Archaeology Test 3
Barren Land Bridge
how homo sapiens got to the Americas; walked over from Siberia 12,000 YA, older dates further north, known as Clovis People
Artificial selection
humans choose traits
Competition Hypothesis
Brian Hayden; gain power and influence through competitive feasting; have a party with lots of food to impress others and gain respect; competing with others to have more/different food to gain more power; signs of pottery suggest storage of food and thus competitive feasting
Gatecliff Shelter, Nevada
Archaic site; activity area; lots of big horn sheep bones (processing sheep after hunting); took best cuts of meat back to village; fire places, projectile points
First Intermediate Period of Egypt
2134-2040 BC; last great pharaoh of Old Kingdom was Pepi II (2246-2152 BC); central power starts to decrease; local leaders became more independent in ruling their own provinces, decline in monarchy and power of kings
Leanne Burial, Wilson Leonard, Texas (site)
11,000 ya; buried in a flex position; heavily worn groundstone tool (mano) was by her side; limestone slab was then placed over burial; named Leanne because that was the name of the soil; one of the earliest burials
Clovis People and Tools
11,500 BP to 10,500 BP, clovis fluted point tradition throughout North America; original assumption was that they crossed the Bering Land Bridge about 12,000 ya
New Kingdom
1550-1070 BC; 1550 BC a prince from Thebes sails down the Nile and attacked Hyksos strong holds along the way
Second Intermediate Period
1640-1550 BC; egypt comes under control of a line of Hyksos kings, a group of ASiatics who took control of Lower Egypt
Old Kingdom Period of Egypt
2680-2134 BC, 3rd to 6th dynasties; investing more wealth into temples suggesting increasing power of rulers
Archaic Period of Egypt
2920-2680 BC
Collapse of Indus Vally Civilization
2000BC; looks like river shifts position, deforestation, soil erosion and then a bg flood; Harappan civilization reached peak at 2300 BC and by 2000 Harappa and Mojenho-daro were in decline
Middle Kingdom
2040-1640 BC; marked by reunification of upper and lower Egypt under a new dynasty from Thebes in upper Egypt
Gerzean
3500-3000 BC phase in ancient Egypt; period of rapid change with abundant evidence of contact with southwest Asia; standardized pottery forms; several forms of high quality luxury goods
Devil's Lair
38,000 BP, one of the oldest dates of human occupation in AU
Amratian
4000-3500 BC; Egyptian time period; large more prosperous sites; nine small oval houses at one site; see continuity from Bavarian phase but also the appearance of more developed craft industries and larger number of people with more widespread distribution of settlements; Hierakonpolis/Nekahn starts to become important
Badarian
4300-4000 BC; simple, semi-sedentary in Upper Egypt; no certain evidence of house structures so people thought to live in skin tents or huts made of mats; cemeteries located in desire behind settlements- oval or rectangular pits; little evidence for wealth distinctions; mixed agricultural and hunting/fishing economy
Lake Mungo, Willandra Lakes
46,000 BP, one of the oldest dates of human occupation in AU; Lake Mungo found kangaroo bones, Mungo Man
Predynastic Foundations of Egypt
5000-2929 BC; flooded over the years; hunting and gathering cultures dominated archaeology from the end of the Pleistocene when wetter climate prevailed; difficult to document early sites because of Nile flood pattern; chronology of predynastic settlement in Upper Egypt is better than that of Nile delta
Ubaid Culture
5500-4200 BC, settlement of southern mesopotamia; extended family households; agriculture based upon floodplain irrigation; main crops of barely, einkorn, heath and date palm; cattle were principal domesticated animal; each extended family household specialized in production of crafts like pottery, leather goods or textiles to have goods to exchange for necessary imports
Upper Swan Bridge
Australia; 39,500 BP, one of the oldest dates of human occupation in AU
