ANTH 202 Chapter 16

Why did Rathje resort to rooting through peoples' garbage rather than simply asking them questions about their consumption behavior?

Because people do not always answer questionnaires accurately and honestly.

The more important role in archaeology in the future will be to

Knock down walls that often divide people of the world

Clea Koff earned her degree in anthropology and joined a team of experts brought together by

Physicians for Human Rights

Most people think landfills are comprised of______________, when in fact the volume is going down.

Plastics

Applied archaeology:

-Brings the techniques of archaeology to non-traditional venues -Applies our knowledge of the human past to concrete economic or social problems -Can make archaeology relevant to the modern world.

At Home St. Jean in Rwanda, forensic archaeologists concluded that a mass grave site was part of a program of genocide because:

-Cut marks on bones showed that many individuals were killed by machetes from behind, as if they were fleeing their attackers -Cut marks on the bones of hands and forearms showed that some people were unmercifully macheted to death with their arms raised in self defense -The murdered civilians were unarmed.

It is important that archaeologists devote attention to public education because:

-It is ultimately the public that financially supports archaeological research -Members of an educated public are far less likely to loot or vandalize archaeological sites.

What types of archaeological knowledge could be useful for law enforcement personnel?

-Knowing how to distinguish human from animal bone -Knowing how to probe the ground to determine the location of subsurface pits -Knowing how to read soil profiles, topographic maps, and soil reports, as well as map surface evidence.

Professional archaeologists have joined investigatory teams to

-Recover MIAs in Vietnam -Excavate mass graves of missing persons in Central America.

A forensic archaeologist might be involved in:

-Using archaeological methods and techniques to help solve crimes -Training law enforcement personnel in basic archaeological principles -Documenting human rights violations by excavating mass grave sites.

Archaeology contributes to our understanding of the human condition by

-What it learns about the past -How it goes about learning about the past

Archaeology is about the

-living & dead -past & future.

According to the textbook the Garbage Project recovered

40-year-old newspapers with hot dogs wrapped in them

The Battle of the Alamo is enshrined in American folklore as:

A "holy altar", where the martyrs' deaths of Texan soldiers successfully delayed Mexican forces and ultimately set up a victory for Texas.

The ethnohistoric record suggests that the Bighorn Medicine Wheel was:

A site for vision quests.

Wyoming's Bighorn Medicine Wheel site consists of:

A stone circle, or "wheel", nearly 90 feet in diameter, perched atop a 9640 foot high peak.

According to the textbook, the Garbage Project has studied a number of social issues, including

Alcohol consumption

Kodiak Island in the far north is the aboriginal home to:

Alutiiq

An artificial mound of stones, deliberately constructed in order to aid navigation, as a memorial, or to mark the location of a grave is a:

Cairn.

Brian Hatoff took the position when excavating Hidden Cave, outside Fallon, Nevada to

Carry out a public education campaign to encourage community participation

Which of the following activities would an applied anthropologist be least likely to be involved in?

Conducting research to better understand how and why the major social institutions evolved.

DiBlasi's archaeological research in Louisville's Eastern Cemetery:

Documented abundant grave reuse in the cemetery and was important in the effort to prosecute the cemetery's operators.

(True or False) Although archaeology can provide important information about what has happened in the past, the usefulness of archaeology is limited to largely intellectual pursuits; practical applications of archaeology that actual benefit the modern world are extremely rare.

False

(True or False) Archaeologists have an obligation to consider views that differ from their own equally valid; this includes frivolous claims made by individuals such as Erick von Däniken's claims that the Egyptian pyramids were built by aliens.

False

(True or False) Because it is illegal to rummage through people's garbage, Rathje and colleagues needed to obtain written permission from every household whose garbage they analyzed.

False

(True or False) Despite the high profile, few archaeologists are involved in public education.

False

(True or False) Research clearly demonstrates that the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in northern Wyoming was intentionally designed as an astronomical observatory, specifically to mark the summer and winter solstices.

