Intro to Archaeology Final

Olduwan

"pebble tools" Stone tool industry consisting of simple flaked tools; the first known tools in the archaeological record. Named for the Olduvai gorge where the tools were first discovered by Louis Leakey. Associated with Homo habilis. Found as early as 2.5 mya.

Residue Analysis

(Organic)- use of chemicals to extract and identify traces of plant and animal materials from pottery (Protein)- the recovery and identification of proteins preserved in or on archaeological materials

Provenience

- An artifact's location relative to a system of spatial data collection -can be considered the most important thing about an artifact because it relates to context.

Dental annuli

- Annual growth rings or increments in tooth cementum -Rings in the teeth of rodents, can be used to discover seasonality

Pack Rat Midden

- Any collection of artifacts or objects concealed at some point by a pack rat (also woodor trade rat) and remaining in an assemblage at that location. They are so-called because they collect various bits of material to deposit in their dens. They sometimes pick up shiny objects in camps and may at the same time leave something they were carrying, thus giving the impression that they are trading" one item for the other."

Experimental Archaeology

- Attempts to understand how things may have happened through controlled and directed replication - Good for: Generating hypotheses: does a particular technique work? What's the most efficient technique? Gives insight into prehistoric processes Allows us to test physical and chemical processes - eg. Pyramid Construction in Egypt

David Hurst Thomas

- Author of textbook - Excavated Gatecliff: A prehistoric archaeological site in Monitor Valley of central Nevada with deposits spanning the last 7000 years. -Worked in Reece River Valley; with Shoshone Indians -At the time, people suggested Shoshone lifeways were product of Euroamerican contact, too many disruptions to use Direct Historical approach -DHT disagreed, used ethnography to learn more -Used work of Julian Steward to, predict archaeological record, see if people lived in ancient times as modern, and see if Ethnographic record can predict the past -He found that ethnographic pattern explained 75% of archaeological record and had long time depth -Older sites less like ethnography -Authored that book nobody has looked at since the last midterm

Best & Worst Environs for Preservation

- Best environment for preservation: 1. dry caves, no water 2. frozen environments - Worst environment for preservation: humid,moist - strange exceptions: Bog people of Denmark -Acidic and anaerobic water -Naturally mummified skin and organs (bone not well preserved-mineral)

Traditions vs. Horizons

- Larger Classification Units traditions: persistence of types over long time in a restricted spatial area, gives depth horizons: wide geographic spread and short temporal duration can b caused by 1) similar adaptation to a similar envir 2) migration diffusion ex. a "fad" - Examples: a. Hopewell Tradition (moundbuilding): most of Ohio and surrounding states b. Certain site layout and burial mound tradition c. Projectile point type d. Iconographic style artifacts, copper and steatite • Horizons and Traditions vary • Horizons and Traditions are units o Designated by culture historians to help structure time-space variation

Volcanic Glass

- Obsidian - used to process lithic tools such as arrowheads - occurs naturally only in western United States so example of trade to Hopewell Indians - sharp but brittle

Jomon Pots

- Oldest ceramic pots Earliest pottery = Japan (12,500 years old)

Oldowan vs. Achulean

- Olduvai Gorge (Oldest - Lower Paleolithic) N. Tanzania, 2.5 million years old o Basically broken cobbles to make sharp edges o Not much planning and not very standardized, just needed sharp edge o Made by Homo habilis o Used for cutting meat, scraping or sawing wood, cutting grass or reeds - Achulean Tradition o Begins 1..5 mya to 0.5 mya o Still part of "Lower Paleolithic" o Next technological step in stone tools Craftsmanship is better o Hallmark is handaxe

Primary vs. Secondary Deposit

- Primary: "in-situ" - Secondary: sediments picked up and moved with artifact (agents: water, gravity, wind, animals, people) - (refers to artifacts or sites & human behavior, different from geologic primary deposit); the older an artifact is the higher the chance things were moved into secondary context - How can you tell? Alignment of materials (water flow will align them in the same way: imbercation)

