ANTH 2463: Exam 2

The "Theory" of 14C Dating Rests on Two Main Assumptions

- 14C decays at an unchanging rate, averaging a half-life of 5,730 years - The amount of 14C, relative to stable C12 and C13, has been constant through time (except last 70 years of nuclear bomb creation and testing). This second assumption has been shown to be wrong, there HAVE been fluctuations in the amount of 14C in the past. We have had to CALIBRATE our radiocarbon dates.

Microbotanical Remains:

- Microscopic plant remains (like pollen, spores, starch grains or phytoliths (LOCALIZED PLANTS, come from plant parts that don't get move/redistributed by wind)) - Recovered from an archaeological site. - Can be observed with binocular microscopes or scanning electron microscopes (SEM).

Palynology

- The study of ancient(fossil) pollen and spores. - Pollen GRAINS are male reproductive plant bodies. - Pollen are identified through their size, shape, furrows, apertures, and structure of exine. -Changes in pollen frequency through time can be displayed with a pollen diagram. -Pollen grains give you a REGIONAL view of the land (coming from all sorts of areas). -British Neolithic example: How was Britain's landscape transformed during the Neolithic and what is the pollen evidence?

Cautionary Remarks on Analogies

-Analogies never give us THE answer, just possible explanations. -We need to be careful in how we use analogies, and need to be aware of any events that may have disrupted cultural continuity (for example, mass epidemics) -Some archaeological cases may have no modern analogue

Radiometric Dating (Radiocarbon Dating)

-Atom composed of electrons, protons, and neutrons. -Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons are isotopes of one another. -Carbon family consists of three isotopes: 12C, 13C, and 14C

Trapped Charge Dating

-Dates an object by calculating the amount of radiation it was subjected to since the object's electron clock was last reset by heat or sunlight. -Mesures ENERGY ACCUMULATION/ error accumulation -Background gamma radiation in sediment causes electrons to go out of orbit and get trapped in mineral crystal lattices (constant rate). -Use a dosimeter to measure background radiation. -Quartz and feldspar are examples of minerals to which this method is applicable. -Longer the mineral is in the ground, the more energy it accumulates.

How do archaeologists trace an artifact to its source?

-Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (XRF): Uses obsidian's trace elements to "fingerprint" an artifact and trace its geological source. -Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA): Determines the trace element composition of the clay used to make a pot to identify the clay's geological source.

Exotics: what are they and why important?

-Exotics: Are artifacts made from specific raw material or in a style that indicates long-distance contact. -They are symbolic resources that reinforce authority, communication, and social order

Uniformitarian Approach to 14C Dating?

-If: there has been a constant ratio of 14C to 12C through time. - Then: we can use that amount of 14C remaining in an organism to date when that organism died. Because we know 14C decays at a constant rate, the beta emissions emitted indicates the amount of 14C remaining in the sample. For this method to work a large sample is needed to accurately assess the amount of radiocarbon and it takes a large amount of time to conduct

Limiting factors of Dendrochronology

-In dry climates water is often a limiting factor . -Location must have a single growing season. -Narrow rings most important -Limiting factors can be used to infer on paleoclimate. -Limiting factors vary by region. Each region's chronology is not necessarily applicable to other regions.

Where do we find animal remains?

-Kill sites: Where the animals were killed. -Processing sites: Places where animals were butchered. -Campsites: Where people butchered and consumed them.

Age and Sex determination

-Like in humans, teeth and fusion can be used to determine age. -Patterns of eruption and teeth wear. -If the animal breeds seasonally, fine-grained age categories can also provide insight into season of death. -Fusion rates and long bone epiphyses (ends of bone that fuse to the main shaft with age, usually at 25). -Annular rings in fish vertebrae -In animals with seasonal breeding, age can be used to estimate season of death.

