ANTH 2301 Archaeology Test 3

Guila Naquitz

- earliest evidence for domesticated plants in the region - maize at 6500YA - hunter/gatherers incorporate domesticated foods into diet

Kebaran settlements

- small camps - seasonally occupied - ex: ohalo site (23kya) in northern israel

what are PPNB 3 categories of rituals?

1. hidden rituals 2. display rituals 3. daily life rituals

Lunates/Sickle Polish

A lunate- tiny, crescent shaped stone tool characteristic of the Natufian Sickle Polish- a luster that forms when stone tools are used to harvest grasses

Natufian mortuary practices; dogs

Burials: buried under house floors and skulls removed!!!!!!!!!********* variability in mortuary practices, secondary variables suggest some group mobility. - children comprise 1/3 of graves, high mortality could indicate growing stress. - Dogs were sometimes buried with human remains. They were domesticated and lived w people

coprolites & indigenous plants

Coprolites: human fecal remains. 3400ya. On one site in kentucky, domesticated plants played a minor role in diet and in the other site they played a major role.

adena

Early Woodland Culture, intensive mound building in the ohio river valley. shows mounds and other earthworks, complex structures, elaborate burials, and extensive trade.

Ain Ghazal

Located in Jordan, Plaster figures found here

Abu Hureyra in Natufian

Located on Upper Euphrates River in Syria, a site with multiple levels of occupation. Houses were sunken pits (not built walls), used broad spectrum plant strategy. - 80% of bones found here were gazelle bones

Çatalhöyük: art, architecture, burial

Located on the Konya plain of central turkey. Formed 9500ya, flourishes 8500ya. "Start of late neolithic" - Houses: 4 walls touching, access via flat rooftops, ladders, or stairs, some floors painted red or painted scenes on the walls. Rooftop spaces were important, and they had burials under the houses. Rooms had frescoes with little figures inside them, benches running through rooms.

agriculture in the new world

Maize, squash, beans, domestication

Late Neolithic Rituals & symbolism

No more skull removal, no ornamentation. New stuff: small figurines that depict humans rather than animals, frescoes, zoomorphic shrines.

Jerf el Ahmar

PPNA site on upper euphrates in syria with remains of communal structures. - houses are grouped around large buildings that are built into the ground, suggesting communal roles. - roles of ritual and violence together?

early neolithic rituals

PPNB's time period called "the birth of the gods" and you'll see ritual objects emerge. There are 3 categories of rituals: hidden, display, and rituals of daily life.

PPNB

Pre pottery neolithic B... 10800-8500ya. improved climate, use of plaster. - shift from round to rectangular houses. increase in settlement sizes, rituals, social order but no social hierarchy in the architecture.

otoliths

Small, dense calcareous concretions from the middle ear region of fish, quite commonly found on archaeological sites. They're species-distinctive, and can therefore be used for identification purposes in the analysis of fish remains from a site. They also grow in annual rings and can thus be used to age the fish and to indicate seasonal use of the site

jornada Mogollon

The onset of agriculture occurred at 1000AD, so late because the region had lower rainfall.

Kebaran Burials

These were rare for the time period. ex: wadi Mataha site in southern jordan

domestication

a BIOLOGICAL process (changes in the genotypes and physical characteristics of plants and animals.) Includes: - human intervention/protection - the animal/plant becomes dependent on humans for reproductive success - can be unintentional

agriculture

a commitment to the relationship between humans and plants, may involve the use of domesticated animals. - changes in the human use of the earth, and in the structure and organization of human society EX: supports a larger, more sedentary society... requires intensive labor... changes the landscape

cultivation

a cultural phenomenon that involves harvesting plants and storing seeds. This can include preparing the fields (clearing, slash and burn)

Younger Dryas

a period of global climatic stress that had a significant impact on Natufian society.

hopewell

a period of intensive mound building in the Ohio River Valley. corresponds to the middle woodlands culture. Hopewell mounds- some mounds built over structures. multiple human remains buried in a variety of ways...

Fertile Crescent

a ribbon of Mediterranean climate that arcs across the middle east. - dry summers, winter rains with enough precipitation to support vegetation ranging from woodlands to open-park woodlands.

"Curcubita Pepo"

aka SQUASH. This was the earliest plant to be domesticated in Mexico. Called "pepitos" now. - seeds @ Guila Naquitz, 10kya-8300ya, around 8kya they go from green to orange

Cerro Juanaqueña

an early agricultural site in northern mexico with evidence of terracing and other stone-built features... 20k metric tons of rock which would have required 16 person-years of labor. potholes used as flat surface for houses?

tower of jericho

an early neolithic communal structure, 9 meters high, mud-brick, attached wall, internal staircase, estimated 10k-15k working days to complete.

