Intro to Archaeology Exam1

What is some early evidence of sex, birth, life cycle awareness?

-La Marche, France 14k: some depictions of potential sex acts as well as representations of babies and children -Dolni Vestonice, Czechia: three person burial originally thought to be love triangle, but it turns out all three are male. However, it is still a very strange setup/burial and begs many questions

what is some pre-modern human evidence of art we have?

-Trinil, Java shell w zig zag scratches dated to between 400-500k -Neandertals likely adorning themselves w feathers as bird bones w certain cut marks were found -Neandertals potentially painting/drawing w ochre, although somewhat hard to tell -potentially doing some burials, although it is very hard to tell/recognize. No undisputable evidence of this has been found`

What are some key facts about ancient human diet and cooking?

-bones were burned for fuel as early as neanderthals. -They were also potentially eating cave bears. It appears that neanderthals were systematically hunting them in their sleep as evidenced by Balver Hohl, Germany. -Neanderthals were also potentially eating plants. El Sidron site found vegetarian eating neanderthal-neanderthal with plant evidence in tooth plaque. Potentially eating veggies/plants very early on -fish happened a bit later, roughly 42k in Jerimilai Timor.

What are some key facts about ancient human health?

-toothpicking appears to be an ancient behavior. Evidence found at Olduvai Gorge up to 1.8 million years old. Also found evidence on some neanderthals -El Sidron neanderthal possibly self medicated a tooth abscess with poplar (not rlly any other reason to eat it) -Villaburna, Italy 14k years ago-potential cavity treatment-used stone tool to drill and dix cavity

How was the Pacific most likely populated?

It was likely via raft and small boat. However, it is certain they crossed water. Most of the islands are visible from each other, making it less of an aimless journey. Likely they could not sail against the wind though. There is colonization all the way to the Solomons (VERY far east of asia in the middle of the ocean basically) as early as 25k years ago. The Pacific as a whole appeared to have been populated between 47-20k years ago.

Who correlated Thomsen's ages with pollen from cores?

Johannes Japetus Streenstrup 1800s. Early dating system

What is the earliest known acheulian tool site?

Kokiselei 4, Konso Formation Ethiopia-1.76 million years ago

What is the earliest instance of fire and how did it play into early hominin activity?

Koobi Fora is one of the earliest potential evidences of fire use, although this is heavily contested as lightning and other natural causes can create fire. Controlled fire use is potentially up to 1.5 million years old, but the first uncontested evidence of controlled use is only 300k years ago

Who were some of the first people to question the antiquity of human kind, and how?

Leonardo DaVinci was the first person to question arcaheolofical artifacts and their significance. Georgius Agricola 16th c argued that stone tools were actually made by people

What is potentially the earliest site of stone tools?

Lomekwi 3 Site in Kenya is argued to be the oldest stone tools ever, however it is highly contested. The most convincing tools are found on the surface, meaning they could come from anywhere. It is also unlikely that hominins alive at that time could have used tools that large based on hand anatomy

What is an example of another early structure site?

Mezhirich, Ukraine-15k old strucutre made out of mammoth mandibles and literally HUGE. Extremely impressiv

What was some early art happening in Africa?

Modern humans were making art up to 100k years ago. There are hundreds of pierced shells from Morocco at least 90k years old, and engraved ochre rocks as well as ochre paintings in Blombos Cave, South Africa 75-100k old

What is the movius line

Movius, a scientist in 1948, theorized that East Asiands didn't make handaxes or cleavers because they had bamboo instead. This was proven wrong when handaxes were finally discovered in Guanxi China that were 800k old

What is significant about birch tar?

Neanderthals were potentially using this natural glue as early as 200k years ago. This is an extremely complex process and we are still trying to figure out how they would have gotten the amount of tar necessary to actually use. Brings into question how smart they actually were.

What are some more widely accepted sites of the earliest stone tools?

Nyayanga, Kenya site-3-2.6 million years old. Much more scientifically sound than Lomekwi Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia-2.6 mil years old

What happens post excavation?

Oftentimes a contract is made with museums and government to ensure preservation of artifacts. It is best to refill sites when possible, but unfortunately many countries do not have the funding to refill a site and they go unprotected and are left exposed

What is Clovis ?

Potentially the first humans and industry in the Americas, although the "Clovis first model" is now basically being disproven

When was the appearance of the first modern humans?