Bridging Arguments

-Logical if- then statements made with a certain degree of confidence. Confidence determined by formation processes, ethnoarchaeology, and experimental archaeology -Example: Hudson-Meng Bison Bone bed NW Nebraska. Bone bed representing at least 500 bison, concentrated in small area, occurred 9500 radiocarbon years ago. The animals were missing the tops of their crania. Larry Agenbroad used a relational analogy to link ethnohistoric bison hunting by Plains tribes to the bone bed. People smashed the crania to access the brains. Analogy but NOT Middle-Level theory. -Todd and Rapson used data on the disarticulation of modern animals that died naturally. Crania were damaged because they sat above the remaining disarticulated skeleton and were exposed to the elements for longer. They argue that the animals asphyxiated from a prairie fire. This is an alternative explanation to Agenbroad's hypothesis that relies on mid-level theory.

What are alkaloids, why are they dangerous (and fun), and how are they identified?

-Many plants produce alkaloids for protection and to attract pollinators (insect junkies). Alkaloids are nitrogen-containing organic compounds that produce effects on the body when metabolized. -Alkaloid-containing plants include tobacco, poppy, coffee, marijuana, and peyote. -Example: Mystery of the Chaco Cylinders (AD 900-1075, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico). Patricia Crown used high precision liquid chromatography to examine residues left on the pots. Early Chocolate

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)

-Measures the ratio of 14C/12C present in a sample. -Carbon and radiocarbon are absorbed by an organism in the ratio that is present in the atmosphere. -Through AMS, specific atoms are counted. -This allows you to determine how much 14C remains in an object. -AMS dating is quick and requires a smaller sample but can be expensive

Where can macrobotanical remains be found?

-Middens, containers, charred remains. -Macrobotanical remains are typically recovered through flotation. -Coprolites/paleofeces are a direct reflection of diet. -They may contain plant remains, animal remains, pollen, DNA, parasites, or hormones.

How do we study status archaeologically?

-Mortuary treatment and health status (Bio-archaeology) -Viking warrior woman burial example -Prestige goods -Exotic goods and their distributions across and within sites

Macrobotanical Remains

-Non-microscopic plant remains recovered from an archaeological site. -Indicators of diet, economy, and human behavior. Ex. Peach pits, corn kernels, wood charcoal, and hickory nutshells.

What are packrat middens and what can they tell us about climate?

-Packrats build their nests in protected settings, using the same place for hundres of years. -They live in arid environments. -They do not travel more than 100 m from their nests. -Consummate gatherers of local plants. - Packrat Middens yield MACRObotanical remains that are helpful in reconstructing LOCAL vegetation and climate.

Calibration

-Radiocarbon production in the atmosphere is not constant. -Raw radiocarbon dates must be adjusted for temporal variability in atmospheric 14C/12C ratios. -Radiocarbon dates can be checked against other absolute dates, such as dendrochronological dates. -These absolute dates can help in creating a calibration curve, where raw radiocarbon dates are corrected for atmospheric fluctuations in 14C/12C.

Zooarchaeology

-The identification and interpretation of the animal taxa present in an archaeological site. -Different from paleontology since paleontologists do not tie their work into questions about human behavior. - A zooarchaeologists is an archaeologist who specializes in the study of the animal remains from archaeological sites.

Ethnoarchaeology

-The study of contemporary groups, observing material remains while they still exist in their systemic, behavioral contexts (e.g. perishable remains) to examine how human behavior produces and uses material culture. Some things to keep in mind: -We must take into account cultural and behavioral change Drawbacks: -Humans are messy, and we can't replicate all behavior with controlled experiments (which can sometimes also be biased in that they assume all people are/act/think the same, or are us)

Dendrochronology

-Using annual growth rings in trees to assign calendar ages to ancient wood: tree ring dating. -Based on the uniformitarian principle that trees react to the climate in predictable ways -Growth layers appear as rings -Latewood: dense, darks, deposited in late summer/fall. -Earlywood: Large cells and thin walls, early spring.

What can faunal remains tell us?

1. Bioturbation 2. Nutrition 3. Predator-prey relationships 4. Settlement Patterns 5. Social Boundaries 6. Meat Exchange 7. Domestication 8. Faunal Successions 9. Ritual 10. Animal Husbandry 11. Human-induced climate change

How 14C is created?