Coxcatlán Cave

beans, 2500ya.

mesoamerican triad

beans, maize, and squash work together to produce what each plant needs to grow&thrive. (symbiosis).

Kebaran/Geometric Kebaran

distinguished by stone tools. Bladelets- small blades. Geometric Kebaran- What it sounds like. Triangles and Rectangles (think of geometry)

Ain Mallaha (Mallaha or Eynan)

dogs buried with human remains here

woodland periods

early and middle- cultivation of indigenously domesticated plants. Late woodland- maize spreads super high into even Ontario.... Early and middle: 3200-1700ya. Late woodland: 1700ya

Early Neolithic vs Late Neolithic

early neolithic: PPNA & PPNB (went from "little ice age" to improved climate, arrowheads & long blades to use of plaster) late neolithic: PPNC- "collapse", use expedient tools rather than arrowheads or skillful blades, use decorations and no more skull removal, move from large sites to smaller sites.

rapa nui

easter island culture in the pacific, were super isolated and didn't have any written record of their society besides the Moai.

plastered skulls

human skulls on which a plaster face has been molded, found buried beneath floors from the PPNB period. Ritual?

optimal foraging theory

humans act on the basis of rational self-interests to maximize the efficiency in collecting and processing resources

Examples of hidden rituals

in pits and under floors, plastered real human skulls, hidden axes in walls, painted stone mask, plaster figures, ancestor worship?

Gobekli Tepe

located in Euphrates river in eastern turkey... had monumental T-shaped pillars with a temple structure, sacred precincts, human/animal figurines, deities being controlled? ritual class?

milagro

located in arizona. late archaic time, stored maize in bell-shaped pits, domesticated maize and wild plants/grasses, 2950ya.

poverty point

located in louisiana. late archaic, 3600ya. massive construction... 6 concentric embankments, massive mounds. purpose unclear. the stone was brought in from 100s of miles away, and it was a focal point in feasting. cultural materials such as: net sinkers, stone tools, soapstone, pottery

maize in eastern north america

maize played a minor role in people's diet for 1k years and intensive maize agriculture became established in the late woodland villages.

archaic, stalling island

material culture: ceramic vessels (beginning around 5kya), "stalling island culture, georgia), ceremonial items and ornaments, trade in minerals (galena, hematite, copper, long distance trade).

Kebaran Rituals

nearness of burials to huts. was this a cultural practice? Art is rare as well but 2 incised pebbles were founds. Found post holes/post molds

Kebaran Domestication

no evidence for plant and animal domestication. Ex: Ohalo Site....

ohalo

ohalo site (23kya) in northern israel, remains of 6 brush huts and anthropogenic soils. There were ritual burials and stone bladelets, awl, beads

proxy indicators

physical characteristics that can tell you the climates and things about the past without the direct evidence.

PPNA

pre pottery neolithic A... 12kya-10800ya. younger drayas "little ice age", arrowheads and long blades in tool kit. - settlements began to increase in size and begin making communal structures

REMEMBER

read articles, videos, etc.

neolithic revolution

reliance of domestication - large settlements: community planning and monumental architecture -cereal - pottery - agriculture as a response to village life.

vacant center pattern

sees Hopewell earthworks as the empty core of a dispersed settlement system.

rituals of daily life (example PPNB)

simple clay figurines- either kids toys or symbolic meaning?

Wadi Mataha

site in southern jordan, geometric kebaran, small campsite, elaborate burial... burial goods= stone bowl with broken bottom, long flint blade

Abu Hureyra in Late Neo/PPNB

site that could have housed 100s or 1000s or people.

anthropogenic soils

soils produced by humans

formative period, american southwest

the introduction of pottery and beans happened 1800ya. Pit houses: square/rectangle, perishable superstructure, storage pit placement (inside/outside/between houses).

rachis

the part of a cereal plant that holds the seed to the stalk and keeps the seed on the plant until it's harvested

moai

those big ass easter island statues. believed to have supernatural powers and "walked themselves" magically to the sacred platforms by the ocean.

examples of display rituals

tower of jericho-type stuff. Meant to be seen, visible, special buildings. Standing stones, huge pillars, and human/animal figures

Natufian Culture

transition to village life. the structures were stones piled up to form walls, they faced the issue of how to deal with their poop - burials under floor of houses, skulls removed

energetics

used to build the tower of jericho....

broad spectrum plant strategy

using a broad/wide range of plants. it's a way for hunter gatherers to minimize the risk that any resource will be scarce

Teosinte

wild grass found in the highlands of mexico, the wild ancestor of Maize/Corn.