Anthro 1010 Final Exam Terms

Little Big Horn

"Custer's Last Stand." Battle between Lakota + other tribes v. the US army. According to text history, Custer was fighting and the native americans came and massacred, but that's not the truth. More of a mutual bloodbath rather than native americans coming in. Significant because: Myth in today's view not corroborated by archaeological evidence.

Dolní Věstonice

26,000 BP. Site in Czech Republic particularly abundant in prehistoric artifacts. Has remains of fired clay objects that were obviously human made. Anthropomorphic and zoopomorphic figurines made from wet clay and placed into fire before dried to explode. Found figurines of pregnant women that appeared to be made by women the accentuated aspects are those perceived by a woman looking down at her body. Significant because: Abundance of early pottery that was not just function but also symbolic

Kennewick Man

9,000 year old Paleo-Indian skeleton found in Washington state. Although the property of the Corps of Engineers, NAGPRA has been invoked to have the remains returned to modern Native Americans for reburial. A 2004 decision ruled against the tribes, saying that the remains were too old to prove genetic relationship. But an article published in 2015 states that the skeleton is more related to modern Native Americans than it is to anyone else, and may provide grounds for a new case. Currently resides in a museum and is not on display. Significant because: Brings up a discussion of ethics in archaeology and on scientific study while respecting the religion and culture of native people.

Petrography

A branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. Significant because: In the study of ceramics, it can be applied to characterize the type of temper that was used in the clay.

Taxonomy

A branch of science that encompasses the description, identification, nomenclature, and classification of organisms. Significant because: nomenclature differentiates animals and plants based on their genetic features, such as domestication

"Archaeological culture"

A group identified by archaeologists based on homogenous materials found at a site. Talking about objects--same style of pottery/houses/subsistence, but it could be that groups who identify as being different from each other exhibited the same customs/categories of material culture. Construct built by archaeologists from what they find in the archaeological record--now we are cautious about equating these with human cultures. Significant because: archaeologists are taking a leap based on a limited set of artifacts, constructing their own picture which might not match what actually happened

Great Zimbabwe

A huge site covering almost 8 sq km. Occupied between 1150 and 1450 AD. The royal palace of the monarchs of Zimbabwe. Early explorers in 1871 suggested that the site had possible biblical associations with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Significant because: misinterpreted through the lens of colonialist archaeology.

Culture-historical approach

A method of studying the past by looking at it as a linear process. A way of connecting the past to the present by identifying patterns. Uses geography and material culture (see "archaeological culture") to sort people into clearly defined ethnic groups. Developed in Germany by Gustav Kossina and promoted in England by V. Gordon Childe. Significant because: Often subject to, and used to reinforce, nationalistic political agendas. Used to prove a direct cultural and/or ethnic link from prehistoric and ancient peoples to modern nation-states (Gauls to French, Celts to Welsh and Irish). It doesn't attempt to explain why these particular changes happened and not others--social and cultural forces that led to a certain trajectory. How do they apply to other cultures. Particularist approach.

CAM

A photosynthetic pathway of how the plant (succulents) uses carbon. Cacti, air plants. Looks similar to a C4 plant. Plants are really different. Adapted to drought environments/aimed at water retention. a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO2). Significant because: Want to know each isotopic signature because you can determine a person's diet (broadly). Also helps to determine adoption of certain types of agriculture.

Sacrifice

A practice present but probably exaggerated in the Aztec empire. Ceremony and ritual were important. (Carrasco reading). Ritual practice. Discrepancy between what Spanish saw and what archaeological work in Aztec sites has revealed. Largest number of sacrifices most likely took place at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Aztec sacrifice was a way of repaying the debt they owed to the Gods. Self sacrifice by divinities led to creation of mortal world. Significant because: Gods were in need of nourishment and renewal, so mortals had to pay their debt by sacrifice. Human sacrifice built into the religion of Aztecs

Flotation

A processes that involves using water to process soil or feature fill to recover tiny artifacts. Lighter things float on the water. For collection of microbotanical/microfossil samples. Significant because: helps archaeologists recover things such as microliths, micro-debitage, bone fragments to reconstruct diet, climate

Mutualism

A relationship between two organisms in which both species benefit. Plants/animals rely on us, we rely on them. Significant because: Concept used in zooarchaeology to understand the human relationship with animals, usually domesticates

Deutsches Ahnenerbe

A scientific institute in the Third Reich dedicated to the research of the archaeological and cultural history of the Aryan Race. Founded by Heinrich Himmler to support racial ideas of Aryan supremacy. Significant because: Way of proving superior outcome of long cultural development for the Aryan race. Sequence of connections. Example of political uses of the past

Agriculture

A system of crop production that incorporates at least some domesticated plants and requires systematic tillage. Emphasis is on the reliance on plants that have undergone this transformation that now depend on humans. The Neolithic Revolution describes the transformation from non-agricultural to agricultural subsistence. Dependence on domestic plants and animals in a reciprocal relationship. Combination of domestication and cultivation. Significant because: increasing agricultural practices allowed for sedentism, delayed returns on crops, expanded group size, food surpluses, and specialization.

