Archaeology Final
What is the general problem with relative dating techniques?
"Relative" because: length of each phase unknown, absolute date unknown
Of the 20,000+ edible plant species in the world, only 200 plants are domesticated. What kind of plant makes a good candidate for domestication?
- Annual cycle, not perennial - Large seed or fruit size - Easily stored - No toxins or toxins easily bred out
How do we know people were sedentary? We discussed 4 pieces of evidence in class.
- Commensal bones - Cemeteries - Pottery - Permanent structures
When we are studying trade and exchange of objects, the first thing we need to do is characterize the object. What is characterization and why is it important to do it?
- Figure out where an artifact came from, to source the material
What bioarchaeological evidence is there that people were probably farmers?
- Increased dental disease - Increased infections - General increase in mechanical stress - Die earlier - Shorter Microbotanical Remains: Pollen - palynology is used to identify vegetation changes associated with the beginning of agriculture. Phytoliths Macrobotanical Remains - can be directly dated Morphological Changes (evidence for domestication) There are 2 types of evidence for plant domestication. Direct: the plants and foods themselves. Indirect: Evidence for sedentism and farming. And the human remains of the farmers.
How can archaeologists figure out how an object may have been used?
- Microwear studies - Microscope - Polishes - Experimental: copy tools and then use them to see what marks are left (wood, bone, hide, meat, antler) Movements (piercing, cutting, scraping)
What kinds of animals make a bad candidate for domestication? Why?
- Skittish (tendency to panic in enclosures) - Vicious - Diet not easily supplied by humans - Slow growth rate, long birth spacing - Reluctance to breed in captivity - Lack of dominance hierarchy
Just like plants, animals that have been domesticated are morphologically different then their wild ancestors. How are they different? And why do we see these differences?
- Smaller average size - Different shape - Kill pattern - Ratio males to female changes
When archaeologists study production and technology, they are concerned with the manufacturing of objects. What methods do we use to understand how things (lithics and ceramics) were produced?
1. Experimental Archaeology 2. Ethnographic observations (figure out patterns of use) 3. Refitting (putting pieces back together, recreating the stages of flintknapping)
Why did people start practicing agriculture? What are the 2 models? Give examples of each.
1. Push Models: Hunter-gatheres are forced to become farmers because of stress (climate, environment, population) a) Population Pressure and food crisis model (agriculture should only develop after: evidence of population growth and sedentism) b) Climatic changes and Environmental stress (forced congregation around water sources, arid years of younger dryas forced people to exploit resources more extensively) 2. Pull Models: People are drawn by the benefits of a new lifestyle. a) "Readiness" Hypothesis abundance of resources led people to an agricultural lifestyle.
What is the half-life of Carbon 14? What are the time limitations? Why?
5730 years = half life of C14. Time limitations: 400-50,000 years ago Relies on assumption of constant atmospheric ratio of C-12 to C-14.
What is a distribution map? Spatial analysis?
A distribution map shows the range of exchange, and the spatial distribution of artifacts can help us understand the different types of exchange systems operating in the past.
After an excavation, what do archaeologists do with all the materials they find?
A post-excavation analysis of all artifacts found: sorting and classification of artifacts.
Why excavate? What are the aims? How are they negative?
AIMS: Recover objects in context, explore variability across a site (horizontally in space, synchronic), excavate deeply stratified sites (vertically through time, diachronic) NEGATIVE: excavations are destructive, involve multidisciplinary research teams, and are very expensive.
What is the difference between achieved and ascribed status? How do we see this archaeologically?
Achieved - the individual had personal distinction through a special skill Ascribed - hereditary status through birth Children are in some cases given rich burial goods and other indications of preferential attention: if so, there may have been a system of hereditary ranking, because at so early an age the child is unlikely to have reached such a status through personal distinction alone.
What is ground penetrating radar? How is it used to find sites?
An emitter sends short pulses through the soil, and the echoes not only reflect back any changes in the soil and sediment conditions encountered, such as filled ditches, graves, walls, but also measure the depth at which the changes occur on the basis of the travel time of the pulses.
What is zooarchaeology?