Trinomial (for sites)

- The Smithsonian system of archaeological site numbering. The three number consists of the state number (or alpha designation), the county alpha designation, and the site number

Pleistocene & sea level change

- a geologic period from 2 million to 10,000 years ago which was characterized by multiple periods of extensive glaciation **During the Pleistocene(ice age) much of the planets water was contained in glaciers, lowering the sea levels, allowing humans to cross the land bridge to the Americas -also makes some previous sites now underwater

Coprolite

- desiccated feces, often containing macrobotanical remains, pollen, and the remains of small animals -can be useful in studying died, or past environment (ecology)

Remote Sensing

- gathering data and information about the physical "world" - by detecting and measuring radiation, particles, and fields - located beyond the immediate vicinity of sensor devices -associated with objects and features - magnetometry, ground penetrating radar, soil resistivity

Michael Schiffer

- in interpreting the archaeological record more accurately, he distinguished between archaeological record and systematic contexts - (systematic context: a living behavioral system wherein artifacts are part of the ongoing system of manufacture, use, reuse, and discard) - implies formation processes -developed the F(M,C,D,S,T) thing

Ecofact

- non-artifactual organic remains at sites - plant and animal remains

Hunter-Gatherers

- optimal forages - A way of life in which subsistence is based on the hunting of animals and the collection of wild plants rather than settled agriculture. - term for the members of small-scale mobile (to be near seasonally available wild foods) or semi-sedentary societies and the organizational structure is based on bands with strong kinship ties. - - over 3 million years during the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods - along with pastoralists carry cores around since they dont know what they will encounter

Postmodernism vs. Processualism

- postprocessual - a paradigm that rejects grand historical schemes in favor of humanistic approaches that appreciate the multiple voices of history. - it seeks to see how colonialism created our vision of the world as we occupy today; it eschews science and argues the existence of objective truth

Seasonality & Zooarchaeology

- study of animal remains found in an archaeological context - answers questions like: what was the prehistoric diet? how were animals used as food? which animals were eaten and in what quantities? who procured the animals? (differences in gender, age, class, etc.) what technologies were involved in hunting? were animals used for things other than food? how does subsistence interact with other parts of culture? - use bones to identify species/# of specimen - use frass (insect dung) to gain info about climate - use shell middens to gain info about water conditions - gain info about environment and human cultures from packrat middens (unbiased collection) By studying the animal remains, various occupation patterns may be studied. The exploitation of different environments at different times of the year by the same group of people; an estimate of when during the year a particular archaeological site was occupied. Transhumance is one instance of this practice, where high pastureland is grazed in the summer. There was also exploitation of water resources for fish or water birds; the following of wild herds by hunter-gatherers. The people usually moved back to their original starting place each year.

Pollen & Palynology

- technique through which the fossil pollen grains and spores from archaeological sites are studied - The examination of their production, dispersal, and applications is an aid to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climates and developing relative chronologies.Palynology helps archaeologists find out what plant resources were available to ancient peoples and what the climate was at those times.

Diet Breadth

- the diet-breadth model predicts that as high return rate resources become rare, the diet should expand to include lower rate resources Only pursue prey when the post encounter return rate is higher than the average return rate.

Epiphysis & Fusion

- the ends of bones that fuse to main shaft or portion of bone at various ages; most bones are fused by ages 25. This fact can be used to age skeletons of younger individuals

Uniformitarianism

- the principle asserting that the processes now operating to modify the Earth's surface are the same processes that operated long ago in the geological past (processes that work today worked that way in the past). - popularized by Charles Lyell

Taphonomy

- the study of how organisms become part of the fossil record; in archaeology it primarily refers to the study of how natural processes produce patterning in archaeological data

Microwear Analysis

- the study of the patterns of wear or damage on the edge of stone tools, which provides valuable information on the way in which the tool was used.

Midden

- trash pits - any large refuse heap, mound, or concentration of cultural debris associated with human occupation.

