lower Palaeolithic, involving complete reversals in the Earth's magnetic field.

Front 37

Tephra Studies (pg 155)

Back 37

Volcanic ash. Ie. Deep-sea coring on Mediterranean produced evidence for the ash fall from the eruption of Thera, and its stratigraphic position provided important information in the construction of a relative chronology.

Front 38

Stela (plural=Stelae)

Back 38

Free-standing carved stone monument

Front 39

Australopithecus

Back 39

A collective name for the earliest known hominins (humans/neanderthals) emerging from East Africa 5 million years ago

Front 40

(Ch. 5 Begins) Polity

Back 40

A politically independent or autonomous social unit, whether simple or complex, which may in the case of the complex society (i.e. state) comprise of lesser dependent components.

Front 41

Elman Service

Back 41

American anthropologist, started 4-fold system of classification: 1.mobilehunter-gatherers2.segmentarysocieties (tribes)3.chiefdoms4.states

Front 42

Mobile hunter-gatherer groups

Back 42

•bands

•< 100 people

•seasonalmovement

•wildplants & animals

•minimalstatus/economic differentiation

•no*official* leadership

•bandmembers are typically “kin”

Front 43

ARKY approach to Mobile Hunter-Gatherers

Back 43

1. Investigate single sites

- Identify use, distinguish between cave/open, understand seasonal/migratory/patterns, diet, tools and population size.

2. Investigate territories

- identify how the sites work together

Front 44

Chiefdom

Back 44

A society that bases itself on rank; status is primary importance; 5000-20 000 people; different lineages and scale of prestige; site hierarchies (religious, political, economic)

Front 45

Segmentary societies

Back 45

Relatively small groups, usually agriculturalists, who regulate their own tasks/affairs; in some cases they may join together with other segmentary societies to form a larger ethnic unit

Front 46

2 Types of Settlements

Back 46

1. Dispersed

2. Nucleated

- Agglomerated structures

Front 47

Burials to investigate rank & status

Back 47

- Not usually obvious in segmentary societies but are present; burial of the dead reflects social connections; difference between status & class and gender & sex.

- Multiple or single internment burials in cemetaries/houses, within sites of outside site (public monuments); analyze labor invested in monument (i.e. pyramid or wooden cross)

- Compare burial structures, grave goods and treatment of bodies with sex, age and frequency.

Front 48

Early States

Back 48

•mostlysimilar to chiefdoms•majordifferences:–largerpopulation–leadershiphas monopoly of force–“rational”bureaucracy vs kinship–urbanenvironments of primary importance–distinctsettlement hierarchy

Front 49

Central Place Theory

Back 49

–givena uniform landscape, settlement develops in a certain way–centeris highest ranking settlement–centeris surrounded by secondary centers–eachsecondary center has its own hexagon of smaller settlements

Front 50

Thiessen Polygons

Back 50

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS. Formal method of describing settlement patterns based on territorial divisions centred on a single site; polygons are created by drawing straight lines between pairs of neighbouring sites; then at mid-point along each of these lines, a second series of lines are drawn at right angles to the first (Linking the second series of lines creates the Thiessen Polygons)

Front 51

Site Heirarchy

Back 51

Analysis of site size is a basic approach; sites are then ranked by size; there are usually many more villages and small hamlets than there are cites and large enters.

Front 52

Written Records

Back 52

Papyrus, inscriptions on marble; also important to remember is coinage which showed the ruler and/or the city-state

Front 53

Oral Traditions

Back 53

Hymns and poems passed down to each generation

Front 54

Ethnoarchaeolgoy

Back 54

Indirect approach; It involves the study of both the present-day use and significance of artifacts, buildings and structures within the living societies in question, and the way these material things become incorporated into the ARKY record.ndirect approach.

Front 55

Ethnicity

Back 55

The existence of ethnic groups, including tribal groups. Though these are difficult to recognize from the archaeological record, the study of language and linguistic boundaries shows that ethnic groups are often correlated with language areas

Front 56

Ethnoa

Back 56

The ethnic group, defined as a firm aggregate of people, historically established on a given territory, possessing in common relatively stable peculiarities of language and culture, and also recognizing their unity and difference as expressed in a self-appointed name (ethnonym)

Front 57

Achieved Status

Back 57

Social standing and prestige reflecting the ability of an individual to acquire an established position in society as a result of individual accomplishments.

Front 58

Ascribed Status

Back 58

Social standing which is the result of inheritance or hereditary factors

Front 59

Site Catchment Analysis

Back 59

Off-site analysis; concentrates on the total area from which a site's contents have been derived; can be a full inventory of artifactual and non-artifactual reminds and their sources.

Front 60

Lineage

Back 60

A group claiming descent from a common ancestor

Front 61

(Chapter 6) Environmental archaeology

Back 61

Field of inter-disciplinary research - archaeology and natural science - is directed at the reconstruction of human use of plants and animals, and how past societies and adapted to changing environmental conditions.

