Q&A WK5

When determining an approximate date for a site using artifact types, archaeologists consider: A) the entire assemblage of pottery types found at the site B) the proportions of each type found C) the known date ranges of each type found D) all of the above

D) all of the above

As defined in Kamp, a type: A) is a kind of artifact or feature made by a specific cultural group for a limited span of time B) can be useful for dating a site C) is based on attributes such as the form, material, or decoration of an object D) all of the above are true

D) all of the above are true

According to the schematic stratigraphy chart of Olduvai Gorge (p.128), which hominin's skeletal remains were deposited during the Matuyama reversed polarity?

Homo erectus

Deep-sea cores provide a framework for a relative chronology of the ___________.

Pleistocene

_____ was one of the first to develop as technique for arranging the graves of a cemetery in relative order by the various pottery forms found within them.

Sir Flinders Petrie

The results of dendrochronology are particularly impressive from the well preserved timbers of_____

The American Southwest

_______ groups objects, such as pots, with the same attributes

Typology

In Figure 4.7 (Kamp), F16 is:

a fire pit

As defined in Kamp, a ware is:

a group of technologically similar pottery types

Methods of ______ tell the full age of something in years.

absolute dating

Carbon-14 (also called radiocarbon) dating, dendrochronology, archaeomagnetic dating are all:

absolute dating techniques

As discussed in Kamp, it is particularly important to preserve the original orientation of samples for:

archaeomagnetic dating

Samples used for radiocarbon dating usually consist of organic materials from archaeological sites. Organic materials include

bone tools

The durability of pollen grains can yield environmental evidence as far back as

3 million years

The room in figure 4.7 measures approximately:

4.5 meters wide by 5.25 meters long

The half life of Carbon-14 is:

5,730 years

Uranium series dating is particularly useful for the period _____________ years ago, because that period lies outside the range for radiocarbon dating.

500,000 - 50,000

By at least _______ beans, squash, peppers and some grasses were being cultivated in the Americas.

7,000 BC

Melting ice sheets each year leads to the formation in lakes of annual deposits of sediment known as varves. A) True B) False

A) True

Radiocarbon dating is the most generally useful way of answering the question "When?" A) True B) False

A) True

To avoid cultural insensitivity many scholars use the term BCE (Before the Common Era) when referring to specific dates. A) True B) False

A) True

Dendrochronology was developed by _______________, an American astronomer, in the 1930s.

A.E. Douglass

In the Muslim world the fixed chronological point is the Prophet's departure from Mecca in _____________.

AD 622

The fixed point in time in the Christian world is often taken as the birth of Christ, and given in years as AD 1. AD stands for _____.

Anno Domini.

Using coins to date archaeological deposits provides A) a cross-dating method. B) an absolute date of the deposit. C) a terminus post quem. D) a terminus ante quem E) none of the above

B) an absolute date of the deposit.

Radiocarbon dates must be calibrated because the concentration of _____ in the atmosphere has not been constant through time.

C-14

One of the most significant occurrences in world history at a global level is the development o

food production

The decay rate of an isotope is know as it's _____

half life

According to the law of superposition, the layer directly above (overlying) another:

is the more recent of the two

The archaeologists at Lizard Man Village determined a sequence of four types of pithouse styles at the site. The most recent style is described as:

isolated deep, rectangular, masonry-lined pithouses, some divided by a central wall

The plant which which had the greatest impact on American agriculture was

maize

Kamp notes that in the course of their excavations, they collected ____ pottery sherds.

over 250,000

The material used to obtain dates through dendrochronology is:

pieces of wood with enough preserved annual growth rings

Kamp describes Gilman's ethnographic study of pithouse dwellers. Gilman found that:

pithouse dwellers tend to be more mobile than pueblo dwellers

All flowering plants produce______ which is virtually indestructible.

pollen

Dating methods in archaeology rely on physical processes, the most significant of which is/are:

radioactive clocks

The idea that something is older (or younger) than something else is the basis of __________ dating.

relative

As noted by Kamp, site stratigraphy and changes in artifact styles can be used to establish:

relative dates

The study of changes in artifact styles resulting in a sequence of (usually gradual) stylistic changes through time is called:

seriation

A good example of the use of thermoluminescence is the dating of the ___________ from the Jos Plateau, Nigeria.

terracotta Jemaa head

As described by Kamp, when you excavate a room, the earliest layers (from when the room was first constructed) are:

the last ones exposed as you dig your way down

By comparing the ratios of local ceramic types, the archaeologists at Lizard Man Village were able to determine that:

the pithouses were occupied before the pueblo rooms

Kamp knew that the metates (stones for grinding meal) had originally been on the roof because:

the stratigraphy showed that the metates rested on layers of roofing material rather than directly on the floor surface.

Electron spin resonance (ESR)'s most successful application is in the dating of

tooth enamel

In a stratigraphic sequence, if Layer B is 50 centimeters down from the surface and Layer D is 90 centimeters down from the surface:

we can't tell the age of the layers based only on absolute depth from the surface