Stratigraphy

-'discovered' by Nicholas Steno oldest=bottom, young=top. - a site's physical structure produced by the deposition of geological and/or cultural sediments into layers or strata - the sequence of deposition can be assessed by a study of the relationships of different layers - adopted from geology and is basis for reconstructing the history of an archaeological site

Pictograph

-In which the picture, commonly cave art, has a direct meaning. Ex: a man with a spear chasing a mammoth= a man hunting a mammoth. -It is a basis of cuneiform and, to some extent, hieroglyphic writing (meaning they evolved from it into syllabic) Pictographic & Ideographic/Logographic o Easy to decipher meaning of text o But can never know how language actually sounded o Script preserves meaning not language o Usually contain 500-1000s of individual signs (lots to memorize) o Writing takes less space

Kennewick Man

-Skeletal remains of a prehistoric (Paleo-Indian) man found in the state of Washington, US, washed up from Columbia river -Controversy with Native Americans, based on Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, argued it was their ancestor and it belonged to them under the Act -Dated to somewhere between 5650 and 9510 years old -Court ruled that scientists were right, he did not relate enough to Native American culture to be considered one of them

Optimal Foraging

-Theory that organisms forage in a way to maximize their net energy intake per unit time -They behave in such a way as to find, capture, and consume food containing the most calories while expending the least amount of time possible in doing so -currancy- calories, fat, protein, time, ect - the concept that natural selection will favor animals that choose foraging strategies that maximize the differential between benefits and costs - archaeological theory - helps to predict which foods foragers will harvest based on some principles borrowed from evolutionary ecology. - the diet-breadth model predicts that as high return rate resources become rare, the diet should expand to include lower rate resources

Elgin Marbles

-a collection of greek marble statues from the parthenon and other places -taken by the british who believed the greeks did not care for them well enough

Petroglyphs

-also called rock engravings, are created by pecking stone surface rock art

A.E. Douglass

-developed dendrochronology (tree-ring dating)

Flintknapping

-subtractive method of making tools use one rock to hit another -the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian, or other conchoidal fracturing fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools -tool: -hammerstone (percussion) -antler(soft percussion) -pressure flaker -results: - flakes, exhausted core -tools (bifaces,, arrowhead)

Laetoli

3.5 millions yrs. Early austropiticines were bipedal. Were able to date ash using K-Ar dating

Middle range theory

A theory composed of empirical generalizations based on empirical fact. Methods, theories and ideas from the present that can be applied to any time period and anywhere in the world to explain what we have discovered excavated , or analyzed from the past.

projectile point

A triangular-shaped sharp-tipped flaked tool that was originally attached to a wooden shaft. Examples include arrowheads, harpoon heads, dart tips, and spear points. They range in size and shape.

Economy of scale in pottery production

An advantage of pottery -able to use same energy to fire 1 pot as 15

Cultural Resource Management

Archaeologist who try to preserve cultural areas, usually before building architectures on top of a land. Excavate before, and build later. Why care? Lessons from the past, to preserve past, ancient people didn't write-gives them voice, explain human behavior, identity, lost culture - a professional field that conducts activities, including archaeology, related to compliance with legislation aimed at conserving cultural resources

primary burial

Body is put in resting place, in flesh, intended to be left there, buried "anatomically correct" - articulated

Percussion vs. Pressure Flaking

By controlling force and direction of percussion o Pressure flaking: application of compressive force

Ceramics vs. Pottery

Ceramics: anything made from fired clay Pottery is a specialized form/ Rarely found in whole form/ - pots Sherds or Shards are the broken pieces / Pot sherds are VERY durable and can last for thousands of years • Good for relative dating between sites

Definition of clay & temper

Clay- fine soil particles used in making pottery. this clay is shaped and then fired to make ceramics. • Heat changes structure of clays • Where can you find Clay? o Sedimentary (lots of small particles sorted by nature and put down at the same location, redeposited sediments; Levigation = artificial way to do this) vs. Residual clays (formed in situ, weathered rocks etc.) Temper- Foreign material (sand, plant fibers, grit, shell, crushed rock, broken pottery) added to clay for potterymaking to improve its firing qualities and prevent a vessel from cracking during the drying process. Temper reduces plasticity, which would cause shrinkage or cracking upon drying and firing. The study of temper is important for the identification of the place of manufacture of a vessel.

