Anthropology Midterm 2

Index fossils/time markers

"temporally diagnostic"=defining characteristic use it to broaden the notion in stratigraphy by looking at somehting such as a time marker and are able to look at things around it and possibly determine how old they are. used to define and identify geological periods

Molecular Clock

A method for estimating the time required for a given amount of evolutionary change, based on the observation that some regions of genomes appear to evolve at constant rates.

AMS dating. Example?

Accelerated Mass Spectrometry. allowed small samples to be used in radiocarbon dating instead of old,bigger samples. Shroud of Turin was example of how AMS helped us. Long cloth with blood said to be wrapped around jesus.

Dendrochronology

Based on overlaps in tree ring records from different age samples and can be used to date archeological samples and develop climate records.

mtDNA

Mitochondrial DNA strictly inherited from mother and some believe we all came from one "mitochondrial mother" because we all share a small percentage of this DNA

Nunamiut/ Binford

Native Alaskan people, Binford focused on their culture by observing behavior.He had an emphasis on understanding underlying cultural process behind scientific method and used the Nunamit people to do it. Found different assemblages in caves according to seasons just as we would have different objects in our cars throughout the seasons.

NISP

Number of Identifiable specimens - used to be used to estimate how many of each species was present. easy to overestimate one species when fragmentary because different animal skeletons consist of different number of bones.

Archaeofauna. Example of site?

Provides info regarding: hunting methods, herding and management of domesticated animals. Example= Chavin de Hvantar in Peru; showed that cities growth forced them to adapt from rural hunting civilization to a civilization solely dependent on trade. Main source of food was jerky from outside civilization(shows trade)

Relative Dates vs. Absolute Dates

Relative = can only give us a date relative to another object. uses stratigraphic dating technique and is easily disturbed by natural causes such as rodents. Absolute= can give us ALMOST and exact date of a sample by using more scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology

Obsidian Sourcing (XRF)

Shows us trade because we can see if obsidian from different settlement has showed up somewhere else

Indirect Subsistence

Site catchment:helps us determine what resources might have been readily available to settlers by looking at how far away they might have been from the town or vice versa. Settlement patterns: help us guess what settlers were going after,resource wise, during each season.

Geomorphology

Study of Earth's land forms and the processes that have formed them. Need to know what has changed in the land form because they all can have implications of the habitants.

Bioarchaeology

Study of human remains, emphasizing the preservation of cultural and social processes in the skeleton. Helped to reconstruct diets and show reoccurring illnesses/diseases.

Taphonomy. Site Example?

Study of the biological and geological processes that affect organisms from the time they die until their preservation as fossils. Example was Hudson-Meng SIte because the Buffalo were believed to have been running off cliff but later found there was a midden on edge of cliff that was slowly falling down onto fossils.

Style

Style has no change in function but rather has a physical difference such as we see in older cars and how they change to modern cars

Bioarcheaeology in New World

Teeth:Kristi Turner found that most similar to north asian teeth. Found that 3 different migrations to North America Language:looked at population migration and found 3 different languages Skulls: mtDNA:5 different haplogroups;A,C,D (oldest)all from North Asia. B from South China. Y Chromosome(mens DNA)-date screams Asia. ~18,000 years ago

Paleopathology

The branch of osteology that studies the evidence of disease and injury in human skeletal remains. Harris lines=horizontal lines on bone considers trauma as a factor on growth Tooth Hypoplasias=white dots on teeth show how many fevers a child had when younger

Dendroclimatology

The science of relating growth rates in trees to climate using annual growth rings. the wider the ring the wetter the year and the opposite.

Ethnoarchaeology

The study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record. Focus is on the material remains of a society, rather than its culture.

Flotation

The use of fluid suspension to recover tiny burned plant remains (microfossils)and bone fragments from archaeological sites.

Obsidian Hydration

a measurable rind grows at a known rate on the surface of the lithic material called obsidian when it is freshly exposed. Can take centuries for it to grow

Old Wood Problem

a potential problem with radiocarbon (or tree ring) dating in which old wood has been scavenged and reused in a later archaeological site; the resulting date is not a true age of the associated human activity

Burial population

a set of human burials that come from a limited region and a limited time period. The more limited the region and the time period, the more accurate will be inferences drawn from analysis of the burials.

Paleoethnobotanist

an archaeologist who analyzes and interprets plant remains from archaeological sites in order to understand the past interactions between human populations and plants.

Seriation

arranging categories of objects in a chronological sequence. Has turned into a minor analytical technique for archaeologists because of absolute dating but still important in context because it helped advance archaeological science.

Experimental Archaeology

controlled experiments in attempt to replicate the past

radiocarbon dating

dating an artifact by observing the amount of carbon left in the sample and relating it to the half life of carbon which is about 5,000 years old

Pack Rat Middens

gives us a great sense of vegetation around a site because they take whatever is near them. Amborat(or rat pee) preserves the middens. Pack rats raid human crops/stash so helps show human diet as well.

Potassium Argon Dating

measures diminishing potassium in Argon gas...used for dating very old samples. Can't be used to date organic materials.

MNI

minimum number of individuals- estimate relative proportions of different species in faunal assemblage/estimate # of animals needed to account for all bones found in assemblage

De Vries effect

one of the problems in radiocarbon dating where there has been a natural fluctuation of carbon in the environment so it can throw off your date when using this technique.

Direct Subsistence

plant microfossils (microscope), and macrofossils(naked eye), faunal bone(animal bone). The animal bones that are found at site can show diet as well

Seasonality

referring to what season the natural or cultural processes took place when you find an artifact

Osteology

study of human skeleton. Helps when we look at burial population because we can see what traits each has and compare to get a relative idea. Can be used to generalize a certain human population and bones can give us an idea of individuals lifestyle/diet/sex.

radiometric dating

the process of measuring the absolute age of geologic material by measuring the concentrations of radioactive isotopes and their decay products.principal source of information about the absolute age of rocks and other geological features, including the age of the Earth itself, and can be used to date a wide range of natural and man-made materials

Paleodemography

the study of ancient demographic patterns and trends, including life expectancy, fertility (how many children one woman had), mortality, etc.

Palynology

the study of fossil pollen grains and spores to reconstruct past climates and human behavior. Not good at seeing different species

Molecular Archaeology

the use of genetic information in ancient human remains to reconstruct the past. Two types of DNA used;nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA which is only passed by mother and everybody shares .6% of this.

Betatankin

used dendrochronology to date the wooden doors in houses/buildings. were able to tell how city grew by looking at each room's door

Reservoir Effect

when organisms take in carbon from a source that is depleted of or enriched C14 relative to the atmosphere, dating is older or younger than it really is