Roughly 200k years ago

what are some of the earliest sites outside of Africa?

Shangchen-2.1 million years old and currently the oldest All earliest sites found in East Asia

Who is Dorothy Garrod and what significant discovery did she make about Neanderthals?

She was the first female professor at Cambridge and dug a huge amount of sites. At the sites of Skuhl 5 and Quafzeh 11, humans and Neanderthals were found interstratified. This means that at some point they were living at the same time, and it was not mutually exclusive

Who are the first Australians?

So far we only know of modern humans in Australia. Oldest fossil found is "Mungo Man" (as he was found near the prehistoric Lake Mungo). The fossil is 40k years old and in SOUTH Australia. This suggests humans were there earlier as they would have had to travel to get to that South first

What is conflicting about Native American ancestry and pre-Clovis archaeological sites?

Some archaological sites date before the earliest Native American common ancestor. Potentially an extinct Native population that does not relate to modern native Americans at all. We are not sure. Native American ancestry is most likely Clovis though

what is an example of early modern human burials?

Sungir Russia 35k -middle aged man who appears to have been ritually stabbed in the head. Buried with 3000 mammoth ivory beads and very richly adorned grave goods -double burial of adolescent and child. 5000 mammoth beads, 16 mammoth spears, someone elses leg bone. Very elaborate burial

What are the two theories on how modern humans came to be ?

1. Out of Africa theory-homo sapiens evolved individually in Africa and then migrated 2. multi-regional theory-several different species of hominins evolving at teh same time and interbreeding to slowly and collectively evolve into modern humans.

When did the Acheulian dispersal happen?

1.8-1.4 million years ago, with Ubeidiya being the oldest site outside of Africa

What is significant about the site of Jermilai, East Timor?

50% of the fish remains found dating 38-40k years ago were pelagic (deep sea) fish. This means that they were already capable of going out to the deep sea and coming back, navigating, and fishing as early as 40k years ago which is extremely impressive

What was found in Mandarin Cave in Southeast France ?

54k year old neanderthal and human teeth in very western europe

What is peculiar about the site of Bruniquel, France?

A strucutre dating to 176k years old was found deep in cave where it was basically pitch dark. How and why did people do that? Also means it was neanderthals making this structure which is very surprising.

What is absolute dating and what are some methods?

Absolute dating is dating with specific ranges in mind. Some methods inclue radiometric dating (isotope based), uranium series, and lunminescence

What were some early thoughts on Native Americans?

Also called "primitive people" at the time, until the 1800s they were believed to be from the Middle East. However, Jesuit Priest Jose de Acosta theorized that Natives reached North America through Siberia (correct view, ahead of its time)

What have been some sites that are disproving the Clovis first theory?

Arroyo Site, EASTERN Argentina-14k years old, somewhat less contested and also could have taken even longer to get to Cactus Hill, Virginia-15-17k years old the Clovis period was around 12k years ago, so anything before that is pre-Clovis

what are the earliest humans in Europe potentially and what are some sites?

Atapuerca, Sima del Elefante Spain-1.2 million years. Oldest site in Europe Pakefield, England-500-700k old

What is the earliest evidence of structures?

Bilzingsleben, Germany. 500k year old structure

What makes us human?

Biology: bipedalism, brain size increase and gut size decrease (expensive tissue hypothesis) Behavior: eating proteins rather than making, using tools, fire (maybe, others may use that we are unaware of), culture

What do we know about early clothing and what potential evidences do we have?

Body lice evolved from head lice around 100k years ago, suggesting this is roughly when clothes became a thing. Thermal theory-at certain temperatures, humans need to be covered in almost 100% clothing to retain their heat. How much was absolutely necessary? Is there evidence of clothing manufacture at the site (i.e. scrapers, piercers, cutters)?

What is rescue archaeology?

CRM (cultural resource management)-government or company employed archaeologists recovering sites before they are damaged/destroyed by construction

Who pioneered the Three Age System?

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen (1800s) organized museum collections by type, creating one of the first chronologies of artificacts. Proposed different ages (paleolithic, iron, and stone age)

What is the significance of the FLK 22 site in Tanzania?

Cut marks were found on good meaty parts of the bone, which raises the question of whether hominins were potentially active hunters as early as 1.75 million years ago which is the age of the site

Who is the old man of La Chapelle aux Saints, France and why is he important/peculiar?