Thermoluminescence

A type of absolute radiometric dating that allows us to study the time elapsed since a material was heated or exposed to sunlight. Used to date things that were burned or fired, such as pottery. Based on amount of radioactivity received by specimen since time of heating. Significant because: it allows us to come up with a not-very-precise for things like clay pots, kilns, or other places where lots of heat was used. can only be used to determine time of firing. only used if other dating techniques cannot be used

Terracotta

A type of porous earthenware. Burnt orange in color. Significant because: Used all over for lots of pottery things. Terracotta warriors in China.

Cultigen

A variety of species of plant known only in cultivation (such as maize). Evolves after a series of cumulative changes, brought about by human selection (intentional or otherwise), which cause the plant to acquire certain characteristics which make it better suited to being cultivated or produced. Plants (wild or domesticated) that are being intentionally cultivated by humans. Significant because: demonstrates human manipulation of food sources for our own consumption and for creating stores of food.

Stoneware

A vitreous (impermeable without glaze) or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay. Stoneware is fired at high temperatures. Vitrified or not, it is nonporous; it may or may not be glazed. Significant because: Came later than earthenware. Resulted from advancing techniques/technologies--coincided with the invention of the kiln.

Elgin Marbles

Also known as the Parthenon Marbles. A collection of Classical Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions, and architectural pieces that were originally part of the temple of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. A Scottish nobleman and diplomat, Thomas Bruce, removed some of these sculptures after obtaining a permit in 1801 from the then rulers of Greece. The marbles were transported to Britain and following some controversy, are now displayed in the British Museum. Britain and Greece have been fighting over who should have the marbles. Remnants of colonialist and imperialist archaeology, as those who took them thought they were saving them from the people around them. Ottoman Empire was in control and the excavator felt that the people couldn't support this national heritage site. Significant because: Imperialist: based on the premise that English civilization is the descendent of classical civilizations. Trace cultural lineage. English can lay claim to but that the modern Greeks cannot. Resting control of objects and historical narrative connecting people to this past.

Imperialist archaeology

Also known as world-orientated archaeology. Associated with a small number of states that enjoy or have exerted political dominance over large areas of the world for nation building. Emphasis on disjuncture between ancient and modern inhabitants of colonized regions. Imperialist aimed more at staking claims to territory or to certain hegemonic ranges of dominance. Significant because: Not necessarily an accurate representation of what is found. Artifacts are secondary. Nazis are good example.

Copan

An archaeological site in Honduras. Part of the Mayan civilization. Center of major Maya polity. Significant because: religious and political architecture. huge pyramid temples constructed in many successive phases. elaborate dense ritual core. lots of texts/inscriptions--most hieroglyphic history. this ancient site demonstrates how an urban population was sustained in a jungle/rainforest (shows technological capabilities). Also significant because of the efforts being made by the archaeologist and his wife to engage the country of Honduras (1 school from every school district must visit every year, the town is engaged and invested. Country of Honduras is invested. Also significant because of the training of local people to become archaeologists and to have a stake in their own history. public archaeology, outreach/education

Commensal species

An association between two organisms in which one benefits and the other derives neither benefit nor harm. Usually describes mice and small birds. Commensal species change by proximity to domesticated animals/humans with sedentary agricultural practices. Congregate around stored food--not domestication but a result of agriculture on living species surrounding an area. Found in conjunction with settlements. Not a parasite relationship--human's not being harmed. Dogs/cats thought to start as commensal species. Significant because: Marker of the process of domestication and food storage. Describes relationship between humans and certain animals

Residue Analysis

Analysis of residue (food, etc.) used to tell what ceramic technologies/pottery were used for. Analyze ceramics and look for trace remains. Works by using chemicals. Residues are left behind from what was contained in the earthenware (porous--areas to trap the chemicals). Can reconstruct what was in the jars/containers. Significant because: helps with the reconstruction of past environments and with the understanding of pottery uses, development of agriculture, food storage, etc.

