Complete List of Terms and Definitions for Archaeology Quiz 4

Terms Definitions
Values Values-
CENTRAL ASIA HORSE
stratigraphy sequence of strata
Prehistory Time before written record
Post-Processualism : 1980 to now
Tomb of Caecilia Metella
Bordes/Binford Debate Debate about explaining inter-assemblage variability in the French Mousterian Industry.
Bordes: changes in tools were a result of cultural changes
Binford: changes in tools reflected different uses for the tools or different activities - based explanation on observations of recent human behavior (uniformitarianism)
Phase an archaeological construct possessing traits sufficiently characteristic to distinguish it from other units similarly conceived; spatially limited to roughly a locality or region and chronologically limited to the briefest interval of the time possible.
Provenience 3 dimensional locations where artifacts were found
indians of ME passamaquoddy, penobscot, abnaki
debitage all the waste from flaking
Sahul landmass linking Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea during periods of low sea level
Christian Thomsen (1788-1865): devised the now well-known typological scheme of Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
Synchronic studies within a single time period
Dilmun, Bahrain Important transshipment port between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley in the Persian Gulf as early as 2500 BC.
Mousterian culture from the Middle Paleolithic ("Middle Old Stone Age") period that appeared throughout Europe after 250,000 and before 30,000 years ago; Mousterian artifacts are frequently associated with Neanderthal human remains
niaux cave footprints, 500, 13-15 years old
settlement pattern distribution of archaeological sites across a region
SITE: Cahokia -New World
-evidence of Mississippi river drainage
-Built in stages
-Biggest for Chief, council houses & charnel houses
-Had an area called the "plaza" which housed anywhere from 4,000 to 40,000 people
-Had elites
--One example of elites was the Birdman
---buried w/ sacrifices: 4 men and 50 women,copper, mica
-Evidence of large scale feasting
--thousands of people probably gathered for a feast
material culture objects that accompany your culture
conclusion a final decision reached by reasoning
Ardipithicus ramidus 4.4 mya, Africa, "ground root"
Early Settlements: -20KYA Mezhirich, RussiaEarly Pit housesSome houses built out of bones -People live in groups-More social pressures
Processual apply the scientific method to archaeology and come up with specific laws. Processual has an emphasis on EXPLANATIONS. Everything is a system, but you can’t do that for humans, different reactions. Could do tests, radiocarbon dating, needed facts to back up their hypothesis. Binford first processualist.
Best when fine stratigraphic divisions are used and when bones are not overly fragmented MNI
draftsman records the exact position of all fossils, tools and other artifacts as they are excavated, marking their relationships to each other in both the horizontal and vertical planes
Yangshao Culture widespread farming culture in the Huang Ho valley of northern China after 5000 BC
New archaeology a concerted effort to develop archaeological theory firmly on the basis of scientific method
Gracile austral. narrower jaw, smaller teeth-- omnivore (group we likely came from)
Feature an article of merchandise that is displayed or advertised more than other articles
pisac a peruvian village where terraces were abundant
fission-track form of scientific dating, used to date rocks, pottery and glass
Odyssey written by Homer; story of Odysseus' travels back from Troy after the Trojan War
experimental archaeology Experiments designed to determine the archaeological correlates of ancient behavior; may overlap with both ethnoarchaeology and taphonomy
Ishi 1911-the last of the Yana people, studied by Alfred Kroeger. new nothing of the 20th c world and challenged notions of what "primitive" people were like by learning the language and customs very quickly.
-His preserved brain was sent to the Smithsonian and is in a tank in Maryland. Controversial and has spurred debate about repatriation to Native American tribes.
osteophyte A sign of osteoarthritis in which bones develop a distinct "lipping" of bone at the point of articulation.
eburnation a sign of osteoarthritis in which epiphyses of long bones are worn smooth, causing them to take on a varnish-like appearance.
fracture mechanics the physics of how materials break
Hopewell A period of intensive mount building in the Ohio River Valley, corresponds to Middle Woodland culture
Hohokam culture traits -Preclassic period (AD 200-1150)and Classic period (AD 1150-1400/1450?)-sites vary in size and complexity, from small hamlets to massive aggregated communities with public ritual architecture, differentiated ritual and elite precincts.
archaeology, 5 the study of the human past
the principles that underlie sampling strategies that provide accurate measures of a statistical population statistical sampling
type-site the place where artifacts of a particular culture or cultural stage have first been found, customarily adopted as the name of that culture
200,000 years ago Homo neanderthalensis lived at this time
Laetoli Footprints Discovered in 1976 by grad students having a dung fight in Tanzania
Footprints in volcanic rock dating to at least 3.6MYA
fossil remains or imprints of a plant or animal from the past
La Ferrassie, France Rock shelter near Les Eyzies, Dordogne, where evidence of Neanderthal burials was found.
core sample a cylindrical piece of sediment rock soil snow or ice that is collected by drilling
Coring uses a hollow metal tube driven into the ground to lift a column of earth for stratigraphic study
Homo Erectus Originated in Africa--spread as far as China and Java
1.8-1.3 million years ago. Migrated from Africa during the Early Pleistocene. Had an brain size of 600 cubic centimeters. Possession of language, identified from casts of the brain patterns on the inside of the brain case. Possession of a modern, humanlike precision grip and an opposable thumb.
The ability to manufacture stone tools.
cultural disturbance processes human behaviors that modify aritifacts in their archaeological context, as in the digging of pits, hearths, canals, and houses
methodological objective to find out how material remains relate to the behavior that produced them.
bundle burial Burial of a person's bones, bundled together, after the flesh has been removed or allowed to decay off the bones.
classical archaeology the branch of archaeology that studies the "classical" civilization of the mediterranean, such as greece and rome, and the near east.
collapse a sudden failure due to leaders not anticipating problems before they develop because of placing priority on short-term interests.
Amarna A city built by the heretic king Akhenaten and abandoned after his reign.
Pueblo Bonito occupied between AD 828 and 1126. 2009, it was reported that traces of cacao from, at the nearest, 1,200 miles (1,900 km) away in Mexico, were detected in pottery shards at Pueblo Bonito. This was the first demonstration that cacao, important in rituals, had been brought into the area that became the United States at any time before the Spanish arrived around 1500. Cylindrical pottery jars, common in Central America, had previously been found, but are rare. Discovered by Simpson. 650-800 rooms. Two parts with two kivas (ritual rooms). Less than 800 people probably (result of room analysis and fire-pit analysis). Some estimates under 100. Seasonal and spiritual value. The site allows us to begin to comprehend the degree to which the Anasazi/ Ancient Pueblo understood the solar and lunar cycles. The solar and Lunar cycles are marked in the petroglyphs of the surrounding cliff area as well as in the architecture of Pueblo Bonito itself
Priam's treasure Not Priam's, not treasure. Theory that treasure comes from at least 8 different spots on the site.

