ANTH 103 MIDTERM

The Potlatch is an important social event practiced by the Northwest Coastal Indians in the past and to a certain extent today. One explanation for practicing this event is that it has an adaptive strategy (redistribution) and the other is that it is ideational (prestige). Could there be an archaeological signature that might hint at which strategy is operative?

Adaptive strategy highlights the importance of humans responding to their conditions, In this case the tribes redistributed materials to gain materials to use

Name the two forms of glaciers that dominated the landscape of North America America ca at the end of the Ice Age (Pleistocene)

Alpine and Continental glaciers

Be familiar with the arguments of early American archaeologists for and against the premise that ancient Moundbuilding cultures were Native American.

Argument - first hypothesis - there was European influence - proved wrong

Three forms of site preservation (including artifacts and features) were discussed in class; be prepared to define each of the three and how these processes work.

Arid preservation, Cold preservation, anaerobic

What are artifacts, features, and ecofacts?

Artifacts - ancient portable objects made by humans Features - NOT portable objects made by humans Ecofacts - plant or animals remains at a dig site

What are the four fields of anthropology? How does archaeology fit into the anthropological Agenda?

Biological, cultural, linguistic, archaeology - study of humans from the past

Be familiar with the process of field excavation, from establishing a grid system to conducting a broad perspective block excavation.

Block excavation - broadly expand from one, chosen, test pit

28. What about the 3.6-million-year-old footprints at Laetoli, how were the prints preserved?

Buried in ash

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) cannot replace archaeological excavation, but has become an important tool for identifying subsurface anomalies. Be familiar with the basic concepts and limitations of GPR.

Detects objects underground - signal bounces

I have requested that a total station be set up at the site that I am investigating in order to precisely record the in-situ provenience of an artifact or feature. What is a total station?

Device that uses a light beam bounced off a prism to determine an artifact's location

Faunalturbation is an example of what type of natural site forming process? What about cryoturbation, argilliturbation, and floralturbation?

Faunal (animals) Cryo (freezing/thawing) Argill (clay) Floral (plants)

Who was Otzi the iceman of the Alps and how was he preserved?

Freezing - cryo

Explain the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning as it relates to the scientific method.

Inductive - specific observations to general hypothesis Deductive - general hypothesis to specific results Allows scientists to test hypotheses in a structured way using induc. or deduc.

What is an archaeological site?

Location that shows evidence of human activity older than 50 years

Why do archaeologists dig square holes?

Maintain control, easier to document, find area from survery

Science is the search for answers through a process that is objective, systematic, logical, predictive, self-critical, and public. Be familiar with each of these steps in scientific methodology.

Objective - as accurate as possible, systematic - methods are replicable, Logical - link ideas together, Predictive - statement can predict what and why, Self critical - always proves itself true, Public - access for everyone

The law of superposition, proposed by Nicolaus Steno in 1670, was a simple statement That...?

Oldest on bottom, youngest on top

What is the difference between processual and post processual archaeology?

Processual - strictly uses scientific method - wants to stay ethical and neutral Post-Processual - rejects scientific method and objectivity - argues that all archaeology is unavoidably political

What medium helped preserve the archaeological remains of Pompeii?

Pyroclastic eruption, layer of volcanic ash

How would you define a buried archaeological site?

Site that is hidden, and not easily accessible

Define culture and why it is important to archaeologists

System of beliefs and traditions, customs, that influence a persons behavior - learned and shared

Horticulture

The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

Familiarize yourself with the concept of uniformitarianism and how it applies to our understanding of site forming processes.

Uniformitarianism: Natural processes today which happened in the past as-well

Uniformitarianism and the law of superposition were developed as geological concepts and were readily taken up by archaeologists to explain concepts of stratigraphy. Be familiar with these concepts and the relation to archaeological stratigraphy.

Uniformitarianism: Natural processes today which happened in the past as-well superposition: oldest on bottom, youngest on top

What is the best procedure for scientifically investigating an archaeological site starting with a background search?

background research on the site - questions you can ask, site survey and mapping, test surface - shovel probes, data collection, analysis, publication

You have been asked to conduct an archaeological investigation of an important archaeological site; where would you start and how would you proceed with the investigation?

background research on the site - questions you can ask, site survey and mapping, test surface - shovel probes, data collection, analysis, publication

What was Charles Lindberg's contribution to archaeology and why is remote Sensing so important for archaeological investigation?

first aerial photograph of archaeological site - pueblo bonito remote sensing importance: allows archaeologists to uncover unique data that is unobtainable using traditional archaeological excavation techniques.

Band

group of family members - mobile, generally hunter gatherers, mostly temporary shelter, egalitarian

State

large, industrial, permanent military, ability gains rank, specialized in craft - works because craft is abundant.

Antiquarian archaeology was best exemplified by the circus strongman Giovanni Belzoni. What is antiquarianism and how does antiquarian archaeology differ from a modern approach to archaeology?

looting for profit from museum - modern archaeology

Tribe

mobile, larger pop than band, village site, mostly egalitarian

Be able to explain natural and arbitrary levels and the situations in which they might be used.

natural - excavate via the stratigraphy arbitrary - site is uneven, divide into set numerical value

The Terra Cotta Army of Emperor Qin of China is an example of the largest block excavation in the world. Be prepared to justify this excavation method in such a complex archaeological site. Why was mercury used at the site?

originally, mercury was used by early archaeologists - they used block excavation because it was such a big site

What is a site datum and how is it used?

point of reference - every unit in the site is identified from the perspective of the point

Be familiar with the similarities and differences of soils and sediments

sediments - layered soil Soil - once they settle, internal processes take place

Chiefdom

settlements, more authoritarian, semi sedimentary, spike in population, power is passed down within family in power, territoriality, warfare

Why is water screening at an archaeological site useful?

the screen eliminates a lot of unwanted material - catches more flakes