Anthropology MT1

what do pollen sequences tell us

Forest types track annual temperature cycles, Trees require more water than grasses and many herbs, Some types of plants have narrow tolerance, Human influence may be a factor

what were the env constraints on migration to america

exposure of the Bering land bridge, paleoecology of Beringia, availability of southward route (ice free corridor through canada to u.s. maybe not open til 13,000 BP, glacial lakes till 12,000 BP

what could the meanings of cave art be

fertility of game animals, hunting magic, ritual (initiation), possible connections to shamanism, belief in supernatural?

what is preservation bias

filter that preserves some things and destroys others

what is pressure flaking

finishing step, pressure removes small flakes

what started in the african middle stone age

fire, marine foods, diverse toolkit, dwellings, long-distance transport of stone, burial of the dead, artistic expression

what are pottery attribute types (2)

functional: size and shape, raw materials, temper type, firing temp, contents; stylistic: color, decoration, surface treatment

heavy isotopes of H and O become more concentrated as sea level

goes down. as ice melts, ocean level rises and decreases salinity

what are some methods for forming the pot

hand vs. wheel, coiling, paddle and anvil (shape mass and paddle exterior), slab, molding (mass production), wheel throwing (3000 BC)

what are the venus figurines of the upper paleolithic and when were they most abundant, found,made from, and symbolic of

most abundant around 25,000 ya, made of various materials (ivory, stone, clay), symbolic of female principle or fertility?, found in caves, graves, domestic refuse, pits, sometimes colored with ochre, show textiles, headgear

what is neanderthal technology

mousterian- refined the levallois technique, developed disc core technique, composite tools

what is post-processual (interpretive) archaeology

movement in archaeological theory that emphasizes the subjectivity of archaeological interpretations

what is radiocarbon dating

needs calibrating to correct for fluctuations of C14 in the atmosphere and uses tree rings to do this, radiocarbon date one tree ring

Why did Neolithic (farmers) migration go from southeast to northwest

no real answer, env. constraints, low pop

What are the 4 sub-fields of anthropology and archaeology

physical or biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology, archaeology

life cycle of a stone tool

manufacture, maintenance, breakage and discard (debitage assemblages reflect these activities=things must be done in a certain order)

what are the neanderthal genetics

mitochondrial DNA is significantly different from modern humans, nuclear DNA of Neanderthals show the common ancestor was 500-700,000 ya, non-africans have 1-3% neanderthal genes. human gene pool has neanderthal genes related to skin and hair traits, disease risk, immune system. Reduction of neanderthal genes related to sperm production, male hybrid sterility on X chromosome

why dig if you have good instruments to find things?

more to be found than just images

what is conchoidal fracture and types

produced by percussion, like clam shell with ripples, how glass breaks, direct and indirect percussion and pressure flaking

what direction did farming migration move and how long did it take?

radiocarbon dates confirms southeast to northwest spread, took thousands of years

who are montana boy and female from yucatan and when are they from

recent finds to help understand routes to colonizing Amer., originated in Beringia; montana boy: 12,700 BP, directly ancestral to central and south american native people

what is a midden

refuse heap

what are the types of dating for archaeological chronology

relative dating-based on stratigraphy, association, and artifact typology, gives age relative to other; chronometric (absolute) dating-based on known rates of change (gives age in years)

what is isostatic uplift

removes glacial weight from land and land uplifts

what is random sampling

represenative; select subset of recovered artifacts to study

how did neanderthals hunt

stampede hunting, spear tips (levallois points), thrown (embedded in bone), used plant resins for hafting

what does the acheulean imply about culture

standardization compared to oldowan, no distinctive tool traditions within regions (same everywhere), incorporation of innovations into traditions creates change over time (changed slowly), toolkits were not adapted to specific env. and uses (not much specialization of function)

how do you make a stone tool

start with a core from which flakes are removed, continue shaping of core or one of the flakes (remainder is debitage)

for 90% of human history, what were most tools made from

stone

what is archaeology

study of human past through material remains (plant and animal remains, features, artifacts, soils and sediments, structures, entire sites and landscapes)

what is dendrochronology

tree ring dating- more precise than most other methods

what was the env. like for ancient apes

tropical Savannah woodland env, seasonal (wet/dry), variable over time

what was it like in Dolni Vestonice

tundra vegetation, situated with a view of valley, mammoth hunters (numerous bones), butchering area (scattered bones used for fuel, construction

what is survey and excavation useful for

understanding the regional picture of where people lived and how they used the land; recovering artifacts and biological materials in situ

did neanderthals think like us

unpredictable env., small and large game, extreme cold organized living areas with fire, personal adornment?, burial of the dead?