Elderly man 60k years ago. Did not have any teeth for a long time before death and survived. This means he wasn't rlly eating meat, so what was happening?

What is some evidence of clothing we have?

First eyed needles 30-35k years old found in Kostenki, Russia. First potential button found 14k years old, as well as ancient engravings of clothes with buttons

what is the earliest human fossil outside of africa?

Found in Java and is 1.8 million years old

What are some theories on why there is so much variety in Neanderthal tools?

Francois Bordes said it was due to tradition of different tribes, Binford & Binford said it was due to different activities being done at different sites. Dibble said that scrapers were retouched and recycled multiple times, thus making all the different apparent tools

What is the difference between archaeology and history?

History deals specifically with written records, where as archaeology is interpreting history//the past from material objects rather than words. This means that archaeology can also unveil clues about PREHISTORY

What pattern of the division of labor is typical among ancient humans?

The expectations tend to change depending on how much meat is in the diet. The more meat, the more tasks the women are doing around "the home" and the more men are hunting. However, it is important to note that this is not always true and female hunters also exist. The Selk'nam, Tierra del Fuego South American indigenous group has entirely female hunters

What is significant about a Pre-Clovis model in terms of how humans came in?

The ice free corridor would not have been viable before 13k years ago, so any humans older than that would have had to come in a different way. Potentially proves coastal theory

What is the Baja Model?

Theory that the ice free corridor could have been settled from the South, AFTER humans spread via the coastal route

What was the splitting event in Beringia?

There appears to be three different branches/groups that populated Beringia. Two groups just kinda hung out and stayed there. Only one group went and populated the Americas. The Asian-American split appears to have happened around 15k years ago. Dogs were domesticated in Beringia and followed humans, and their genetics also match this splitting theory

What does mitochondrial DNA show about the Out of Africa theory?

There is a split between Africans and literally everyone else. This points to migration out of Africa, as there were the homo sapiens in Africa, and then the homo sapiens that left

Why did the origins of archaeology struggle so much at first?

They failed to understand deep time, which would have been very difficult without modern dating methods

How does late neanderthal culture compare to african modern human culture?

They were actually quite similar, which begs the question: was it acculturation, that they were exchanging cultures somehow, or did they just so happen to invent similar things completely seperately

How did humans come to the Americas?

Through the Bering Strait, which is a strip of land that surfaced during the last glacial maximum when sea levels were low. Would have made it possible to travel from Alaska to Russia by foot. Also called Beringia

When were the first modern humans believed to have populated Tibet?

While the Denisovans were there roughly 160k ago, Nwya Devu site potentially demonstrates first site of modern humans there, at roughly 30-40k years ago

What is a significant American burial?

Wilamaya Patjxa, Peru 9k old-teenage female buried with many hunting tools. Potentially important female hunter. There are actually many female burials with hunting tools throughout the Americas, almost 50%, suggesting that perhaps this is not as uncommon as we thought

What major discovery was made in Apidima, Greece?

a 210k year old modern human fossil in EUROPE. Very strange and unexplained. Highly contested

What was found at Liang Bua Cave, Flores Indonesia?

a new species of homo, homo floresiensis (also called the Hobbit species). They were only around 3 feet. Could be a potential case of Island dwarfism

Accuracy vs. Precision

accuracy: how close experimental value is to accepted value; precision: how closely measured values agree with each other. Don't forget ERROR MARGINS when it comes to dating. Dating deals with RANGES and not specific numbers typically

What is said to have facilitated the permanent settlement of Tibet and roughly when did this happen?

agriculture is believed to be what made Tibet permanently inhabitable. This was believed to have happened roughly 8.2-40k years ago

How did DNA help in the early study of Neanderthals?

allowed the identification of previously unidentifiable bones as Neanderthal, and proved a wider range of their dispersal. In 1997, Neanderthal DNA sequences were published using Mitochondrial DNA analysis. In 2010, a draft sequence of their fll genome was put together

What is archaeology and what does it deal with?

archaeology is the study of the human past through material remains. It deals with material, cultural, and environmental remains. Can be as big as pyramids or small as markings on bones.

When did hominins and chimpanzees split?

around six million years ago, although bipedalism could have happened before this. In fact, walking on all fours/knuckle-walking could have been the split/derived/adapted trait rather than bipedalism

When was the latest that the Pacific was still being colonized?

as late as 700 years ago

when and where did homo evolve?

at least 2.8 million years ago in Africa

What is the expensive tissue hypothesis?

attempt to explain how/why humans cranial capacity/brain size has expanded over time. To be able to afford the very energy expensive organ of the brain, we had to sacrifice the digestive organs in the gut, meaning we had tos tart eating higher quality foods.