Cutmark

Any microscopic scratches on the surface of an animal bone, with distinctive V-shaped grooves. The marks indicate meat and muscle were removed from the bone using stone flakes. Significant because: Helps archaeologists distinguish whether carnivores/predators or humans killed an animal for its meat. Part of understanding development and evolution of humans.

Colonialist Archaeology

Archaeology as practiced by colonizers. Justification for colonial expansion, poor treatment of indigenous peoples. Archaeology that happens in the context of colonialism. Great Zimbabwe as an example. Mound Builders (thought they weren't Native Americans). Colonialists didn't think indigenous people could make what they found. Studying a pre-Colonial past. Significant because: Attempts to justify social and racial inequality. Colonialist is often aimed at justifying or explaining the political/social/racial inequalities in providing some sort of scientific base for that.

Historical Archaeology

Archaeology of the origins of the modern world. Archaeology of people in early modern and modern times. Historical archaeology is also text-aided, but refers specifically to the more recent past. As a method: the study of material culture and texts. As the study of a time period: the study of eras documented by texts. As the study of the formation of the "modern world." Examples include La Isabella, Battle of Little Bighorn, African Burial Ground. Significant because: Helps explain globalization and marginalized groups.

Tenochtitlán

Aztec capital city at the time of Spanish contact. Axis Mundi- central point, axis around which the world revolves. reflection of their cosmovision. Significant because: Constructed based on cosmovision. Imitates the way the universe was built--divided into four sections/axis mundi

Nationalist archaeology

Can be more positive. Used to give a people an identity and connect their national honor through their recent or very deep history. The founder of the Afghanistan museum. Ground people in their past. ex. images of archaeological sites on money. Dangers of nationalism in archaeology- ex. Nazis, Masada. Significant because: can be use to help foster and promote national identity, but can be manipulated for political agendas

Santarém, Brazil

Ceramics in the New World, 7000 years ago. Earliest evidence of ceramic production in the New World. No pottery wheels before the arrival of Europeans. Significant because: disproves theory that this kind of technology could not have come from the rainforest/tropics. Demonstrates complex societies living in the Amazon, which was previously thought impossible.

Coiling / Slab Building / Wheel Throwing

Coiling: A method of pottery-making in which a rope of clay is coiled around a flat base and continued up to form the walls of a pot. Handmade. Slab building: A method of producing ceramics in which large flat slabs of clay are made and then joined and shaped into the desired item. Handmade. Wheel throwing: In ceramics manufacture, a technique using centrifugal force to help the body upwards and outwards from the center of a ball of tempered clay, while the potter's hand restrict outward motion and shape the vessel. Uses technology. Developed independently everywhere except New World. Significant because: understanding the techniques can help us reconstruct the production process, what the object was made for, how specialized production was, can help us refit potsherds

Comparative Collection

Collections of identified bones or other artifacts used for comparison with archaeologically recovered remains. Zooarchaeological or ceramic. Standard type that you have to compare to things you find. Established collections used as metric. More relevant for biological archaeology. Significant because: helps us identify things found in an archaeological context through a comparison with other collections that are known

Ceramic-

Comes from the Greek word keramos which means transformed by fire. A broad category that describes clay transformed by heat. Significant because: Ceramics can tell archaeologists about the technological capabilities of a society as well as about their religion/belief system based on iconography depicted. Preserve well in the archaeological record.

"Walking Larder"

Domesticated animals used primarily for secondary products. These animals are not necessarily ones whose primary purpose is to provide meat. They're best for milk, wool, not killing them. Significant because: Implication is that it facilitates lifeways that aren't sedentary. Animals that give you a reliable, sustainable food source, can move around. Mostly relevant to different strategies of animal domestication. Nomadic pastoralism. Examples are: alpaca, llama, sheep, goat, horse.

Rice (Oryza sativa - C3 Plant)

Domesticated in East Asia. Lots of evidence of its use as a temper in ceramics, stone tools, secondary burials, semi-subterranean houses, paddies. Example of "pull" model of agriculture- within margins of natural habitat of rice. Contemporaneous with technological changes. Predates clear evidence of status differences. Significant because: Early domesticate in China.

Public Archaeology

Engaging the public in order to share archaeological findings and/or promote stewardship of cultural resources or to otherwise make archaeology relevant to society by providing the public with the means for constructing their own past. Copan (Honduras) is a good example. Significant because: way of engaging everyone with their past and of ensuring that archaeological remains are relevant and respected.