what is radioactive decay

use C14 usually, doesn't go back far enough, C14 usually decays when organism dies

how can you decided what the function of a stone tool is

use wear creates diagnostic patterns, residues have chemical signatures, ethnographic analogy can be a source of ideas

how do you map a site

vertical and horizontal controls: grid, datum=reference point for all measurements

what is ground survey

walk around and look, may have to miss some because inaccessable

what happened in the holocene transition

warming continued after end of younger dryas (11,600 BP); rapid increase of 13 degrees F, increased seasonal contrast, stabilization of climate (over multiple years), higher CO2 levels

what are the major models to how farming came to Europe

wave of advance (steady march of invading farmers that don't mix with hunter gathers) vs. shifting frontier (frontier that moved around with some exchange going on). Radiocarbon dates show have to move, archaeology shows at least one migration.

what are some ceramic form related to function questions. what are functional properties?

what is the vessel designed to do, what formal attributes (shape and size) might not be related to function? (Functional properties=capacity, durability, transportability, accessibility, stability)

how do you build an archaeological research design

what questions do you want to answer, what methods will be used, where and how will you sample the archaeological record

Importance of spatial context: what is provenience and difference between in situ and secondary context

where something is located (depth and horizontal differences); has item been moved or is item found where it was dropped (in situ)

what is the striking platform, bulb of percussion, and centric rings

where the stone is struck, bottom of stone that bows out, ripples in the stone

what is ethnohistory

written by literate people about non-literate ones

what is Linearbandkeramik (LBK) site

(7500 ya) Intrusive, Loess soils (easy to work and high nutrient for crops), Longhouses, strontium profiles indicate nonlocal women, warfare common (mass graves), fortifications sometimes present

when and what is acheulean technology and who used it

(H erectus; 1.7mya) hand axes-planning, levallois technique of core preparation. soft hammer percussion allowing greater control that hard hammer, standardization, multi-purpose tool, showing off, or projectile weapon

when and what is the archaeological evidence of bipedalism

(Laetolil) footprints from 3.6 mya in volcanic ash

what is nonrandom sample?

(recovery) find a mound or lots of artifacts, want to get it all out to get all info; use locals (landowners have knowledge), impact assessment (how construction is going to impact records), env. cues and past experiences (water, live oaks in wetlands because well drained and people lived there usually)

what is seriation

(relative dating) process of placing items in a chronological sequence; styles are distinctive to time and place, stylistic change is gradual, similar things belong together in time

what do speleothems reflect

(stalagmites, stalactites) Reflect water source (isotopes)

when did eastern expansion into china and indonesia begin and who expanded

1.8mya?, Javanese fossils are in secondary context, chinese homo erectus includes inhabitants of zhoukoudien, technology not Acheulean

when and who is homo erectus

1.9mya to 400,000, reduced sexual dimorphism, colonized temperate zones, increased brain size and some new skills

what is meadowcroft site and its date

14,500 BP, pennsylvania pre clovis

Lascaux cave

17,000 ya; mostly prey animals, distortions of figures based on perspective, natural features of the cave wall

when and what is the oldowan tradition

2.5-1 mya, early hominin tool use: choppers (cores), flakes, not standardized, tools were cached and curate, understanding of fracture mechanics

when did the first tools appear and the first hominin fossils

2.6 mya, 5 mya

when was the last glacial maximum and when did temps start rising

20,000 BP=land temp 36 F lower than today; rising temps started by 18,000 ya, interrupted by younger dryas 12,800 - 11,600

when is evidence of frequent meat consumption and fire control

2mya and 1mya

what is a deposit and examples and what do they contain

3-D unit with observable and distinctive physical properties (e.g. features=collection of one or more contexts representing some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical characteristic to it in relation to site stratigraphy, burial pits, wall trenches). Contain material evidence in form of artifacts, biological remains, sediments, chemicals

chauvet cave

30-33,000 ya; shared by humans and bears-bear ceremonialism, black and red paintings, use of shading, cave walls, lifelike scenes of animals, including predators and unusual animals like rhino, lion, hyena

when does the written history begin

5000 years ago in Europe

when did Hominins split off

6 mya

temperatures of firing for pottery vs. ceramic and types

600C/1100F; terra cotta: low temp, no vitrification, earthenware: higher temp, partial vitrification, porcelain: highest temp complete vitrification

what is the flora and fauna in the Holocene

Aquatic resources: longer coasts, islands created, Extinctions of many large-bodied animals, Forest expansion (and smaller animals), Diverse and productive plant foods

