Archaeology 7 and 8 Typology

Type

a class of archaeological artifacts defined by a consistent clustering of attributes

Functional Type

a class of artifacts that performed the same function; these may or may not be temporal and/ or morphological types

Sipapu

hopi word that loosely translates as "place of emergence." The original sipapu is the place where the Hopi are said to have emerged into this world from the underworld. Sipapus are also small pits in kivas through which communication with the supernatural world takes place.

Faunal Remains

in archaeology, animal bones in archaeological sites

Analogy

noting similarities between two entities and inferring from that similarity that an additional attribute of one is also true of the other

Space-time systematics

the delineation of patterns in material culture through time and space. These patterns are what archaeologists will eventually try to explain

Taphonomy

the study of how organisms become part of the fosil record; in archaeology

Typology

the systematic arrangement of material culture into types

Morphological type

a descriptive and abstract grouping of individual artifacts whose focus is on overall similarity rather than function or chronological significance

Period

a length of time distinguished by particular items of material culture, such as house form, pottery, or subsistence

Temporal type

a morphological type that has temporal significance; also known as a time-marker or index fossil

Kiva

a pueblo ceremonial structure that is usually round and semi-subterranean. They appear in early Pueblo sites and perhaps even in the earlier pit-house villages

Archaeological Culture

a regional manifestation within a culture area marked by a particular set of material traits

Component

an archaeological construct consisting of a straum or set of strata that are presumed to be culturally homogeneous. A set of components from various sites ina region will make up a phase

Phase

an archaeological construct possessing traits sufficiently characteristic to distinguish it from other units similarly conceived; spatially limited to roughly a locality or region and chronologically limited to the breifest interval of time possible

Attribute

an individual characteristic that distinguishes one artifact from another on the basis of its size, surface texture, form, material, method of manufacture, or design pattern

Formal Analogies

analogies justified by similarities in the formal attributes of archaeological and ethnographic objects and features

Relational analogies

analogies justified on the basis of close cultural continuity between the archaeological and ethnographic cases or similarity in general cultural form

Principle of uniformitarianism

the principle asserting that the processes now operating to modify the earth's surface are the same processes that operated throughout geological time

Assemblage

a collection of artifacts of one or several classes of materials (stone tools, ceramics, bones) that comes from a defined context, such as a site, feature, or stratum

Mousterian

a culture form the MIddle Paleolithic period that appeared throughout Europe after 250,000 and before 30,000 years ago. Mousterian artifacts are frequently associated with Neanderthal human remains.