1. Cosmic radiation bombards atoms in the atmosphere and releases neutrons from atoms 2.Free neutrons hit 14N atom, which accepts the neutron and ejects a proton 3. 14N + neutron - proton = 14C

Methodology of Dendrochronology

1. Need wood or charcoal with at least 20 rings. 2. Sample sent to the appropriate lab with contextual data. 3. An analyst will cut or sand the sample down so the rings are easily visible and the widths are then measured individually 4. The lab analyst tries to match the sample to the appropriate portion of the regional master sequence

Limits of 14C Dating:

1. Only organic material (Shell, bone, and plants- NOT pottery). 2. Cannot date object past 45,000 years. 3. Accuracy - calibration curves worked out for last 14,000 years based on tree rings, up to 40,000 years on other records.

How 14C enters the living system?

1. Plants absorb 14C (to them it is the same as 12C) 2. Animals eat plants and other animals eat these animals 3. All carbon based lifeforms have 14C 4.14C dates a death event 5. Once an organism dies, it no longer takes in 14C (THE CLOCK STARTS!) 6. With death, 14C decays into 14N at a constant rate (half-life 5730 years) 7. The decay (Beta decay) emits a proton (Beta emission)

Why are plants useful for archaeologists?

1. Sensitive to climate. 2. Respond to climate by changing their distributions. 3. Plants rely on animals, wind, or water for reproduction. Plaint remains preserved in dry environments, waterlogged environments, ancient human stomachs, and desiccated feces. These remains may be observed at three different scales: macro, micro, and residue.

Benefits of Dendrochronology

1. Very precise 2. Fine-grained (yearly) record 3. Rapid changes in material culture are dated 4. Good for dating events and understanding climate change, land use, and cultural behavior

Mid-level Research (AKA Middle Range Theory) consists of:

1. We get to these causes by looking at "living systems" 2. Controlled experiments = experimental archaeology 3. Observations of modern human behavior = ethnoarchaeology 4. Popularized in archaeology by Lewis Binford 5. In the 4 strategies of archaeology, it is strategy 2: when archaeologists use present material culture to try to better understand human behavior in the past. Rigorous kind of analogy based on causal linkages

Drawbacks of Dendrochronology

1.Interspecies variation (sensitive vs. complacent) 2.Regional variation in climate 3.Finding long chronologies 4.Limited regional applicability 5.Old Wood Problems ( Dendrochronology dates the cutting event. We must ensure that the cutting and construction occurred at the same time.)

Principles of dating with dendrochronology

1.Not ring counting but pattern matching. 2.Need regional master chronology from present to past. (Has many samples) 3.Need tree with single growth season. 4.Damages: fire, insects, floods, landslide, earthquakes . 5.Soil Chemistry: Environmental contaminants 6. Atmospheric Chemistry: water source, CO2 concentrations (and source) 7. Climatic reconstruction: Variability in the limiting growth factor, such as precipitation.

Analogy

A comparison between two entities: Figuring out the known from the unknown. Noting similarities between two entities and inferring from that similarity that an additional attribute of one is also true of the other. So... 1. An archaeological object is characterized by attributes A, B, C, D. 2. The ethnographic analogy is also characterized by A, B,C, D and has the function or property E. Therefore, the archaeological object also has the function or property E. Example 1- Kivas in the American Southwest Kivas in SW have sipapu- a place where the Pueblo people emerged from the underworld.

Radiocarbon dating results:

A date and an error term (ie, a mean and standard deviation): e.g., 6510 +/- 70 BP 6150= Sample died 6150 years ago ( mean date) +/-= 70- add or subtract 70 years. (1 sd from the mean- 68% sure it's around that)

Direct acquisition

A form of trade in which a person or group goes to the source area of an item to procure the raw material directly or to trade for it or for finished products.

Clans/ moieties

A group of matri- or patrilineages who see themselves as descended from a (sometimes mythical) common ancestor. May be clustered into moieties. Clans and moities can be exogamous (marriage is allowed only outside a social group) or endogamous (marrying within a specific social group).

Number of Identified Specimens (NISP):

A raw count, overestimates abundance of animals. At Agate Basin, bison NISP = 1033; but Hill estimated that there were only 5 individual bison.