False

The application of archaeological and bioarchaeological knowledge for legal purposes is:

Forensic archaeology.

When excavated several hundred graves and thousands of associated artifacts from Kodiak Island in the 1930s and sent them to the Smithsonian Institution:

He saw no need to consult with the local community, viewing the bones and artifacts from a strictly scientific perspective.

In the future it will be most important for archaeology to show that

How different environmental and historical circumstances work together to create diversity of human societies

In truth, archaeology ________________the ramifications and conflicts involved when we take multiple versions of reality to the American public.

Is only beginning to appreciate

Archaeological evidence has shown that the Bighorn Medicine Wheel in the past was used as:

None of the above; we do not know what the Medicine Wheel was in the past.

As demonstrated by the Garbage Project's research into landfills, the bulk of American landfills are comprised of:

Paper.

The difference between pure science and applied science is:

Pure science is systematic research directed toward acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, while applied science is research to acquire the knowledge necessary to solve a specific, recognized problem.

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel today:

Remains a sacred site to many contemporary Indian people, where ceremonies are performed to this day.

Ancient artificial channels dug along the Peru-Bolivia border

Served as heat sinks

During WWII some American archaeologists volunteered their services in the war effort.

Several collaborated on "national character" studies that tried to characterize peoples who were either allies or enemies

Archaeological evidence has been used to reintroduce ancient technology in areas where it might be useful, such as in Andean farming communities. Results of these experiments indicate:

That ancient technology can be highly efficient and cost effective even in the modern world.

Which of the following is true of Kodiak Island archaeology today?

The Alutiiq people have granted permission and provided resources for archaeological investigations, and actively promote educational programs on Alutiiq culture, language, and arts.

Nazi archaeology provides an example of:

The misinterpretation and outright fabrication of prehistory that can occur when a single group appropriates complete control over the past.

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT), the state-appointed custodians of the Alamo, for years discouraged mission-period research into the Alamo because:

They believed it would detract from the "true" historical significance of the Alamo as the cradle of Texas liberty.

(True or False) Archaeologist Richard Gould (Brown University) developed a volunteer archaeological unit including safety, medical, and public affairs experts designed to help at disaster scenes; this unit is called Forensic Archaeology Recover (FAR).

True

(True or False) Archaeologists are playing an increasingly important role in the investigation of human rights abuses; for instance, professional archaeologists have been involved in recovering MIAs in Vietnam, excavating mass graves in South and Central America, and investigating massacre sites in places such as Croatia, El Salvador, and Rwanda.

True

(True or False) Forensic archaeology involves using established archaeological techniques and knowledge to assist law enforcement agencies for legal purposes.

True

(True or False) One way or another, virtually all archaeological research depends on public support.

True

(True or False) The fact that Kodiak Island native community leaders granted permission for archaeological excavations, as well as provided funding and student interns for the project, showed that Alutiiq people do not object to archaeology, but to an archaeology that sees their participation as unnecessary.

True

(True or False) When Garbage Project workers investigated alcohol consumption in a sample of Tucson households, they found that the amount of beer people reported drinking and the amount of beer that they actually drank were quite different.

True

(True or False) Archaeology can be used to further the political interests of particular groups of people. Nazi archaeologists, for example, argued that agriculture, music and writing systems first appeared in northern Germany and spread throughout the world from there; Hitler used such information to justify the need for Nazi domination of the world.

True (Emanated from a northern European core area)

The Garbage Project demonstrated which of the following about America's landfills?

Very little in our landfills actually biodegrades; after 20 years, from 1/3 to 1/2 of all organic materials are still recognizable.

While prehistory was largely ignored in Germany prior to Hitler's rise to power, archaeological research flourished under Hitler's control. Nazi archaeology:

Was used to support claims for Aryan superiority, in spite of the fact that no such evidence existed.

The Garbage Project was started in Tucson, Arizona in 1973 by:

William Rathje.

Repatriation is seen by:

archaeologists and other scientists as a tragedy that will only lead to the destruction of irreplaceable scientific materials.