Sedentary Hypothesis
Carl Sauer; similar to oasis hypothesis but less extreme
Monte Verde Site
Chile; radiocarbone dates that average 12,500 years; remains of a community whose ancestors and entered New World before 12,500 BP; water logged so well preserved; mastodon skin tents suggested by wood tent stakes with fiber cord ties; found wishbone shaped structure, thought to be remains of a medical hut, remains of chewed cuds of seaweed, it was a different shape than other structures
Coevolution Hypothesis
David Rindos; similar to readiness hypothesis
Sedentism and Population Growth Hypothesis
Donald O. Henry; once you become sedentary, population grows; more babies, less infant mortality, longer lives
Dump Heap Hypothesis
Edgar Anderson; throwing trash away allows plants to then grow (compost and discarded seeds)
Hapi
Egpytian god associated with the Nile
Demographic Hypothesis
Ester Boserup; more people living together so you need more food
Chavin de Huantar
Highland Ceremonial site; located at base of eastern slopes of Cordillera Blanca; uniform style of artifacts; Temple architecture was u-shaped form with sunken circular plaza similar to coastal architechtural design
Uruk Temples
Inanna, goddess of Limestone temple and female deity of fertility and sexuality; White Temple dedicated to sky god Anu
Incan quipu
Incan system of knot tying, more economic in nature
Akhenaten
King tut's father; created a new version of the sun god, new version of religion, new city (Armana), new imagery (sun imager) but after his rule it goes back to what it was
Marginal Habitat Hypothesis
Lewis Binford/ Keny Flannery; settled in rich areas but too many people force you to move outwards and thus away from food sources
Star Carr, England
Mesolithic site; area where people lived; lots of hunting, lots of animal bones; suggests changing diet; used antlers to make hunting weapons; lots of charcoal next to lake (burned reeds to create better access to lake)
Vedbaek, Denmark Site
Mesolithic site; graveyard, 22 individuals buried; men buried with knives women buried with shell jewelry; lots of fish bones, reptiles, birds, mammals; cemetery site suggests awareness of more permanence of landscape (making an area designated and separate from households)
Mount Sandel, Ireland
Mesolithic site; hut site located near coast; worn artifacts of arrow heads; lots of different animal bones (smaller animals)
Narmer's Palette
Narmer claimed to have inherited the power of village shaman that were thought to have authority over the Nile; claims of the elite; palette shows how he united Egypt; one side has him with just the upper egypt crown and other has him with the double crown
NAGPRA
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act; federal law passed in 1990; provides a process from museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian orgnizations; applies to federal and tribal lands; includes human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects or objects of cultural patrimony
La Venta
Olmec site; 900 BC; earthen mound; lots of alters and olmec style artifacts
Readiness Hypothesis
Robert Braidwood; plants humans and animals have all come to evolve together; we all rely on each other and each evolved to allow for agriculture
Eridu
location of temple for Ubaid culture; houses of elite are centered near temple with poorer living on outskirts
Arlington Springs Man
actually a woman; found in 1959 dated to 13,000 ya; found in Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa island; oldest human in North America; suggests a coastal migration
Mesolithic
after end of Paleolithic and before Neolithic; in Europe and Israel begins with end of Ice age and ends with beginning of farming/agriculture ; dates vary from 10-7,000 ya (depends when Ice Age ended and farming began in that location)
Carrier Mills, Illinois
