ARCHAEOLOGY TERMS - ANTHROPOLOGY

steps of an archaeological project

-1. hypothesis creation -2. survey & site location -3. excavation -4. data collection and recording -5. laboratory and conservation -6. interpretation -7. publication

What excavation technique do archaeologists use to help keep track of the location of each find?

Divide an excavation site into squares and create a site plan

Which of the following technologies is helpful to archaeologists in surveying and downloading and recording information a feature or site's location?

Global Positioning System

At what step of an archaeological project do archaeologists formulate specific questions or resolve particular issues about artifacts, which they excavate?

Hypothesis creation.

Archaeologists generally choose to focus on a particular culture that often is associated with a chronological period. In what culture would Teotihuacan be associate with?

Mesoamerican archaeology.

In the article, "Ethics and Archaeology: The Attempt at Çatalhöyük," by Hodder (2002), what is the ethics question he raised regarding the excavating of archaeological sites by archaeologists?

The question Hodder raises regarding the excavating of archaeological sites by archaeologists is should the research focus strictly on questions, which address the interests of the scientific community, or also consider the interests of different stakeholders such as local communitites, politicians, and artists. He suggests that archaeologists should engage different gouprs and collaborate with them in setting the agenda for an archaeology project. He argues that archaeologists have an ethical responsibility to ask questions about the past that resonate with stakeholder communities. For example, the local rural inhabitants of Çatalhöyük are farmers with low incomes and limtied education. They have limited detailed knowledge of the history of Turkey that they learned from primary school and folk traditions. Their interest in Çatalhöyük included practical concerns such as how to benefit economically from the project, the site, and its tourists. The project has helped persuade regional officials to build a new school and library.

In what country is the archaeology site, Çatalhöyük, located?

Turkey

publication

all the finds, plans, photos & interpretation of site are published

data collection and recording

artifacts are carefully removed for further analysis and study; photos, drawings, detailed notes

cultural resource management

assess archaeological remains at construction sites to record critical info & preserve stuff before the site's destroyed/covered up

laboratory and conservation

by specialists; preserve & restore delicate/damaged objects

Egyptian archaeology

deals w/ Egypt

classical archaeology

deals w/ civilizations affected by Greeks & Romans

prehistoric archeology

deals with time periods before the invention of writing

datum point

easily identifiable fixed spot at a known elevation above sea level

historical archaeologists

examine both physical remains and texts

What type of remain is the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan?

features

Mesoamerican archaeology

focuses on cultures in Central America & Mexico

environmental archaeologists

help us understand the conditions that existed when the people being studied were alive

interpretation

interpret findings & explain story/significance of the site

At what step of an archaeological project do archaeologists attempt to explain the story and significance of a site?

interpretation

The physical remains, which an archaeologist, discovers is also referred to as ____

material culture

excavation

most well-known aspect of archaeology; excavate remains under earth

many branches of archaeology

prehistory; historical; ethnoarchaeologists; environmental; industrial; cultural resource management

survey and site location

reason to dig & where to dig

experimental archaeologists

reconstruct techniques and processes used in the past to create artifacts, art, & architecture

features

remains that cannot be moved; ex) large buildings, post holes

artifacts

smaller, portable objects

The recording and "reading" of strata from an excavation site is called

statigraphy

Successive layers of soil that develop around artifacts and features are referred to as _____.

strata

industrial archaeologists

study buildings & remains that date to the period after the Industrial Revolution

underwater archaeologists

study material remains that survive underwater

context

the association of artifacts and features found within an area or layer; allows us to interpret archaeological finds & their meaning

culture

the behavior and beliefs of groups of people

archaeology

the study of past cultures through the material (physical) remains people left behind; remains used to understand & reconstruct all aspects of past cultures

hypothesis creation

to answer specific questions or resolve certain issues

What is the primary tool of an archaeologist?

trowel