Matrilineal Descent

A type of unilateral descent that follows the mother's side only. This lineage is the most important. Females inherit identity and property, males defined by mother's lineage as well.

Types of Status

Achieved: accrued through accomplishment. Ascribed: accrued through inheritance.

Counting Bones

All faunal assemblages are fragmentary, which complicates quantification. Analysts must assess completeness. Four femur fragments may come from one femur.

Down the Line Trade

An exchange system in which goods are traded outward from a source area from group to group, resulting in a steady decline in the item's abundance in archaeological sites farther from the source.

Taphonomy

Anything that happened to an animal since the time of its death. -Taphonomic indicators at Agate Basin: 1. Few animal tooth marks, cut marks common 2. Several specimens were relatively intact 3. All species (regardless of size) had the same weathering pattern (all died at relatively the same time) -Carnivore gnawing - Both humans and animals scavenge. -Early humans may have been scavengers before hunters. -We can observe the sequence of tooth and cut marks to infer who accessed an animal carcass first.

Relational Analogies

Based on cultural similarity (cultural continuity or similar cultural forms) -One group descended from the other (Hopi from prehistoric SW groups). -Human groups living in similar environments/climates share some cultural similarities

Formal Analogies

Based on similarities in formal attributes of archaeological and ethnographic entities ("they look the same"). Stronger if more cases demonstrate these similarities

Variation 3: Idiosyncratic differences (Life Histories of Individuals)

Bone Trauma (a form of paleopathology) -Antemortem (trauma happens before death -with healing of bone evident) -Postmortem (trauma happens after death - no healing, brittle breakage of bone, staining). -Perimortem (trauma happens at or about the time of death) -The difficulty with perimortem trauma, is that it is difficult to distinguish cause of death from coincidental trauma near the time of death.

What do bioarchaeologists study, and why do they do it?

Burial population: a set of human burials that come from a limited region and a limited period. - Primary burial: Complete corpse after death, not disturbed. -Secondary burials: Reburial or burial of partial skeletal remains. Often missing some parts. Goal: To understand the individual and the skeletal series of a past population (i.e. observations of individuals to say something about a past population). We look at three factors of variation for individual remians.

Variation 3: Paleopathology - the study of ancient patterns of disease, disorders, and trauma

Can use other evidence to infer pathology (i.e. mass burials, historic records or texts, oral histories, changes in technology) -Problem is MOST diseases do not leave visible traces in bone. -Cause of death can often be difficult to determine. -Some diseases do leave skeletal traces: 1. Arthritis evidence of degraded points. 2. Other diseases (e.g. syphilis, leprosy, yaw) impact skeleton. 3. Tuberculosis (25% of T.B. cases effect the spine-Pott's). 4. Iron deficiency anemia (severe iron deficiency can cause bone lesions, like porotic hyperostosis or cribra orbitalia) 5. Malnutrition causes arrest in normal bone and tooth growth: -Harris Lines - form on ends of long bonesEnamel -Hypoplasia - lines on teeth when developing -Dental carries (cavities) - not malnutrition but a consequence of eating agricultural products like maize. -Tartar build up at the border between the crown and the roots of the incisors of the maxilla can lead to infection and recession of bone tissue

Mortality Profile

Chart that depicts the various ages at death of a burial population, based on the age and sex data of burials

Gender Ideaology

Culturally prescribes values assigned to the task and status of men and women.

How many genders?

Depends on your culture. Examples: Northern Plains Indians: Biologically female-> women Biologically male-> men Biologically male--> Neither man not woman, but traits of both (known as Two Spirit). Associated with important ritual and social positions, alternative way of gaining power, as well as healing skills.

Unilineal Descent

Descent that establishes group membership exclusively through either the male or female line

Understanding Past Political and Social Systems Goal:

Develop a testable hypothesis that links symbolic manipulation of objects, space, and people to particular forms of organization. -How people organize themselves, but also how they structure their identities.

Gender Role

Differential participation of males and females in the institutions of a cultural group.