Ethnicity

Entails the identification with a given ethnic group, but also involves the maintenance of a distinction from other groups. An ethnic group may define itself as different because of language, religion, geography, and history. A biological link is assumed but not necessary. Aesthetics/crafts, foodways. Burial customs, funerary practices. Significant because: identifies groups that existed in a given area, politics/heritage, think about the way groups interact over time, way in which identities shape social relations of different groups, divisions, how it affects status/hierarchy in social structures--rank by ethnicities, political and economic systems

Aztec

Ethnic groups of central Mexico who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries. They were a well-organized, rational and hierarchical society. Human sacrifice and other ritual practices central to Aztec culture. There when the Spanish arrived. Significant because: Cosmovision. One of the biggest Contact Period cultures when Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica. Spanish encountering an entirely new world view. Important for nation building in modern Mexico (Mexican flag has iconography from the Aztecs)

Incipient Jomon

Example of early pottery in Japan. Once thought to be one of the earliest examples of pottery. Pottery developed here before agriculture. 14,000 BC at the very earliest. Very old culture. Significant because: Vessels were found, which implies cooking (accessing nutrients when things are cooked, makes plants more edible), storage of food, representations of culture/religion. Raises questions about sedentism (which can come before agriculture--mobility strategies in the landscape). Linked to ritual life (some early pottery is not actually utilitarian but actually symbolic). Question traditional ideals of complex society.

Jamestown

First English settlement in the Virginia colony in 1607. Starving Time and initial struggles of ill-prepared colonists. Studies of Jamestown burials and buildings is historical archaeology. Time is well documented. The site had to be re-discovered. 1996: James Fort located. 2012: girl's skeleton found with evidence of cannibalism. Significant because: site was thought to be lost. Evidence for cannibalism and for Catholics even though a protestant colony. hidden identity. Evidence for gambling which was prohibited. Showing where archaeology reveals things that weren't shown in historical record

Clay

Formed from the breaking down of rocks. Can be recombined for use by humans as ceramics. Has a particle size of less than 2 microns. Things like temper and water are added. Significant because: understanding composition of clay can help tell us about where a ceramic object originated, how things were made or what societies used objects for. Tells about trade and economic systems. Also an indication of technological advancement in a society.

Gender (vs. biological sex)

Gender is a social construct, societal customs. Biological sex determined from analyzing the skeleton. Significant because: examining a person and can determine sex, might not know the cultural expression of gender if you know something about a given society (diets, roles, etc.)

Identities

Gender, ethnicity, social age, social status/class, religion, specialization/production/economy. Biological sex isn't the same as gender, gender is cultural--through artifacts like jewelry, clothes, burial items. Bone for stress to see manual labor--sex, status or class, social roles. Burial remains. Iconography and symbolism related to the issues. Significant because: Different factors that make up an individual or a group.

La Isabella

Historical archaeology topic. First permanent residence of Columbus in the New World in Dominican Republic. Significant because: Record said no African people came along, but skeleton of African descent was found at the site. Example of historical record not being accurate and comprehensive, because the written record is dominated by white men -- leaving out the perspectives of women, children, slaves.

Seasonality

How people engage in different behaviors, often subsistence behaviors, depending on the season. Agriculture and domestication. Modify behavior according to seasonal/temporal changes. Driven by environment and climate but subject to cultural interpretations of how it is appropriate to act on changes--what's optimal to do. Significant because: Can tell us about human interaction with climate changing landscape. How people interacted with the world around them.

African Burial Ground

In New York City. Home to more enslaved people than anywhere, except Charleston, South Carolina. 460 burials were found of people who had originated in West Africa and had led difficult lives (trauma and evidence of hard labor in the bones). Rare occurrence that it was preserved. Land at the time was not desirable. Found a heart design (African design) on a coffin. Significant because: Helps us better understand culture through archaeological remains. Remains show us bioarchaeological narrative. Tells us what we wouldn't have known from the historical record.

Microbotany:

Includes plant parts that are not visible to the naked eye and require some form of magnification to study. Main types: pollen, phytoliths, and starch grains. Usually recovered through flotation. Significant because: these remains can be used to explore early agriculture and plant domestication to reconstruct past plant environments. Advantages:Can tell us about plants that don't normally survive in the archaeological record like tubers is direct evidence for food consumption- found on tools, teeth, pottery. Disadvantages: We aren't sure whether we can identify starch to the genus/species, can't tell us about plant domestication can't be directly dated.