Front 62

Climactic Cycles

Back 62

LU

Front 63

El Nino

Back 63

LU

Front 64

Diatom Analysis

Back 64

Method of environmental reconstruction; based on plant microfossils. Diatoms are unicellular algae, whose silica cell walls survive after the algae die, and they accumulate in large numbers at the bottom of lakes & rivers. Assemblages directly reflect the floristic composition of the water's extinct communities, as well as the water's salinity, alkalinity, and nutrient status

Front 65

Phytoliths

Back 65

Minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants, able to survive after the organism has decomposed or been burned. They are common in ash laters, pottery and even on stone tools and teeth.

Front 66

Fossil Cuticles

Back 66

Outermost protective layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass, made of cutin - a material that survivesin the ARKY record often in adjunct to palynology in environmental reconstruction

Front 67

Flotation

Back 67

A method of screening (sieving) excavated matrix in water so as to separate and recover small ecofacts and artifacts.

Front 68

Rock Varnishes

Back 68

Natural accretions of manganese and iron oxides, together with clay minerals and organic matter which can provide valuable environmental evidence. Their study (with radiocarbon methods) can provide minimum age for some landforms, and even some types of stone tool which also accumulate varnish.

Front 69

Isotopic Analysis

Back 69

An important source of information on the reconstruction of prehistoric diets, this technique analyzes the ratios of the principal isotopes preserved in human bone; in effect the method reads the chemical signatures left in the body by different foods (also called Characterization Studies)

Front 70

Paleofeces

Back 70

Desiccated feces, which contain food residues that can be used to reconstruct diet and subsistence activities

Front 71

Gardens

Back 71

LU

Front 72

Land Management using Field Systems

Back 72

LU

Front 73

Reaves

Back 73

Bronze Age stone boundary walls

Front 74

Chinampas

Back 74

the areas of fertile reclaimed land, constructed by the Aztecs, and made of mud drudged from canals.

Front 75

Site Exploitation Territory

Back 75

Often confused with site catchment analysis, this is a method of achieving a fairly standardized assessment of the area habitually used by a site's occupants

Front 76

Human impact on island environments

Back 76

LU

Front 77

Paleoentomology

Back 77

The study of insects from archaeological contexts. The survival of insect exoskeletons, which are quite resistant to decomposition; is important in the reconstruction of paleo-environments.

Front 78

Raised Beaches

Back 78

These are remnants of former coastlines, usually the result of processes such as isostatic uplift or tectonic shifts.

Front 79

Sedimentology

Back 79

A subset of geomorphology concerned with the investigation of the structure and texture of sediments. i.e. the global term for material deposited on the earth's surface.

Front 80

Geomorphology

Back 80

A sub discipline of geography, concerned with the study of the form and development of the landscape; it includes such specializations as sedimentology.

Front 81

Coprolites

Back 81

Fossilized feces; these contain food residues that can be used to reconstruct diet and subsistence activities (like paleofecal matter)

Front 82

Paleoethnobotany

Back 82

The recovery and identification of plant remains from archaeological contexts, used in reconstructing past environments and economies.

Front 83

Seasonality

Back 83

LU

Front 84

Domestication

Back 84

Self-explanatory

Front 85

Neolithic Revolution

Back 85

A term coined by V.G. Childe in 1941 to describe the origin and consequences of farming (i.e. the development of stock raising and agriculture), allowing the widespread development of settled village life.

Front 86

Taphonomy

Back 86

Study of processes which have affected organic materials such as bone after death; it also involves the microscopic analysis of tooth-marks or cut marks to assess the effects of butchery or scavenging activities.

Front 87

Bone Assemblage

Back 87

LU

Front 88

Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)

Back 88

A method of assessing species abundance in faunal assemblages based on a calculation of the smallest number of animals necessary to account for all the identifies bones; Usually calculated from the most abundant born or tooth from either the left or right side of the animal

Front 89

Number of Identified Specimens (NISP)

Back 89

LU

Front 90

Attritional Age Profile

Back 90

A morality pattern based on bone or tooth wear which is characterized by an overrepresentation of young and old animals in relation to their numbers in live populations. It suggests either scavenging of attritional mortality victims (i.e. those dying from natural causes or from non-human predation) of the hunting of humans or other predators of the most vulnerable individuals

Front 91

Catastrophic Age Profile

Back 91

A morality pattern based on bone or tooth wear analysis, and corresponding to a "natural" age distribution in which the older the age group, the fewer the individuals it has. This pattern is often found in contexts such as flash floods, epidemics, or volcanic eruptions.

Front 92

Midden

Back 92

The accumulation of debris and domestic waste resulting from human use. The long-term disposal of refuse can result in stratified deposits, which are useful for relative dating.

Front 93

Residues in Vessels

Back 93

LU

Front 94

Secondary Products Revolution

Back 94

LU

Front 95

Isotopic Analysis

Back 95

An important source of information on the reconstruction of prehistoric diets, this technique analyzes the ratios of the principal isotopes preserved in human bone; in effect the method reads the chemical signatures left in the body body by different foods; Isotopic analysis is also used in characterization studies.

Front 96

Julian Steward

Back 96

•culturesin similar environments have similar adaptive mechanisms

•alladaptations are short lived and constantly changing

•changescan elaborate existing cultures or make new ones

Front 97

Karl Butzer

Back 97

•interactionbetween human and non-human communities unavoidable

•equilibriumbetween human societies and environment can never be reached

Front 98

Paleoclimate

Back 98

•goodevidence for: averagetemperatures, icecoverage, sealevels