Advantages vs. disadvantages of pottery

Disadvantages of pottery o Require large amount of fuel during firing o Fragile (more than other containers: baskets, gourds, wooden, stomachs) o Heavy o Can only be made during dry season (which is also the best time to father lots of foods, seeds etc.) o Have to be in one place for many days to see production cycle through • Advantages of pottery o Clay, temper, and water generally available o Not complicated technology (doesn't take too long to be able to figure it out) o Once have pot, requires less fuel to boil water o Can stick pot right over fire and simmer food o Economy of scale in production (same energy to fire 1 pot as 15)

Ethnoarchaeology

Ethnoarchaeology: the study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record. Ex: Lewis Binford and the Nunamiut: EX: Robert Kelly and the Mikea: how different scales of mobility (Mikea very mobile and other times not very mobile. When they abandoned a site he would go around and study the residues) -Used by David Hurst Thomas in the Reece River Valley with the Shoshone people

Mayan eccentric

Flintnapping artwork from mesoamerica

Conchoidal Fracture

Fracture mechanics = physical laws that allow people to predict how things will break o Rocks will follow conchoidal fracture (like a ripple in water) o Minerals in rock redirect energy o By controlling force and direction of percussion o Pressure flaking: application of compressive force

clay

Important physical properties of clay - firing temp - shrinkage or swelling - some clays swell with water. Others do not - Plasticity index o Take a piece of clay and make a rope - Firing color - Fired strength

millingstone

Inbetween groundstones and mortar and pestle. Shallowish. Can use one side, then flip over and reuse.

Mortar and Pestle

Keeps everything. no food loss Part of an ancient device for processing plant foods; usually used with a pestle. It was a stone or wooden receptacle with a cup-shaped depression. Mortars were frequently made of special rocks, whic

Butchery and transport patterns

Look for stone tools cut marks (very V-shaped) at the ends of long bones.

NISP vs. MNI vs. MNE

NISP: Number of identified specimens (in faunal analysis). MNE: Minimum number of elements (the least number of whole bones or their diagnostic parts that can account for a sample of bone fragments). MNI: Minimum number of individuals (the smallest number of animals necessary to account for all the identified bones). In terms of meat and subsistence: Does 5 NISP of deer bone = 5 NISP of rabbits? Does 5 MNI of deer bone = 5 MNI rabbits? Need to convert bones to meat weight! These are common statistics used in zooarchaeology

NAGPRA

Native American Graves Protection Act (1990) 1. Protest Indian graves on federal and tribal and tribal lands 2. recognizes tribal authority over treatment of unmarked graves 3. prohibits the commercial selling of native dead bodies 4. requires an inventory and repatriation of human remains held by the federal funding 5. requires these same institutions to return inappropriately acquired sacred objects and toher important communally owned property to native owners 6. sets up a process to determine ownership of human remains found on federal and tribal property after November 16, 1990

chopper

Oldowan Stone tool made to cut items which did so in typical chopping fashion.

Umatilla

One of the native cultures that believes their oral tradition proves that Kennewick Man is an ancestor.

Phytoliths

Phytoliths: - Microscopic silica bodies that form in living plants, providing a durable floral ecofact that allows identification of plant remains in archaeological deposits. - They are common in ash layers, pottery, and even on stone tools used to cut the stems of silica-rich plants (e.g. cereals). - Different plants produce phytoliths with different characteristic shapes and sizes, though not all are unique to specific species. These can be detected by an electronic scanning microscope.

sedimentary vs residual clays

Sedimentary (redeposited sedimented washed down by the river) Residual = formed in situ. Decomposing granite

enamel hypoplasia

Teeth can also show periods of arrested development. The lines on these teeth show periods when the individual stopped growing due to malnutrition or illness. This would have happened during childhood when the adult teeth were still developing in the jaws

polar wandering

The apparent movement of the magnetic poles illustrated in magnetized rocks indicates that the continents have moved

secondary burial

The practice of removing the remains of a corpse to another grave or ossuary which were initially buried or put elsewhere.

mummification

a process of slowly drying a dead body to prevent it from rotting. Can take tissue samples

heat treatment

a process whereby the flintknapping properties of stone tool raw material are improved by subjecting the material to heat.