Animal domestication. - The state of affairs that occurs when the selective conditions that affect reproduction are altered by human activity such that a symbiotic relationship develops between the plants / animals and humans. From this intervention there is creation of a new form of plant or animal that is identifiably different from its wild ancestors.
Why do archaeologists have to use sampling strategies when excavating? What are the different sampling strategies?
Archaeologists have to use sampling strategies because attempting to analyze everything would be very time consuming and difficult, not feasible. Random, stratified random, and systematic. Targeted sampling
What is nationalism and how is archaeology used to support it? Give an example.
Archaeology has been used to look for symbols (Nazis - swastika symbol: found it on ancient Viking objects) as an emblem to create a national identity. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - took star symbol from Alexander the Great's Father's burial, used it on their flag. Even though they aren't Greek (they're Slavic) took a symbol of ancient Greek heritage and used it for themselves.
What are artifacts, ecofacts, features and sites?
Artifact - portable objects used, modified, or made by humans Ecofact - organic and environmental remains not made by humans. Ex: charcoal, animal, and plant remains, pollen, residue, soils. Features - non-portable artifact: humanly modified components of a site or landscape: hearths, postholes, storage pits.
What does craft specialization have to do with social organization?
As farming develops and population grows, more food will be obtained from a given piece of land (food production will intensify) through the introduction of the plow or irrigation. As this specialization and intensification takes place, so too does the tendency for some people to become wealthier and wield more authority than others - differences in social status and ranking develop.
Who was Lord Elgin? Why is he so famous? What is the big debate about the Elgin marbles about? Has it been resolved?
At the beginning of the 19th century, Lord Elgin - a Scottish diplomat, removed many of the marble sculptures that adorned the Partenon, the great temple that crowns the Acropolis in Athens. Elgin moved them with the permission of the then Turkish overlords of Greece, and later sold the sculptures to the British Museum, where they still reside. The Greeks now want them back - after the construction of the New Acropolis Museum.
What is seriation? What is a battleship curve?
Based on an artifact's frequency and popularity, puts it into a chronology. For example: The frequency of a particular ceramic style, is usually small to start with, rises to a peak as the style gains popularity, and then declines again (diagrammatically produces a shape like a battleship viewed from above "battleship curve")
Why is archaeology in the anthropology department in the U.S.?
Because American archaeologists are studying the history of past humans such as the Native Americans, not of their own.
Why is it important to use both relative and absolute dating methods together?
Because it allows archaeologists to compare the results from both methods to determine an accurate chronology.
Before agriculture, what subsistence strategy did people use? What was their life like? Was it hard or easy?
Before agriculture, people were hunter-gatherer. They had higher mobility, an egalitarian society, were 99% of human history. They were generally healthier and living longer lives
How do we know that a society had social stratification? How can we figure that out archaeologically?
Burial analysis - the study of ranking from individual burials. In segmentary societies, and others with relatively limited differentiation in terms of rank, a close analysis of grave-goods can reveal disparities in social status.
What are some other famous antiquities that are going through the same issues as the Elgin marbles?
Bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum Venus de Milo in The Louvre
How do we figure out what the global climate was like?
By ice cores, and deep sea cores. We can trace changes in environmental conditions through time by studying cores extracted from the seabed and fluctuations in the species represented and the physical form of single species through the sequence. More dust - cold, sea levels low Less dust - warm, sea levels high
Trade involves more than just trade in objects. What else do people trade and exchange?
Can exchange information, inventions, aspirations, values, ideas.
When humans domesticated animals there was a conceptual shift in their attitude towards animal exploitation. How did the focus change on animal exploitation between hunting and gathering and animal domestication? (hint: there are 3 essential elements)
Change in focus from ensuring deaths of living animals to ensuring their survival (ensuring their reproduction) 1. Constraint of movement 2. Regulation of breeding 3. Control of their feeding
What is "chaîne opératoire?"
Chaîne opératoire - operational sequence. The sequence of manufacture. The use-life of tools from raw material, acquisition, to production, use, recycling, and finally discard.
What idea or system did Christian Thomsen create? How was this significant?