How people experienced climate change in the past

Direct observations (within a lifetime), Cultural memory (multiple generations), Local or regional scale

who is the Tyrolean Ice man

Discovered 1991, 5300 BP, 46 yrs, 5 ft 3 in, Pollen= spring, had Leggings and loincloth, Belt and pouch: tinder fungus, scraper, drill, flint, flake, bone awl, flint working tools, bow and arrows, backpack, net, birch-bark containers, fungus first aid?, Last meal included barley and a type of wheat; red deer, Numerous health problems, Cause of death: arrow wound, blood loss, signs of conflict and other injuries, Strontium profile indicates he grew up south of the Alps

what do deep sea ice cores tell us

Foraminifera (animal)= Isotopic oxygen reflects temperature (high T = lower 18O), Salinity tolerance reflects sea level (glacial melting), Diversity reflects water temperature, Growth patterns vary

when did hominins first colonize temperate zones

H erectus=1.9mya

what were the migrations out of africa 1,2 and colonization of the americas and the spread of farming communities across central Europe

Homo erectus and related species (1.2 mya or earlier), homo sapiens (after 100,000 ya), 15,000 ya, 7000 ya

what is the evolutionary relationship between H erectus, H sapiens, and H neanderthalensis

Homo erectus split off first (only could do temperate), H sapiens (200,000ya)(Africa) and Neanderthals (Europe) split after that

how did human life change in the Holocene

Hunter-gatherers: Mesolithic (Europe) and Archaic (North America), In some parts of the world (e.g., the Near East) farming societies were established right at the end of the Younger Dryas, Stable settlements and larger communities, Greater regionalization, Broad-spectrum foraging (diversified economy), Seasonal resource use, Intensification

what is chronometric dating?

actual time elapsed since target event, can be converted to calendar dates

what is the temporal and spatial scales for climate change

Intra-annual variation (seasonality), Inter-annual, Decadal, bidecadal, etc., Local, Regional, Continental, Global

What is Hadar known for

Lucy (2mya)-1974, 40% complete. 5 adult, 2 juvenile flood victims, established bipedalism (came before everything else), sexual dimorphism?

what are proxies

Measurable properties of things that exist today; (stand-ins) for past conditions, For example, concentration of the stable isotope 18O is a proxy for sea level, Sea level indicates size of glaciers

what was like for people in Europe at 8000 BP

Mesolithic hunter/fisher/gatherers, Some long-term settlements, In north, great reliance on hunting, Resources of coasts and wetlands widely available

what is the star carr, England site

Mesolithic site, 11,000 BP, Former glacial lake shore, waterlogged deposits, Wooden trackways, Probably occupied in the spring, based on age of deer; year-round, Red deer (food and ritual), No sign of fishing, Controlled burning used to manage local vegetation, single circular house, platform of split logs constructed at edge of lake

what route did we think people came from to colonize america and how was it supported

NE Asia but env. made it the last to be colonized. supported by linguistic (close relationship of american andf NE asian languages), biological (dental=shovel shaped incisors, blood types=large type O, nuclear DNA has short genetic distance), dating of archaeological sites

what is the chronology of the Stone Age

Paleolithic-lower (oldowan and acheulean), middle (Mousterian; used by Neanderthals), Upper (Modern humans, 40,000 ya to end of Pleistocene around 10,000 ya); Mesolithic (10,000 to adoption of farming); Neolithic (8000 BP) (farming societies, dates vary)

when were the first farmers in Europe and what did they grow

People in the Near East began to farm by 10,000 BP, Wheat, barley, sheep, cattle, Spread to Greece by 8000 BP

what has been the names of the climate changes in the last 2 million years

Pleistocene ("Ice Age")= 2.6 million ya to 10,000 ya; Holocene; Anthropocene

what were later developments for humans in the Holocene

Social inequality, Agriculture, Urban life, Greater social complexity

how do you get data sources and types for the Paleoclimate

Speleothems, Ice cores, Deep sea cores, Ancient shorelines, Sediment cores, Pollen cores, H and O isotopes (sea level, local hydrology), Pollen assemblages (vegetation), Landforms and topography (sea level), Sediment structure (rainfall, flood events)

How is star carr in context of Flixton island

The Late Pleistocene of Flixton Island nearby is several centuries earlier= Tundra environment, Hunting emphasized horses, High mobility; Star Carr illustrates many of the social and ecological changes of the early Holocene

function vs. style of stone tools can be used as...