Bioarchaeology of Labor and Gender in the Prehispanic Southwest

Elizabeth Perry: Looked for Musculo-skeltal stress markers. (MSMs). -Found that women devoted a tremendous amount of time and energy to grinding corn. Hunting and agricultural labor for males, and grinding activities for women. Women's presumed association with activities such as ceramic and other craft manufacture, as well as food processing and preparation such as husking, shelling, and cooking was expected to result in asymmetry among females in the muscles of the lower arm. -The muscles that exhibit asymmetry in the shoulder and upper arm of males are heavily implicated in the use of the bow and arrow.

Political Organization-

Formal and informal instiutions that regulate (control) a society's collective acts. Control can rest with residential or non-residential groups (i.e. there are different degrees of control).

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL)

Good for sediments, especially sands. It can date canals and middens. 1. Similar to TL but with light wavelength instead of heat 2. The clock starts when the silicate object or sediment was last exposed to light 3.Re-exposure to light will RESET the clock

Social Organization types (group, residential, non-residential,

Group: A basic social unit. We focus more on the individual than group. Residential: Physical face-to face- associations of people. (community level- villages, households). Non-Residential: Groups in an abstract sense. Exists for specific purposes (symbols, ceremonies, insignia). Statuses: Recognized social positions Roles: Appropriate behavioral pattern Key Idea: Behaviors associated with social statuses are often expressed in material cultures and use of space. The structure and organization of a society can tell us about their interactions, strategies of leadership,. attitudes, and identities.

Political Organization- Rules and Behavior

How a group operates is a mix of (1)gender, (2)kinship, (3)economic status, age, and other factors.

Faunal analysis:

Identification and interpretation of animal remains from an archaeological site. (multi-step process).

Ethics and Bioarchaeology

In U.S. we only excavate human remains if at risk of being disturbed or destroyed. If human remains are believed to be ancestral Native Americans we seek permissions from affiliated tribes. It is a balancing act. EXHIBITING THE DEAD SHOULD ONLY BE DONE FOR SPECIFIC REASONS, NOT GRAITUOUSLY OR FOR POLITICAL REASONS.

Trapped Charge Dating- Calibration

In order to calibrate, the background radiation dose rate needs to be measured. -Calibration is context specific. -This is a very local considerations. A dosimeter measures background radiation.

Bone

Is a changing living tissue that responds to nutritional and mechanical stress, it is a composite material that is capable of healing (remodeling).

Osteology

Is the study of the skeleton. Unlike zooarchaeology, not as concerned with counting issues, instead mostly concerned with establishing burial populations

Mid-level Research (AKA Middle Range Theory)

Links archaeological data to actual behavior (we look at static things [artifacts] in the present, which reflect dynamic activities in the past) -Main questions: Why is the archaeological record the way it is? What caused it to be here/how we found it? -Popularized by Lewis Binford.

Thermoluminescence (TL)

Measures the date of Ceramics and burned stone artifacts. 1. The "clock" starts when the object was last heated and electron traps were last cleared (e.g. ceramic fired or stone heat treated) 2.A process of measuring chronology 3. To begin, heat specimen rapidly (500 degrees Celsius), which will cause the release of trapped electrons (energy)- this resets the clock 4. Electrons go back into orbit with a nucleus (accumulate energy) - this is visible as light 5.The intensity of light = quantity of total radiation = time (date range)

How do we see gender in the archaeological record?

Mortuary analysis: The study of graves and their contents to learn about past socities and individuals. Bioarchaeology Ethnographic analogy. Examples: Hand-built vs Wheel-thrown pottery (Prudence Rice) Artistic depictions (rock art, pottery, etc.)

How do we study kinship archaeologically?

Mortuary studies (e.g., burial clusters) Genetic Studies: Can tell us how they moved around. Spatial layout of sites (e.g., structures)

Chiefdom

Regional polity in which two or mmore groups are organized under a single chief. Size: Medium/Large Social Organization: Kinship/ specialized roles. Political Organization: Hierarchical/ ascribed Subsistence: Agriculture -May be legitimated through ideology -Chiefs receive tribute to redistribute through the chiefdom -Kin typically receive preference during redistribution. -Chiefs control all of the land and resources. -This also mediates societal conflict.