Macrobotany

Includes plant parts that are visible to the naked eye and do not typically require magnification. Wood remains, seeds, corn cob, major plant parts (depending on the conditions), squash casing/skin Significant because: these remains can be used to explore early agriculture and plant domestication, from techniques examining morphological changes in seeds, plant remains found in the archaeological context; reconstruct past plant environments. Advantages: Direct evidence, Can be directly dated, Easily identifiable to genus/species, Easy and cheap to process, Can study effects of domestication. Disadvantages: Explaining how it got into the archaeological record

Sedentism

Inhabiting the same locality throughout life; not migratory or nomadic. Sedentism was a prerequisite for the first agriculture to occur. Significant because: Sedentism usually meant more people, sturdier houses, new stone tools, more jewelry, burials or cemeteries, more long-distance goods and also clear signs of social stratification.

Domestication (Animals and Plants)

Intentional manipulation for desired traits. The process by which the selective conditions that affect plant and animal reproduction are altered by human activity, such that a symbiotic relationship develops between the plants / animals and humans. Changes in appearance and more social temperament due to selective breeding. Herd animals eat grasses, barnyard animals eat human foods. Shortened snout and high forehead. Mutual dependence. Domestic plants are nontoxic, larger, do not disperse seeds, and they self pollinate. Significant because: Allowed for more sedentary lifestyle, allowed for population growth, allowed for food storage, development of complex societies

Megafauna

Large or giant animals in the New World. extinction possibly related to the arrival of humans in the New World, leading to overhunting and extinction. evidence says that first appearance of humans did not cause megafaunal extinctions, but clovis technology and societies might have. Significant because: demonstrates the relationship between humans and animals in the New World

Political uses of the past

Legitimize claims to territory, sanction socio-political and economic activities, justify military conquest, justify economic imperialism, reinforce current political configurations. Nationalist archaeology (can be positive), Imperialist archaeology (justifies claims to land), Colonialist Archaeology (justifies poor treatment of native people by characterizing as backward/incapable) Deutsches ....., part of cultural-historical, ethics. Significant because: people of power manipulate archaeological findings to benefit themselves or their own agendas. NOT ETHICAL!!

Time Team

Long running British Channel 4 public archaeology TV series. Significant because: example of archaeology in media/popular culture

Stable Isotopes

Looking at isotopic signatures in bone. Carbon is the main thing used for diet. Nitrogen is also used for diet--it tells you the trophic level, or where in the food chain a living thing was. Carbon and nitrogen: "You are what you eat." Strontium is found in teeth and can be used to determine if someone buried in a place was raised there, or immigrated--more geologically based, tells you where you grew up until a certain age. Oxygen and hydrogen relate to movement and mobility--vary with climate, tell where people moved: through teeth or bones. Significant because: Used to determine diet, mobility, place of origin. Currently used to study bones, learn about past diet, and learn about and migration

Earthenware

Low-fired pottery that is not vitrified aend is thus permeable to water. Appears frequently in the archaeological record. Stoneware is fired at a higher temperature, less porous, and porcelain are the other most important types of pottery. Terracotta is an example. Earliest form of pottery. Significant because: it has been in the archaeological record since the Neolithic period and has adapted to changing technologies over time (i.e. introduction of glazing allowed for liquid storage which was previously not possible).

Pastoralism

Maintenance of herds. The branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. Animal husbandry, and often includes moving around with the herd. Significant because: Pastoralism is a successful strategy to support a population on less productive land, and adapts well to the environment. It occurs in uncultivated areas.

Temper

Material added to the clay source to affect plasticity. Effects workability. Significant because: shows technological knowledge of people making pottery. can help you distinguish origin of pottery

Starch Grain Analysis

Microbotany tool. Starch grains preserve well, so we can identify remnants/remains left on artifacts or found in soils. Significant because: used to understand use of plants in the past. ex. potato consumption and/or reconstruct past environments/diets

Kiln

More efficient way to fire pottery, compared with surface/bonfire firing or pit firing. Offers best fuel efficiency and a long firing cycle. In china, the kiln was developed over time, from the 5th century BC onward. Many early ceramics were not made using sophisticated firing techniques. Significant because: it requires a fair amount of technological sophistication to make and use.

Masada

Natural fortress in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is a symbol of the ancient Jewish Kingdom of Israel, of its violent destruction in the later 1st century CE, and of the subsequent Diaspora. No archaeological evidence to support mass suicide, but trope at the time in literature. Significant because: important for nationalist archaeology. major tourist site. story of the mass suicide has persisted despite archaeological evidence. Important nation building story.