Christian Thomsen created the THREE AGE SYSTEM: which divided museum collections into the STONE AGE BRONZE AGE IRON AGE This system established the principle that by studying and classifying prehistoric artifacts, they could be ordered chronologically.
How do archaeologist classify artifacts?
Classification is commonly done on the basis of three kinds of characteristics or attributes: surface attributes (including decoration and color) shape attributes (dimensions) and technological attributes. Artifacts with similar attributes are grouped together into artifact types - typology.
What happens to the coastline as a result?
Coastline grows - super low tide.
What is the difference between a cultigen and a domesticate? How is this distinction relevant to the study of plant food production?
Cultigen: a plant that is being intentionally prepared and planted by humans (hunter-gatherers or farmers) Domesticate: a plant or animal whose behavior, morphology, and/or genetics have been modified to make them more beneficial to humans. However, earliest evidence for domestication does not = earliest evidence for cultivation or plant food production. Domestication is a slow process.
What is the difference between cultivation and agriculture?
Cultivation: the planting and harvesting of wild species. Agriculture: a system of crop production that incorporates at least some domesticated plants and requires systematic tillage.
What is cultural ecology?
Cultural ecology - how environment can affect and shape cultures. "the study of ways in which adaptation to the environment could cause cultural change." Environment is important.
What are the 4 subfields of anthropology?
Cultural, Biological, Archaeology, History
Who was Charles Darwin? What was his major contribution to the world and anthropology?
Darwin was a geologist and biologist who established the concept of evolution: to explain the origin and development of all plants and animals. In his work On the Origin of Species (1859) He demonstrated how this change occurred - by "natural selection", the survival of the fittest.
How can we tell from the bones if the individual under study had been sick or stressed in their lifetime? Who suffered more from these, hunter-gatherers or farmers? Why?
Dental Caries (Cavities) absesses, periodontal disease - related to high carbohydrate diet Porotic Hyperostosis, Cribra Orbitalia (Iron Deficiency: not enough meat, high grain diet) Enamel Hyposplasia (pits that form in the enamel surface of teeth due to stress, malnutrition, disease) Infections: inflammatory response
There are different ways to obtain objects through trade. What are some of these ways?
Direct access: the user goes directly to the source of the material, without the intervention of any exchange mechanism Down-the-line access exchange: repeated exchanges of a reciprocal nature, so that a commodity travels across successive territories through successive exchanges Freelance (middleman): traders operate independently and for gain: usually the traders work by bargaining, but instead of a fixed marketplace they are travelers who take the goods to the consumer Emissary trading: trader represents a central organization and sells on their behalf
What is the definition of domestication? Explain what it means?
Domestication: the state of affairs that occurs when the selective conditions that affect reproduction are altered by human activity such that a symbiotic relationship develops between the plants / animals and humans. From this intervention there is creation of a new form of plant of animal that is identifiably different from its wild ancestors.
What is radiocarbon dating? How does it work? What kind of material can you use to date with this method?
Due to the unstable nature of C14, it leads to radioactive decay. It is estimated that it takes 5730 years for half the C14 to decay - its half-life. It enables us to measure the ratio of C14 to C12, therefore determining how long it has been since the organism has died. Can date organic material.
What are earthworks, soil marks, and crop marks?
Earthworks: artificial changes in land level. Made from piles of artificially placed sculpted rocks and soil, show features beneath the surface Soil Marks: differences in soil color as a result of archaeology features. Crop Marks: shows differential growth in arable crops caused by the presence of sub-surface archaeological features. Crops grow taller and more thickly over sunken features (ditches), and show stunted growth over buried walls.
How are ethnographic observations useful when studying production and technology?
Enables us to answer questions like: - How it was made, when, why and by whom? - How much time and effort are needed for different types? - How often and in what circumstances do they get broken, what happens to the pieces? - Patterns of use, discard, and site clearance
Why are archaeologists so concerned with dating objects?
Establish sequence of change Establish pace of change (was it fast or slow) Allow correlation with other phenomena like climate or natural disaster Helps determine the kinds of questions we ask about the past
How do archaeologists know that a macrobotanical remain they find is domesticated? What are the morphological changes that occur in plants with domestication?