Who were the first tools likely made by?

australopithecus-even earlier than homo

What is lidar technology?

basically lasers that can be used to see through things. Currently being used on planes to find cities in the amazon and other heavily forested areas

Why are neanderthals called neanderthal?

because they were found in Neandertal, Germany. Neanderthals are NOT in Africa and no evidence of their presence has been found in Africa

What are some ways to check radiocarbon dating

dendrochronology-tree dating. The rings of trees can be indicative of carbon present when the ring was formed (one each year) varves-lake cores

What is key to consider when deciding where to dig?

digging is destruction. The best preservation of a site is to leave it underground as it is. Also key to leave some components of the site for future generations with newer technology

What is use-wear analysis?

do potential tool task with replica today and analyze wear on the replica and compare it with actual tool

What are the two potential ways people could have made it into North America from Beringia?

either through an ice free corridor that opened (this is much less likely as it would not have been viable before the time early humans were discovered to already be there) Or along the coast

What is uranium series dating?

essentially the same as carbon dating, just using uranium. Can date older than carbon

What significant discovery was made at Romito 2, Italy?

first special burial of a disabled person and potential special care. First attested case of dwarfism. The individual survived roughly 17 years, and would have required special care which was evidently administered. Potentially cradled by a female in the burial

What was the first stone tool?

flakes. Literally just little stone flakes broken from a larger stone

What are the different time scales?

geological epochs-millions of years paleomagnetic chroms-hundreds of thousands oxygen isotope stages-few 100k stone age/age ranges-thousands later prehistory dates-100s of years history-exact dates

What are the different types of excavation?

horizontal excavation-opening up as much as possible. Typically for larger sites such as villages. Risky because it can take a long time and leaves the site completely exposed vertical excavation-best for sequencing. Typically for sites with a long history of different groups. Underwater digging-self explanatory. Very expensive though and only done for super significant sites Excavation in block-cutting a block of sediment around the site or some aspect of it, and taking that back to the lab. Usually done for specific objects, very fragile objects, or things discovered on the last day of a dig. Also can help to see stratigraphy

What is stratigraphy?

how things are deposited, layers of the earth

What is significant about White Sands National Park, New Mexico?

human footprints were found that were dated to 21k years ago.

what are some important biases to consider when thinking about human origins?

human-animal barrier: where to animals stop and humans start, what is the difference? implicit mind-body dualism: how much are the mind and body seperated? What constitutes humaness, who was our first concious ancestor?

What is paleomagentism?

identifies reversed or normal polarity of sediments. Every so often, the earths poles will reverse, which will effect certain sediments such as iron

what is Bergemann's and Allen's rule?

in cold climates, you want to keep heat, and in hot climates you want to lost it. This creates volume to surface area differences in humans. Stockier in arctic climates, lankier in hot

What was the pre-scientific view of archaeolofy?

in the middle ages, the predominant world idea was stasis, that the world was fixed, unchanging, and finished. The world was seen as the result of a grand design made by God

What is so impressive about Sopochnaya Karga?

it is a site roughly 45k years old, extremely far in the north. Practically the Arctic. Mammoth bones with injuries and stone tools embedded were found, which means people were hunting mammoths in literal frigid conditions 45k years ago which is super impressive

Why is the past so powerful?

it is constitutive of the identity

What is the most likely way that humans were led out of Africa?

likely by water, as most remains are found by water, including bodies of water that are no longer there

What is luminescence dating?

measures time since certain materials last were exposed to light or fire before being buried

What are the two ways humans likely made it to Asia?

most likely through Sinai, but very potentially maybe also through Bab al-Mandab Sab

How are most sites found?

most sites are found by accident or during construction. This is why it is crucial for archaeologists to maintain a good relationship with the public

Who is "Denny"?

offspring of neanderthal mother and Denisovan father-very important as it shows first generation of interbred species.

oldowan vs acheulian tool industries

oldowan baiscally only had flakes and cores. Acheulian is characterized by the appearance of cleavers and hand axes, as well as the same cores and flakes

What is the oldowan industry?

one of two periods of stone tool development and making. Also called early stone age. First stone tools. Roughly between 3-2million years ago and used by several species of hominin. Characterized by flakes and cores.