Teotihuacán

One of the largest cities in pre-Columbian Americas. Aztec capital from 100-650 CE. Major center for obsidian use and trade. Multi-ethnic city. Significant because: large population in early times, obsidian trade

Secondary Products vs. Primary Products

Primary products: the meat of an animal, a product in which the animal must be killed to obtain the product. Secondary products: milk, wool, riding/transportation; a product that can be obtained from the animal without killing it. Significant because: shows human dependence on animals for things

Cereals

Principal crop of most civilizations. Includes wheat, corn, rice, barley, and millet. Advantages are the high nutritional value, high yield, and long seed storage. Disadvantages are that it is often poor in proteins and requires rich soils. must be processed and cooked. Domesticated in the Near East. Significant because:

Push / Pull / Social Models

Push: When people were driven to agriculture by circumstances. Climatic or environmental stress, dealt with it by cultivating. Population pressure/food crisis is another stressor. Implication of climate--getting bad, stick to one area or resource. Maximize what they can. Specific to Near East--climate getting drier and cooler, people forced to depend on fewer resources and maximize what they can get. Animals and people. Become sedentary. Pull: People were attracted to agriculture. "readiness hypothesis / natural habitat hypothesis"- abundance of resources led people to an agricultural lifestyle. Used for competition. Resources are great: feast--power--competition. People attracted to good ecological zones. Become sedentary. Social: Competition. agriculture developed as a means for people to gain prestige and social status. Significant because: ways of thinking about and explaining the shift from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture-based societies

Religion in archaeology

Related to ethnicity. Different ethnic groups practice similar religions that aren't distinguishable in the archaeological record. Relates to cosmovision- worldview, understanding of the existence/nature of the world, how organization of human society relates to organization of the world. Imprinted on daily actions. Iconography, sacred spaces and places/architecture, rituals--sacrifice, burials, sacred objects, text, visual narrative. Determine whether something is religious by ethnographic analogy, context, written text, associations, oral histories. Significant because: religion is hard to discern from an archaeologist's perspective through a modern lens. can tell us how people interacted and what their values/system of beliefs might have been and how that influenced their actions

Cultivation

Replanting. The planting and harvesting of plants that results in changes in plant characteristics, not necessarily intentional. Significant because: example of human manipulation of plants that results in changes in the plants, creating a dependent relation of plants on humans.

Millet (Setaria / Panicum)

Seeded grass domesticated in East Asia prior to the cultivation of rice. Part of the complex of early domesticates in China. In some regions, was the primary staple. Shifts in the importance between this and rice. Significant because: C4 plant, rice is C3. Isotopically, we can tell which staple was more important in which community's diet at which time.

Stobi

Site in Yugoslavia that has been claimed by various national interests in the region. Possibly the most important archaeological site in Macedonia. Significant because: Nationalism in archaeology. Understanding of the past. Juxtaposition to site in Greece. Both Greece and Yugoslavia lay claim to Macedonia. Fights over sites.

Tourism and archaeology

Site museums, archaeology bring tourists. Significant because: Boost to economy, relevance of artifacts/archaeological site

Phytoliths

Small silica bodies that form in epidermal plant cells. Takes on a shape that can be linked conclusively to a species/category of plants. Though small in size, they are hard and preserve well in archaeological sites. Significant because: Can be used to identify plant species in archaeological assemblages

Cosmovision

Society's understanding of their origins and existence, nature, and the universe. A worldview. Geographic design of a city encompasses a people's idea of religion and heaven helps you see the cosmovision. An understanding of the nature of the existence of the world and how the sacred aspect of the cosmos relates to the human aspect. How the organization of human society respond to the organization of the whole of existence. Aztecs, universe is structured by the actions of the deities. View of how human society fits into a broader existence. Aztecs see themselves as the center of this world/universe--axis mundi. Significant because: Aztec cosmovision helps explain practice of human sacrifice. Aztec cosmovision, or worldview, was made up of mortal space-time and divine space-time. All life forms were hard shells covering the divine substance within.

Antiquities/Art Market

Some archaeological artifacts are sold by looters as antiquities in art markets. Significant because: people do not preserve heritage the way it should be--economics more important than the cultural or historical value things might have. Goes against "commercialization" section of the Principles of archaeological ethics

Principles of Archaeological Ethics

Stewardship: The archaeological record is irreplaceable. It is the responsibility of all archaeologists to work for the long-term conservation and protection of the archaeological record by practicing and promoting stewardship of the archaeological record. Accountability: involve all the parties associated with the materials and consult actively with affected groups. Commercialization: The Society for American Archaeology has long recognized that the buying and selling of objects out of archaeological context is contributing to the destruction of the archaeological record on the American continents and around the world. Whenever possible, they should discourage and should themselves avoid, activities that enhance the commercial value of archaeological objects Public Education and Outreach: Archaeologists should reach out to, and participate in cooperative efforts with others interested in the archaeological record with the aim of improving the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the record. Public Reporting and Publication: Within a reasonable time, the knowledge archaeologists gain from investigation of the archaeological record must be presented in accessible form (through publication or other means) to as wide a range of interested publics as possible Records and Preservation: Archaeologists should work actively for the preservation of, and long term access to, archaeological collections, records, and reports.Training and Resources: Archaeologists must ensure that they have adequate training, experience, facilities, and other support necessary to conduct any program of research

Paleoethnobotany (Archaeobotany)

Study of remains of plants cultivated or used by humans in ancient times. Significant because: Used to understand use of wild species, agriculture, domestication, human-plant interactions.