Gold Sauceboat, hair spirals, lots of earrings, necklace, tiaras, etc.

Dressed wife in ENTIRE treasure. Disappeated after WW2...only found in the 90s when Russians said that they had it.

In years 2200 - 2300 BCE, common culture throughout Mesopotamia. Same culture as death pits of Ur!
human ecology the study of the relationships between bumans and their environment.
posthole an excavated hole showing by its shape and by the remains of wood or other debris that it was once filled by a post
Humus Layer The part of the soil profile where things like plastic toys and pop tops are found.
hamlet a small village with just a handful of houses and a small number of inhabitants
Aspects of Burial Sites/Cemetaries_________ tells how people disposed of/treated their dead
cosmology and religious beliefs
NOT day to day activity
Macrobotanical remains corn cob, peach pit, seeds. come from: Packrat middens,
Hearths, Mummified animals, Soil
Charles Lyell Wrote The Principles of Geology in the 1830's. One of the most influential scientific works, influences are understanding of geological processes today.
Klasies River Mouth South Africa - Contains middle stone age remains (~250ka to 40ka) - Richard Klein looked at teeth of large mammals to determine age of death - Differences in mortality profiles
Inca Empire An empire that thrived for over a century and at its peak ruled over 12million people from northern Chile to Ecuador
stratified random sample A survey universe divided into several sub-universes that are then sampled at potentially different sample fractions.
Santorini/Thera Blew up in 1450 bc because of huge volcano

Ash fell on crete, allowing them to get invaded?

One of largest explosions EVER
terminus ante quem the latest time the event may
have happened
Tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) The use of annual growth rings in trees to assign calendar ages to ancient wood samples.
Emic Vs. Etic Emic - Observations of a culture from someone within that culture.
Etic - Observations of a culture from outside of that culture.
Bering Land Bridge/Ice Free Corridor -Two different hurdles -Land Bridge open from ca 35 KYA to 11KYAIce-free corridor open from 40-20 KYA and after 14 KYA -Probably very inhospitable-Very cold
Paleoindians and Clovis- -By ca. 13,200 YA, the _____ point appears, marking an explosion in the number of Paleoindian sites throughout North America, but lasted only a few hundred years.
-Commonly used to hunt big game adapted to the grasslands of the Great Plains of N. America.
-Meat, when dried, could support dozens or hundreds of people.
Blombos Cave, South Africa Cave site with evidence of art and Homo sapiens-style artifacts dating to as early as 75,000 years ago.
Associational Dating using the date of one item to tell you about the age of an item it was found with
satellite imagery primarily used in... production of large site maps and larger regional mapping
Where was the first wild ass kill site? shakshuk, Libya. Early Iberomaurusian. Ancient springs were used by hinters and gatheres. Stone tools found: high blade index, microliths, hearths, mammalian fauna; larger than typical sample of wild ass remains.
how archaeologist identify food production One thing that we look at is whether there are domesticated plants and animals present.
Whole suite of changes - need more than one line of evidence to indicate food-production.
Technological indicators:
Tools - grindstones, digging sticks, digging stick weights, hoes, sickles, plows (later on)
Storage - pottery, pits
Permanent structures - larger sized settlements
Dung, pens, field systems, irrigation, ground clearance
Rock art
new technology to make stone tools during the middle to upper paleolithic transition use of bones and organic materials to make stone tools