a chronological tool, brings into account the spatial variation and relatedness of cultures

what is the origin of modern humans and how do we know

africans have highest diversity of mitochondrial DNA, molecular clock=ancestral founding pop by 200,000 ya, modern humans out of Africal by 130,000, oldest African fossils from 150,000

coastal migration to America

after 16,000 BP, shellfish and plant foods, some archaeological evidence

what is an artifact

an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.

what is a site

any location where people have left material traces of activity; can be residential or special purpose (ceremonial, hunting), open or sheltered)

when is regional styles, rapid innovation, and specialization of technology evident

appearance of H. sapiens (200,000ya?) and especially after 100,000 ya. language, art, belief systems seem to be in place by then as well

art of the european upper paleolithic types and time

appears 40-30K BP, common after 20K BP, mobiliary art and cave art

when did the modern mind emerge

appears after 50,000 ya, associated with upper paleolithic period of Eurasia

Archaeology today involves

archaeological science, noninvasive field methods, legal and ethical issues (descendant pop and preservation of archaeology)

what are some early hominins and their dates

ardipithecus and others (fully bipedal, but still climbed trees to sleep or hide) (4 mya), australopithecines (4-1mya), earliest homo (2mya)

artifact seriation

artifacts that looked similar are grouped together, could tell relative age related to other artifacts

how do archaeologists learn about the past

ask questions, plan and conduct archaeological survey (search for archaeological sites and collect info about location, culture, etc. across large area), target a sample of sites for excavation, collect and analyze data, compare data with questions and hypotheses, go back into the field to learn more, repeat as necessary

what are human-modified landscapes and ex

aspect of technology; fire to clear land, nurture plants before ag

what is the African middle stone age

associated with H. sapiens, 300,000-200,000 ya to 40,000 ya, replaced Acheulean in Africa

what was in the Monte Verde site

back to 14,200? before clovis? 13,000 BP, mastodon bones, 12 hide covered structures with log foundations, peat deposits, stone artifacts: projectile points, grooved spheres, organic materials=cordage, wild potato, seaweed, medicinal plants. ground stone mortor

what is contextual seriation

based on presence and absence of types

what is frequency seriation

based on quantity of types, tracks popularity of types over time, creates battleship shaped curves

what are some human uniqueness (8)

bipedalism, tools, adaptability, culture, language, abstract thoughts, beliefs, art

What kinds of interactions were most common between farmers and hunter gatherers

bit of everything, intermarriage, adoption

what was the neanderthal diet

bone chem shows high N15 and low strontium to calcium ratios, both plant and animal foods, but high meat consumption, anthropophagy (cannibalism)

what is indirect percussion

bone or something put in between rocks

what is blombos cave

broad range of foods, blade technology, hearths, beads from 75,000 ya, red ochre with abstract design carvings , at 100,000 years ago. All modern human attributes achieved in africa, not Europe

what is Atapuerca

cave sites, earliest occupation during warm interglacial (homo antecessor? 1.2-1.3mya; later occupation, sima de los Huesos- 32 indidviduals homo deidelbergensis 500,0000 ya, many children; nobody over age 40 intentionally placed in crevice

Wonderwerk Cave

evidence of fire control, maybe used for cooking since pot lids found near it

how do you make a pot

clay collection=fine grained, water deposited; preparation= creating paste (add water, tempering agents). Tempering agents = nonplastic substances that reduce breakage caused by shrinkage and firing. allows even distribution of heat, makes up 20-30% of paste

what is the younger dryas

cold period 12,800-11,600 BP, caused by influx of cold water from melting ice

what distinctive human traits are still absent at 2 mya; with whom and when did they become apparent

culture (or at least complex culture), language(as far as we know), abstract thoughts, beliefs, art. most not evident until 100,000 years ago with H. sapiens

what is evidence of culture?

cumulative social learning creates artifact variation in time and space. some standardization of form (imitation), distinctive regional styles, incorporation of innovations into traditions creates change over time, toolkits adapted to specific env.

what is the holocene

current interglacial starting at 11,600 BP

how can you tell if hominins butchered bones and when were stone tools first used for butchery

cut and percussion marks. first large amounts of stone tools with butchery around 2mya