Teosinte

Tall Mexican grass that is the wild precursor to domesticated maize. Teosinte produces kernels with hard shell coatings, which grow and fall from the plant individually. Significant because: good example of the effects of human domestication on a wild species, when compared with corn, shows what kind of changes occur during domestication

NAGPRA

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Act requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American cultural items to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated tribes. Significant because: many things that were unethically or just generally taken from burial sites can be given back to the direct descendant tribe of the individual. Way of respecting the cultural heritage of Native Americans.

Craft Specialization

The assignment of specific tasks to specific people or subsets of people in a community. Happened often as a result of agriculture. Significant because: Allows a community to get large projects completed and yet maintain the operation of day-to-day life, also significant because it leads to the development of complex societies.

Ancient DNA / Archaeogenetics

The development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques on ancient DNA (aDNA) in the late 1980s allowed access to ancient DNA. Significant because: Permits analyses of patterns of molecular variability in both human and non-human organisms to test hypotheses about human origins and behavior. Reconstruct the origin of populations and to inform our understanding of their migrations. Reconstruct ancestor-descendant relationships between populations, and to discern patterns of inter-relatedness between ancient groups. Understand infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.

Epiphyseal Fusion

The end of a long bone, initially separated from the shaft by a section of cartilage that eventually ossifies so that the two portions fuse together. Significant because: can help archaeologists better understand age at time of death. Each bone has a predictable age range when long bone fusion occurs.

Paleo-Indian

The first people who entered and lived in North America ~13,000 years ago. Kennewick Man is a paleo-indian. Significant because: first people to live in the Americas, stone tool technology, megafauna extinction

Slag

The glass-like by-product left after a desired metal has been separated from its raw ore. By-product of metal processing. Significant because: Tells about metallurgical processes or technologies, composition and structure tells about processing of ore, temperature of smelting, source of metals/ores

Cahokia

The location where Mississippian culture thrived before European explorers landed in America. The site flourished from 700 CE to 1400 CE. Ruins are preserved at Cahokia Mounds in Illinois. Significant because: it constituted probably the largest pre-Columbian community north of Mexico. Evidence of around 10,000-38,000 inhabitants and a town of warehouses and workshops. Major population and ritual center. Large earthen structures. Evidence of high status burials of people. Moundbuilders. Part of the people who felt that Native Americans couldn't possibly make something that significant- colonialist archaeology

Collagen

The most abundant protein in the human body. The substance that holds the whole body together. Found in the bones, muscles, skin, and tendons. Forms a scaffold to provide strength and structure. Significant because: collagen survives long after death and the collagen content of a bone, measured by the amount of nitrogen present, yields information as to its relative date. Rate of decay varies with temperature and other environmental factors → only gives relative dates for different bone samples in the same environment.

Cultural Property

The physical constituents of the cultural heritage of a group or society. "movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people, religious or secular, such as monuments, archaeological sites, works of art, books, archives." Claim based on cultural ties. Significant because:

"Urban Revolution"

The process by which small, kin-based, nonliterate agricultural villages were transformed into large, socially complex, urban societies. Coined by V. Gordon Childe. He laid out traits that describe urbanism. Significant because: describes changes in human societies as a result of agriculture and the effects of the Neolithic Revolution

Diffusion

The process whereby cultural traits, ideas, or objects are spread or transmitted from one culture or society to another. Examples: related to technology (ceramic, lithics, domestication). Spreading ideas from local interaction rather than being pushed out by a "superior" group with the knowledge. Often combination of diffusion and migration. Different from migration. Based on proximity. People transforming their own lifeways where they are. Example is spread of agriculture. Significant because: this has played a major role in human development by spreading ideas and techniques more rapidly than if they had been independently invented.

Pathologies

The science of the causes and effects of diseases. can be seen through study of skeletal remains (osteology). Significant because: we are able to study the way people died, what kinds of diseases affected certain groups of people, and we are able to see the development of empathy/compassion/care for the infirm when people with certain pathologies survive for long periods of time and it is clear that they could not do so without the assistance of others.