What is the East African Rift Valley?

place where tectonic plates are moving away from each other in perfect condition for preserving and finding archaeological artifacts. Huge quantities of artifacts and sites for ancient hominins.

what is exhaustion hunting?

potential early hunting technique. Chasing an animal until it exhausts/overheats. Most do not have their own cooling system

What was significant about the Anzick Site?

pre Clovis site near corridor that allowed for first genetic analysis. Using this info, the Kennewick man was proven to be a Native American ancestor. Surprisingly, Anzick remains were found to be South American ancestor, which is shocking since it was found so far north.

What were the two main industries of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe?

protoaurignacian and early aurignacian

what is seriation?

putting artifacts from numerous sites that are different, but of same umbrella genre of some kind, into chronological order.

What is relative dating and what are some methods?

relative dating is just determining what is older than another thing. Methods include seriation, stratigraphy, and paleomagnetism

What are some characteristics of Neanderthals?

retro-molar gap space behind last molars. sloping forehads, large nasal opening, larger brains than ours, barely any chin, often have pattern of wear on front teeth. VERY robust, huge unbelievably strong bones and muscle attachment points

Who is the Kennewick man?

roughly 8k year old human fossil found in Kennewick, Washington. Resembled Ainu indigenous populations (japanese). One reconstruction of him had him looking white. This combined with the new idea that Clovis tools resembled European tools more than Asian tools rlly had white supremacists running w the idea that Europeans were in America first. This obviously was a huge blow to Native Americans

What is time averaging?

says that every single thing and place in time is just an average of the temporality of the objects presence. Basically that archaeology can somewhat flatten life. For example, if a disaster happened right now, it would be dated to 2023, and someone might say "this is a snapshot of life in 2023" but in this classroom there is also a tape dispenser from the 80s, a whiteboard from years ago, etc. It is an average of what life was like combining all of these elements.

what tools are typically found in a Neanderthals "toolkit"?

scrapers, levallois and mousterian points, keilmesser and blattspitzen, denticulates, handaxes

What is a hand axe?

sculpted to be two sides with an edge that goes around. Many have a pointed tips and rounded butts (teardrop shaped). Also called bifaces

what is the main difference between modern humans and homo erectus?

skull size and shape

What is the savannah hypothesis?

that we became bipedal from having to look over tall grass for predators so much

What stalled early attempts of chronology and archaeologocial research?

the belief in catastrophism. This was the idea that earths history had been shaped by only a few cataclysmic events, likely derived from the story of Noah's flood.

What are Denisovans?

the cave cousins of Neadnerthals. Found in Tibet. First discovery in Baishya Karst Cave, where a jaw was found. Modern Tibetans have an allele to allow more oxygen intake, which appears to come from Denisovans.

What is a site?

the place of some kind of past human activity that is visible today. Visible is key as there are many sites that we will never know about because we cannot see them

How were modern humans making art in such deep, and dark parts of caves?

they had primitive lamps, and were likely burning fat for light. Lascaux Lamp 17k old

When did Neanderthals and modern humans overlap in Europe?

they overlapped for at least 15k years. Neanderthals were in Europe up to 40k years ago, and modern humans were there since at least 55k years ago.

what is post-depositional process?

things that happen after the objects are deposited that can affect how they are oriented in the ground and their general integrity

Why is it theorized that tools were first needed?

to cut meat into small pieces, which made it significantly easier to chew

What is some evidence of early human spirituality?

"lion man" of Hohlenstein-Stadel, Swabia 35k old. Figure of waht appears to be cross of a man and a lion. There is also some number of potential shaman drawings and other human animal crossovers.

What are some examples of upper paleolithic art (modern humans)?

-Earliest art outside Africa is pig drawing and hand stencil 40k in Leang Timpuseng, Indonesia -venus figurines: certain type of female figurine 30k. Found many in Willendorf, Austria-"willendorf type" venus figures

what is radiocarbon dating?

using carbon 14 half lives to determine how much time has passed. Only works to maximum of 50k years ago. Also important to know that carbon fluctuates depending on carbon ratios in earths atmosphere at the time, so this must be considered when using this method

What are hand axes for?

we are not entirely sure, although it is likely they were used for butchering

Where are the only potential non homos outside of Africa?

In Dmanisi, Georgia. Around 1.8 million years old. Homo erectus