Direct Historical Approach

Relational Analogies consist of direct historical approaches. These: -Move from the recent past back in time through groups who are culturally linked in a geographic area or lived in a similar environment. -Danger: This approach becomes more difficult and unclear further back in time.

Bilateral Descent

Relatives are traced equally on the mother's and father's side. The nuclear (immediate- i.e. your parents) family is the most important (most industrialized society's)

Stable carbon isotopes (12C and 13C):

Remember, 14N is radioactive, which is why we can use it to date things. 13C is sensitive to plants' photosynthetic pathways. This is reflected in the difference between C3, C4, and CAM plants. -C4 plants have high ratios of 13C/12C. They take in MORE 13C and 14C than the other two plant. (maize and sugarcane) -CAM plants have intermediate ratios, use both pathways (succulents, cacit, and pinneapple) -C3 plants take up the least amount of C13 and therefore have low ratios. (rice, wheat, and potatoes).

Patrilocality, matrilocality, and neolocality

Residence patterns tend to occur in certain circumstances (e.g., in hunting societies with mobile men, matrilocality tends to develop)

Social Organization

Rules and structures that govern relations within a group of interacting people.

Scavenging vs. Hunting

Scavenging becomes an important issue in human evolution. The earliest human hunters probably followed scavenging ancestors. The order of cut-marks and toothmarks can provide evidence for who hunted and who scavenged a carcass.Hunting of individual animals and in drives.

What is the difference between sex and gender?

Sex: Inherited, perceived biological difference between males and females (roughly two, in reality sex falls along a spectrum on possibilities). Gender: Culturally constructed ideas about sex differences (can be many).

Sexetermination

Sexual dimorphism is more pronounced in many animals than in humans. There are size differences as well as features like antlers/horns, dental variations, and pelvic apertures.

State

Size: Large Social Organization: Specialized roles/ institutions Political Organization: Hierarchical/ ascribed Subsistence: Agriculture

Tribe

Size: Medium Social Organization: Kinship Political Organization: Some achieved status. Subsistence: Horticulture or Foraging

Band

Size: Small Social Organization: Kinship Political Organization: Egalitarian, achieved Subsistence: Foraging

Variation 2: Biological sex

Skull: Male crania usually more robust features (mass, supraorbital margin, zygomatic), -Male features more squared off (mandible [jaw & chin], eye orbits) than female *note there is always a range of variation within male/female* Pelvis: reflects functional differences between males and females a.Male pelvis more narrow b.Female pelvis wider, more laterally angled

Purpose of sociopolitical systems? What are archaeologists interested in, in terms of sociopolitical systems?

Sociopolitical Systems: Serve to resolve conflicts of interest and regulate relationships. Archaeologists are interested in: Organization of leadership and authority, and development and transformation of political structures.

Mississippian Tradition (what, where, when?)

Southeast Ceremonial Complex Mound 72 at Cahokia (immolation) One of the centers of the Mississippian tradition, mound building people. Remains of chiefly societies. Chiefs had the power, and resources to build these mounds. Chief lived on top. Largest structure prior to European contact. -Hybrid human hawk images (Birdman). These people were symbolized as being powerful birds. Found on a carved shell, clay tablets. Held sway over parts of Cahokia. These people predicted celestial events (next slide Woodhenge) ceremonies held by these leaders. A way of reinventing your power. Mound 72: Elite burial center. Has a lot of converging lines of power. In the center of the mound, they found a blanket with 1000's of marine shell beads that were imported up the Mississippi to be made into a cloak in the form of an eagle. Next to him are other humans laid in as retainers (gave them all they had in their life and death). W/0 heads and hands. Where they captors? War booty? No one knows. The 1st time evidence of humans having power. In pit next to Mound 72, couple dozen women. Sacrificed as part of the mortuary ritual of this one elite. One person passing translated into dozens of other losing their lives. The whole system is advertised through South East ceremonial complex. Things buried with the leader. Ex. in mound 72 leader had things from N, S, E, and W clustered spatially to show what was coming from each community, showing their respect. Why do we bury prestigious objects with these leaders? No one else can have it and the next chief has a system that makes this stuff in his honor to be sent to the tribute. If you pass things on to the next chief, specialists won't have anything to do, creates supply and demand. Way of creating tribute system