archaic site; aka Black Earth site; suggested living area with lots of trash; because of all the organic material it is darker and kinda greasy; 57,000 pieces of animal bones; 77 species of mammals fish reptiles and nuts; cemetery of 154 burials; 21% infants, buried in shallow pits; men with hunting tools and women with cooking tools (suggests gender roles)
Koster site, Illinois
archaic site; shows variable diet of plants and animals; burial of the dog; signs of domestic dog and caring for the dog rather than eating it
Paleoindians
big game hunters of the late Pleistocene; may contribute to extinction of animals; lived in New World
Abydos
burial place of the first two dynasties (3100-2680 BC); royal tombs, burial chamber of King Aha, and graves of individuals sacrificed
Harappa
city has different urban layout than Mojenho-daro; cluster of walled mounds and a "lower town"; sections blocked off for craft specialities--associated with complex state level society
Heirakonpolis
city in ancient Egypt during Amratian/Gerzean phase; known as the city of the Falcon so lots of falcon imagery; ruled by Narmer; wall around the city
Mojenho-daro
city of Indus Valley; largest Harappan 296 acres; population estimates range from 3500-40000 people; citadel on west of the site with fortification, public buildings, baths as well as a complex network of at least partially planned streets; state level society;
Hydraulic hypothesis of complexity
civilization occurs out of the need to control water systems; in order to create canals you would need a crew of workers to figure out the system; once in its place, it wouldn't be hard to continue building things
Solutrean Route
controversial hypothesis suggesting migration across Atlantic; not supported by DNA; Solutrean Laurel Leaf Point as a source of Clovis Points (maybe?); soulageant point comes from France 22,000-18,000 ya; look could have inspired Clovis Points
Olmec
cultural motifs; famous for giant stone heads, looks like they are wearing a helmet, puffy faces with turned down mouth, thought to represent a ball player/maybe a ruler; also used the were-jaguar in imagery; crosswind motif; first unifying group
Jehrico
early mesopotamia site; area of first signs of complex life, earliest farming and agriculture of wheat and barely
Mehrgarh
early site of Indus Valley; not big site; signs of dental drilling
Meadowcroft Rockshelter, PA
evidence for pre-clovis occupation; three layers of dates, with the oldest being 19,600-13,230 BP which is pre-clovis; 11 of the earliest dates at the site are all pre-clovis; found lots of stone tools
Cactus Hill, VA
evidence for pre-clovis; charcoal associated with Clovis points in layers dates to 10,290 BP; pre-clovis radiocarbon dates of 16,670 BP were associated with a cluster of blades; some believe the blades were in secondary context, but further dating said age was accurate
Topper Site, SC
evidence for pre-clovis; found tools dating 20,000-16,000 BP
Environmental determinism
explanation for rise of complexity; if the environment is too harsh, you can't develop because you are too focused on surviving environment; if the environment is too easy there is no incentive to evolve or move; we know this isn't true because we see complexity it various types of environments
Indus Valley
fertile flood plans of Indus river; settlement of indus floodplain required development of flood control mechanisms; sites extend farming villages back to ca. 5000 BC
Hatshepsut
first female pharaoh; 1479-1458 BC; became ruler when her husband died; ruled with their young son but declared herself official ruler; after she died her son took over an destroyed many of her statues
Characteristics of Complexity
food and labor surplus controlled by an elite; labor specialization; social stratification; a formal government; monumental public work; densely populated settlements; system of record keeping
Valesquillo Reservoir, Puebla, Mexico
found bones of extinct animals with simple, unifacial tools (worked on one side rather than both); probably with dating--no charcoal but dates on shell at 22,000 BP; but is the shell really associated with the tools?