What is the record of technology heavily biased by

decay of organic materials

Why did people in the renaissance no care about human history

degeneration of human race, future is predetermined, god's will

what are elements of archaeological record

deposits, material traces of human activity, spatial context

what is taphonomy

describes how living animals come to be fossilized, similar to how active behavioral context goes into archaeological context

what is the evidence for modern behavior after 100,000 ya

diverse tool types, rapid change, use of bone and antler, jewelry, art, organization of space, long-distance transport of raw materials, technologies for acquiring and processing wide range of foods, storage, selective hunting, extreme env.

what was the env. like in the last glacial maximum

dry cond- major deserts expanded; rain forests contracted, sea level lower by 328 feet, beringia, sundaland (SE asia), glaciers at high latitudes- ice sheets up to 2 miles thick

what were some artifacts found in Dolni Vestonice

earliest ceramic technology, fired clay, decorations are earlier than pots, unusual structure (20ft diameter), hollow bird bones with modified ends, domed clay oven, 2300 figurines (heads, feet, animals), ivory carvings show asymmetrical human face that matches a buried female human skeleton

what are the 3 times and route of entry to america

eastern siberia (14,000BP), interior alaska (15,000), rest of N and S Amer. by 14,500

what are some challenges to being a large mammal

high mobility requires large foraging range, parental care, low reproductive rate, expensive brains

how is climate implicated in the Mayan collapse

high rainfall 400-640 AD followed by drier conditions, collapse of kingship around 900 AD, driest interval in 1000 AD and lasted a centuray; shifting of monsoon season from ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone; narrow zone which air masses from both hemispheres collide)

what questions are asked to find archaeological sites

how did communities move around landscape, how did they use resources, how did groups interact with each other; get a context for how people lived, how sites relate to other sites and resources is an ultimate goal of archaeological survey

did humans have language in middle stone age

hypoglossal nerve (larger in homo), hyoid bone (humans, neanderthals), brain lateralization (early homo), full anatomical package 150,000 ya

what is the Klasies River Mouth Caves

in southern africa, 120 to 70K, shellfish, hunting by species (cape buffalo vs. eland), bone points, awls

what were the midwest pottery decoration styles

include punctation, incising, corrugation, resist painting

what is the brief prehistory of a stone tool

increasing efficiency (prepared cores first), specialization, ground stone appears late (chipped stone is earlier)

open fires vs. kiln for drying and firing pots

kilns have higher temp, reducing atm (low O), vitrification at high temp fuses clays

what do sediment cores reflect

layers reflect heavy rainfall events and floods

what is remote sensing for surveying

let instruments collect data for you by aircraft or satellite (aerial, subsurface detection)

what is Mesa Verde and why did it depopulate

lived in pueblos in the mountains. 2 major depopulations (600-920AD and 920-1280) ran out of deer so raised turkeys, shortfalls in maize, drought caused them to depopulate (1200)

what are some direct evidence of use for pots

sooting, residues(fats, alkaloids)

what are neanderthal characteristics

robust, no chin, 70 to 80% died by age 40, severe traumatic injuries, locomotion and brain similar

what is direct percussion

rock on rock

hopewell people in Ohio traded with people in...

rocky mountains. stylistic points have been handed down while function can come on its own

what are the methods to recover artifacts

screening, flotation (seeds, charcoal float, bone is left behind), water screening, radiocarbon dating, other special samples (phytolitys, pollen, sediments)

what is chaine operatoire

sequence of tasks/activities implicit in a particular technology. offers way to study and differentiate the technological skills that underlie production

what is Dolni Vestonice and what is found there

sites that Highlights modern human mental abilities, Czech Republic, 25,000-27,000 BP (Gravettian period of Upper Paleolithic), Figurines of fired clay, Bone, ivory ornaments & tools, Red ochre burials

who is kennewick man

skeletal evidence that we traveled from NE asia, 9500 BP, unlike modern reference samples, most similar to Japan, polynesia, diverse origins for new world pop?, no affiliation with modern Native Amer. Maybe other people came from other places and didn't leave descendents

how did acheulean technology change

slowly, hand axes become more symmetrical and standardized

what does processual archeology do

tests some hypotheses (experimentation), figure out how archaeological record corresponds to behavior. Study of formation processes (how archaeological record came into being)

Who are the clovis

the earliest well-known archaeological culture of the americas. named after the clovis point artifact (fluted points) (Paleoindian period; 13,000BP). earlier sites are few, spread out geographically, and artifactually diverse. multiple entries and routes are possible

what is stratigraphy

the vertical dimension; law of super position states top layers=younger than bottom layers

what are some physical characteristics as clues to function of a pot

thermal behavior-response to heat stress (direct vs. indirect) related to firing temp and wall thickness