Faunal Analysis Steps

Step 1 of faunal analysis: Identify The Bones 1. Assign each specimen to an element (its anatomical location. A specific part in the body -femur for example). 2. Identify each specimen to taxon (type of animal; Linnaean taxonomy- species, genus, family, order). -The goal is to get as specific as possible, but fragmentation can complicate this goal -Identifications are made easier with knowledge to functional morphology. -Teeth relate directly to diet. -Comparative collections (A skeletal collection of modern fauna of both sexes and different ages used to make identifications of faunal assemblages) are necessary for identification. These collections allow not only for taxonomic identifications, but also for age and sex designations. Comparative manuals are also useful, but not a substitute for a comparative collection.

Bioarchaeology

Study of the human biological component of the archaeological record by exploring bone, bone chemistry, and DNA preserved in human tissues.

Uniformitarianism

The Present is the key to the past. -We assume for the most part, cultural/natural processes had the same effects in the past as they do today (trampling, crushing, erosion, etc.) -We cannot observe how things happened in the past. -We must distinguish causation from coincidence

Faunal Assemblage

The animal bones recovered from an archaeological site. They differ from paleontological assemblages because humans may have had a hand in their formation.

Variation 1: Ontogeny (age)

The growth and development of an organism. (Can get at age based on bone fusion, tooth eruption, and wear on bone). -Skeletons can give a biological age, but not your calendar age. Biological age broken up into age classes (i.e. 5-10 yrs old, 10-15 yrs old) -Epiphyses: the ends of bones that fuse to the main shaft or portion of bone at various ages, most bones are fused by age 25. -Pubic symphysis: the place where the right and left os coxae meet in a person's groin area. -Morphological changes of the articular surfaces are a postcranial (not skull) age indicator for adult remains.

Chronometry

The measurement of time. -We need absolute dates to order events on a global scale. Dates are placed on a calendrical scale. -Establish a sequence of events of things both within sites and between them

Complexity

The number and proliferation of specialized political, economic, or other social roles and institutions within a society. Key: Complexity is not necessarily better, it just means more working parts.

Egalitarian societies (acephalous)

The number of value statuses is equal to the number of persons with the ability to fill them. -Generally equal access to life-sustaining resources. -Status= Achieved. -Largest Social Unit= band.

Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI):

The smallest number of individuals required to account for all identified bones. This gives depressed counts. 1. Tabulate the most frequent element for each taxon (accounts for side as well). 2. Not the actual number of animals, but allows us to say something about relative frequencies. Likely closer estimate than NISP.

Kinship

The socially recognized network of relationships through which individuals are related to one another. -Blends biological descent with cultural rules that define degree of relatedness.

Paleodemography

The study of ancient demographic patterns and trends. -Reconstructs parameters such as life expectancy at birth, the age population and patterns in the ages of death (i.e. quality of life issues).

Biomechanics

The study of bone morphology to reconstruct motor habits and labor practices. Bones respond to stress by changing shape and increasing surface area muscle attachments. (Ex. Squatting: -Sitting down on the job: Squatting facets (smooth flat spots on the ankle area).

Experimental Archaeology

The study of material correlates of human behavior through controlled experiments. -Understanding things people did in the past that they no longer do today (ex. Flintknapping) -Case study = Film watched in class - Time Team. -Butchering experiments = identify use-wear on tools associated with butchering animals -Some things to keep in mind: 1. Experiments give us possibilities, not definitive answers 2. We must take into account local materials and contexts. 3. Life is not a controlled experiment

Paleoethnobotany

The study of plant remains from ancient contexts, focusing on plant-people interactions (i.e. issues around environment, economy, and symbolism)

The Agate Basin Site example. A 10,780 RC years BP site in Wyoming.

This example illustrates the ideas of identification and counting. -People lived there in late March/early April. -Bison and pronghorn remains. -The bison were partially butchered and brought back to camp. -The pronghorn were brought back nearly intact. -Hunters may have been under stress, they did not rely heavily on food storage.