Evidence for Domestication - Morphological Changes: - Wild plants: defense mechanism, dispersal method, smaller size, thick seed coat - Domesticated Plants: toxins/defense removed. Loss of dispersal mechanism (sturdy attachments/tough rachis) larger size, thinner seed coats, clustered, recovered from sites outside the natural distribution.
What is antiquarianism? How did this affect the "archaeology" of the time?
Finding pretty artifacts and displaying them without explanations or descriptions.
The creation of synthetic materials (ceramics and metals) is highly dependent on one thing. What is that one thing? How are these materials dependent on it?
Fire. The control of fire and the ability to achieve higher and higher temperatures is what determines the ability to create synthetic materials.
What are some methods for characterization?
For Stone: microscopic examination of thin sections: can see specific minerals that may be characteristic of a specific source For Ceramic: clay may be distinct itself with characteristic minerals or rock fragments, temper may be distinct Trace-elements and Isotopes: lead isoptopes (find it in silver, copper, paints, glass) Oxygen isotopes (find it in shells, so shell jewelry and decoration)
What is pseudoarchaeology? What are some examples?
Fringe archaeology: interpretations of the past from outside the academic archaeological community. Often for commercial purposes. Examples: Crop marks, Nazca lines, Pyramids, Lost City of Atlantis, Ancient Astronauts, Noah's Ark Ministries Such theories often share characteristics: 1. They celebrate a remarkable lost world, the people of which possessed many skills surpassing those of the present. 2. They account for most of the early accomplishments of prehistoric and early state societies with a single explanation: all were the work of the skilled inhabitants of that lost world. 3. That world vanished in a catastrophe of cosmic proportions. 4. Nothing of that original homeland is available for scientific examination, nor are any artifacts surviving.
What does GIS stand for? What is it? Why is it so important to archaeology?
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS - a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. Uses computer hardware and software. Combines a database with powerful mapping tools. Allows the automatic mapping of archaeological sites held in a computer database. Also incorporates the ability to carry out a statistical analysis of site distribution, and to generate new information.
What about GPS? What is that, what does GPS stand for?
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM - allows archaeologists to map their ground position by connecting to a global satellite system.
When was the first evidence of fire, where is it and who did it?
Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY) by Homo erectus around 790,000 BP.
What are glacial and inter-glacial periods? What are we in now?
Glacial period: ice ages Inter-glacial: in-between, warmer period We are in an inter-glacial period.
How do we find sites? Ground reconnaissance versus aerial reconnaissance?
Ground reconnaissance - we can identify sites by consultant of documentary sources and place-name evidence, but primarily actual fieldwork. Aerial reconnaissance - data collecting: taking photographs, images from aircrafts or satellites, data analysis: images are analyzed, interpreted.
What did James Boucher de Perthes discover? How was this significant to archaeology?
He discovered animal remains associated with human tools, which revealed the antiquity of humankind, in opposition to biblical notions.
Who was Archbishop James Ussher? What was his contribution to the world?
He was a prolific scholar and church leader who established the time and date of creation (Saturday, October 23, at Sunset, 4004 BC)
What would the site hierarchy of hunter-gatherers look like? What about states?
Hunter gatherer: small, similar size sites. States: a single site dominant in size and rank
How do archaeologists classify societies into different types originally developed by Elman Service?
Hunter-Gatherer, Segmentary Society, Chiefdom, Early States
Hutton, Lyell, De Perthes, and Darwin were all extremely important to archaeology. Why?
Hutton and Lyell's theory of Uniformitarianism explained how the earth changed, the antiquity of earth and humans, De Perthes established the antiquity of humankind. Darwin established and explained how human bodies changed over time.
What is post-processual archaeology? How is it different from New Archaeology? Who is the leader of this approach?
Ian Hodder was the leader of post-processual archaeology: which was in reaction to New Archaeology. They argued that there was no single way to do archaeology, and that it was impossible to be objective. Always will be biased with the question and hypothesis. Instead, they aimed to understand what the individuals were thinking at the time instead of focusing on the environment. More interpretive, subjective method. Try to get "inside their minds."