Ethnoarchaeology

The study of contemporary communities to understand how they use material culture. Significant because: it ties together living people and their material culture to improve our understanding of the archaeological record and aids archaeologists in reconstructing ancient lifeways by studying the material and nonmaterial traditions of modern societies.

Zooarchaeology

The study of faunal remains (items left behind when an animal dies) in order to understand the roles animals and their products played in ancient societies - animal domestication. Medium is always animal bones. Significant because: tells us about environmental changes, differences between social classes/genders/ethnic groups, domestication, megafauna extinction, trade, and early hunting.

Palynology

The study of pollen. Advantages: Most plants produce large quantities of pollen. Can be identified to family, genus, or species because the shape of pollen is distinctive among different plants. Is preserved in waterlogged sediments (bogs, springs, lake sediments). Disadvantages: Is readily transported through the air (pollen rain), so sometimes difficult to understand local signal. Significant because: helps us understand past climates and more things about plants

"Neolithic Revolution"

The transformation from non-agricultural to agricultural subsistence. Development of agriculture, sedentary societies. Offered delayed returns on your time investment. Allows expanded group size, sedentism, surplus, and specialization of labor. Opponents (like Diamond) say that it decreased health and increased inequality. Coined by V. Gordon Childe. Significant because: It is thought to be the process that characterized human history and the development of cities.

Teeth

These remains are very useful for gathering information about the individual, such as age at death (based on wear patterns), diet, health. Enamel to look at diet and migration patterns. Significant because: tells about people and animals and their life

Surface Treatment

Treatment processes that alter the surface's properties of ceramics. Glazing, etc. Significant because: this is how iconography and other symbolic things were displayed or portrayed on pottery

C3/C4 Plants

Two types of photosynthetic pathways. Isotopic categories. C3: wheat, rice, barley, oats, & legumes. C4: corn, sugar cane, pineapples and grasses. Significant because: Want to know each isotopic signature because you can determine a person's diet (broadly). Also helps to determine adoption of certain types of agriculture.

Sieving / Screening

Using a sieve/sifter/screen to separate materials of different grain size to help recover artifacts. part of flotation process. Only the fine particles pass through, large pieces/artifacts left behind. Significant because: helps us separate small, otherwise hard to find, microbotanical and microfossil samples

Obsidian

Volcanic glass. Used in stone tools- very sharp, uniform. A type of material used in lithic technologies. Projectile points, knives, ritual objects. Significant because: Teotihuacan was a major center of consumption and trade of obsidian. Maya region. Obsidian hydration is a form of absolute dating with obsidian artifacts.

Site Museums

Way of connecting the local population to an archaeological site. Custodians are generally people from the community. Significant because: Brings both employment and tourism to boost the economy and keeps the archaeological site relevant and exciting!

Taphonomy

What happens to objects or a site or organisms after they've been death/disposal until its discovery. Significant because: studying these processes can help us explain what we find and why it's there. Helps us understand the chaîne opératoire, not just the final product

Xianrendong

Xianren Cave is a small cave located in Dayuan Village Wannian County, Jiangxi province, China, and a location for historically important finds of prehistoric potsherds and rice grains. 20,000 year old pottery (during the last ice age) is the oldest vessel pottery yet discovered. The pottery predated sedentism and plant cultivation. Significant because: Ceramics in China are especially important because, across the world, ceramic eventually appear. China is one place where ceramics appear long before agriculture. The New World develops agriculture much earlier, then develops (prettier) pottery at a later date. Near East develops agriculture first.

Yuchanyan

Xianren Cave is a small cave located in Dayuan Village Wannian County, Jiangxi province, China, and a location for historically important finds of prehistoric potsherds and rice grains. 20,000 year old pottery (during the last ice age) is the oldest vessel pottery yet discovered. The pottery predated sedentism and plant cultivation. Significant because: Ceramics in China are especially important because, across the world, ceramic eventually appear. China is one place where ceramics appear long before agriculture. The New World develops agriculture much earlier, then develops (prettier) pottery at a later date. Near East develops agriculture first.

Neandertals

similar to modern humans (300,000 to 30,000 BP). Around during the same time as Homo sapiens. Adapted to cold environments and have robust musculature and powerful arms/legs/hands. Significant because they are around at the same time as Homo sapiens but also for their association with Mousterian tool technology. There is also evidence of Neanderthal compassion and care for the infirm--people with diseases or pathologies who survived with the help of others. Evidence of burials.