Kennewick Man
found on banks of Columbia River near Kennewick, WA; found by accident and people thought it was a crime scene, had police investigate it; found clovis point in skeleton and realized he was older; long narrow skull (different from Paleoindians), described as being caucasoid; 40-55 years old man 5'8 tall 170 lbs; skeleton is 90% complete; lots of injuries; thought to most likely descend from Japan based on skull shape; lots of legal issues because of Native American rights and issues
Clovis Skeleton in Montana
found with clovis tools; between 1 year and 18 months old; 12,600 ya;
Oasis Hypothesis
hypothesis for origin of agriculture; V. Gordon Childe; oasis of plants water and animals and then areas that were lacking because of changing environment; b/c environment was nicer people would stay there longer
unilinear evolution
idea that you have to go through different stages
Mesopotamia
land between two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates
Shaduf
lever system to get water from the Nile--irrigation innovation
Menes
may be the first pharaoh; may just be the same person as Narmer
Neolithic
means new stone age as new stone is the ground stone used with farming
Vaenget Nord, Denmark
mesolithic site; island that served as a place to go and do things; pits, hearths, processing animals; creating stone tools and woodworking
King Tutankhamun
most famous resident of the Valley of Kings; tomb was never raided; treasures of gold and gold inlay tomb furniture accompanied the king; died around 17-19; mummification may have been done incorrectly causing embalmed body to combust; recently found undiscovered entrances to rooms
Armana
new capital city of Egypt created by father of King Tut in 1353 BC; sun god was main god--sun god was promoted on lands not previously associated with a deity; houses at site, workshops for faience (tin glazed pottery) production
Uruk city-state
often claimed to be first city of Mesopotamia; settled around 4200 bC but major changes around 3700 BC; growth of the walled settlement's population shortly after to about 10,000 as two formerly serape communities coalesced
Hoyo Negro, Mexico
oldest most complete skeleton found in the Americas in May 2014; dates to 12,000-13,000 YA, skeleton named Naia; teenage girl wo feel 100 ft to death inside water filled cave; signs of tooth decay and osteoporosis; features of Paleoindians and tDNA that is similar to Native Americans; considered a modern homo sapien; but her skull shape is associated with African or South Pacific populations rather than Siberian
Las Limas figure
olmec figure; baby is a were-jaguar; theory that elite married within, which increases genetic defects and early death; ruling class would explain it by saying baby was a were-jaguar, not a defect, and its a chosen god-like creature
Gault Site, TX
one of the highest density of Clovis points in North America; found around 300,000 clovis pieces; preliminary analysis suggests artifact cluster below Clovis layers date to 15,000 ya
Wilson Leonard, Texas
paleoindian excavation 13,500 ya; burned rock ovens, net weights for fishing
Ice Free Corridor
pathway to get to the America's; up the side of Alaska coming from Russia; similar to Bering Land Bridge
Ur
rival city to Uruk and Uruk falls Ur gains more power; known for its massive burial center; 1982 excavations by british archaeologist; over 1500 burials and only 16 belong to royalty; Pu Abi's tomb was for a queen with high status
Ancient Egypt
riverine civilization, closely linked to agricultural potential of Nile River; seasonal floods of Nile; length of the Nile facilitated communication and transportation of goods; boats using sails, such as felucca, were used by 3500 BC; the Nile defined ancient Egypt as a territorial state
Recognizing Domesticated plants
seed size (humans like bigger); seed coat thickness (humans like thinner, sprout faster); seed dispersal mechanisms and terminal clusters (humans want tighter attachment, and terminal clusters bc easier to pick a lot at once); geographic distribution (plants go to new areas because humans migrate)
Caral
site in south America; huge pyramid with smaller pyramids; residential complexes, one of the earliest sites showing social stratification
Channel Islands, CA
site to help see when people came to the Americas; found projectile points, crescent shaped arrow heads and other artifacts dated between 11,400 to 12,200 ya; points were not clovis; ranged in size; suggests a Pre-Clovis seafaring culture; found an early individual that goes back to 13,000 ya (Arlington Springs Man)
Marxism idea of complexity
specialization leads to concentration of wealth; government and complexity developed out of wealthy wanting to keep wealth
ziggurats
step towers/temples
Early Dynastic Egypt
time when great cultural traditions of egypt are born: public works, taxation, increasing emphasis on religion, increasing importance of state symbols and ceremonies
Mastaba
tombs of royal officials; rise of elaboration of funerary cult; raised tombs
Nagada Site
upper egypt; Badaian times and dates to 4000 BC; see series of hamlets that were about a mile apart; estiamted that each hamlet grew enough grain to support 76-114 people per square kilo;
Archaic
was first proposed as second major period in human occupation in Americas; associated with changes at end of Ice age and beginning of farming; dates vary across Americas but range between 9,000-3,000 ya
Circumscription idea of complexity
when a group is bounded by geographically; needs a system to allow you to grow and thus take over other people; or limit population growth through govt. or build upward
Queen Nefertiti
wife of Akhenaten; images show her killing enemies; performed rituals with husband; statues equal size to husband's; considered second only to pharaoh; show increase in the role of the wife