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.

scraper

a small curved stone tool with sharp circular edge for scraping fish scales, hides, etc.

porotic hyperostosis

a symptom of iron deficiency anemia in which the skull takes on a porous appearance.

Cosmogenic Dating

a technique that can be used to tell how long the surface of an object has been exposed to the air or long it has been buried

paleoethnobotanist

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

kiln

an oven that can reach extreme temperatures necessary to harden clay and melt glazes

faunal assemblage

animal remains recovered from archaeological sites How do these differ from paleontological assemblages: not looking at evolution, we are looking at human behavior

Artifact vs. Feature

artifact - movable, something made or modified by humans for use. feature- immovable... cooking pit, house, burial pit

transportation pots

bigger than storage pots. light in weight yet strong

storage pots

bigger, little neck, wider base. keeps out pests and sunlight

Bundle burial

burial of a person's bones, bundled together, after the flesh has been removed or allowed to decay off the bones.

tooth eruptions

can tell age

mental eminence

chin. small in females and large in males

patinate

coat with a patina. "desert varnish" no colors added

carnivore gnaw marks

different then tool cut marks

Robert Kelly

ethnoarchaeology: the study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record EX: Robert Kelly and the Mikea: how different scales of mobility (Mikea very mobile and other times not very mobile. When they abandoned a site he would go around and study the residues)

serving pots

flatter, decorated. easiest to access

green bone

fresh bone, fractures in a spiral pattern, typically associated with marrow extraction

Age determination

fusion of epiphyses, ends of bones that fuse to main shaft or body at various ages, most are complete by age 25 Pubic symphysis, where two halves of the pelvis meet in the groin, Very ridgy/bumpy in young, smoother as age Tooth eruption sequences +Cranial sutures--Three major cranial sutures appear as distinct lines in youth and gradually close from the inside out.

mortar and pestle

keep everything

stone tool

lithic

habitation site

location where people lived and contains evidence of a large range of domestic activities. camps, villages, cities

osteoarthritis

most common form of arthritis that especially affects weight-bearing joints (e.g., knee, hip); characterized by the erosion of articular cartilage

ecofact

natural objects, such as plant, animal remains, bones,teeth, and shells found at an archaeological site.

Obsidian Hydration

o All glass absorbs hydrogen HO + H H2O o Happens at known rate (very slow but consistent, starts fast and slows down over time as square root of time) o Freshly struck piece of obsidian has no H2O o To estimate age Figure out rate (function of temp and glass OH) Measure amount today

wheel-throwing

o Most did not have this technology o Once did have it, have specialist o Much more standardized o Many types of wheels (kick wheel common)

hand-forming

o pinching, smallest items o slab building o paddle and anvil o coiling - most common o forming around a mold

Sex determination

pelvis is best, - sciatic notch is wider in females - cranial features less accurate" bigger mastoid process in males, males have more prominent brow ridges, and bigger mental eminense (chin)

striking platform

point where force was applied to remove the flake

prismatic/polyhedral core

predictable cone shaped core Used as hunting projectiles, Throwing spears, ceremonial projectile point Atlatls, knives, carving tools Clovis Points: big Folsom: small

mastoid process

process of the temporal bone behind the ear at the base of the skull. Larger in males

cook pots

round, withstand heat and cool

dry bone

splinters

cut marks

the present marks on bones that can tell weather an animal was eaten by a people, or it was just natural selection at work, Look for stone tools cut marks (very V-shaped) at the ends of long bones. Carnivore marks rare. Randomly placed. Looks like punctured.

handstone

used to create petrogryphs