What are ice cores and deep see cores? What kinds of info can we get from them? How are isotopes involved? What about calcium dust?
Ice Cores: drill cores in Antarctica, Greenland, Andes, Tibet. Which trap things we can measure: - gasses ( carbon dioxide and methane) - Dust particles (measured as calcium) - Different kinds of water (light oxygen/ heavy oxygen) Deep sea cores: sediments on ocean floor accumulate over time (like stratigraphy) Can study the changes in environmental conditions through time by looking at the: - Fluctuations in species depends on salinity of ocean - Changes in one species morphology over time - Calcium carbonate (dust) - Ratio Oxygen 16 to oxygen 18 in dust and shells Scientists analyze fluctuations in the ratio of the stable oxygen isotopes 18 and 16 in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferan shells. Variations discernible by these two tests reflect not simply changes in temperature, but also oscillations in the continental glaciers.
Besides micro and macrobotanical remains, what are other archaeological signs that a culture was practicing some form of agriculture?
Indirect Evidence: - Artifacts / Features (tools for processing, evidence of sedentism) Direct Evidence: - Plant remains (geographic distribution, morphological changes)
Many artifacts don't make it into the archaeological record. What materials preserved the best? How might this affect archaeological interpretation?
Inorganic materials preserve the best: stone, clay, pottery, metal Although inorganic materials, particularly stone tools and pottery, are very often found at archaeological sites, these objects may well have been equaled or superseded in abundance and importance by objects that usually do not survive, such as wooden tools or baskets.
Why is aerial reconnaissance so helpful to archaeologists? What can we see?
It enables archaeologists to view a large area of land, and with LIDAR, they can toggle angles and different view options. We can see visible features such as earthworks, soil marks, crop marks.
After the early modern archaeology period came the classifactory-historical period, what was the main objective during this period?
Its central concern was CHRONOLOGY: the establishment of regional chronologies, and the description of the development of culture in each area. To organize, describe, classify.
Why is Thomas Jefferson important in the study of archaeology? What did he contribute? What question was he interested in answering?
Jefferson completed the first scientific excavation by testing the Moundbuilder theory. He discovered that it was built by Native Americans by carefully digging a trench across a Native American burial mound he was able to observe different layers and to draw reasoned conclusions from the data. His methods could be referred to as an early method of stratigraphy.
What does Charles Darwin have to do with cultural ecology?
Julian Steward - to understand how environments can shape culture. Charles Darwin influenced Steward to look at the environment for causes for change due to his theory of evolution.
How did Darwin influence anthropologists like Julian Steward? What was his major contributed to anthropology?
Julian Steward established CULTURAL ECOLOGY. Influenced by Darwin's concept of how bodies evolved, Steward explored how the environment can shape and affect cultures. "The study of ways in which adaptation to the environment could cause cultural change."
What is cultural ecology? Who was the father of cultural ecology? Who else was important in the development of this approach?
Julian Steward was the father of cultural ecology: which was the study of how environments can shape culture. How adaptation to the environment could cause cultural change. Charles Darwin influenced Steward with his theory of evolution.
What is Potassium-Argon Dating? What are the time limitations? What material can you use to date with this method? What kinds of sites are best suited for this method?
K-Ar method is used by geologists to date volcanic rock. Based on the decay of radioactive potassisum-40 into argon-40. Range: older than 80,000 years ago Dates volcanic rock, (ash, rock, lava) Sites under volcanic rock/ash, early human sites in Africa
What are the 2 laws of stratigraphy?
LAW OF SUPERPOSITION: layers at the bottom of sequence are older than layers at the top LAW OF ASSOCIATION: artifacts associated with one another in a layer are the same age.
How do you use the 2 laws of stratigraphy to relatively date something?
LAW OF SUPERPOSITION: layers at the bottom of sequence are older than layers at the top LAW OF ASSOCIATION: artifacts associated with one another in a layer are the same age. From the point of view of relative dating, the important principle is that the underlying layer was deposited first and therefore earlier than the overlying layer.
What is LIDAR? Why is it so useful for finding sites?
LIDAR: Light Detection and Ranging - uses an aircraft with GPS, carrying a laser scanner that rapily pulses a series of beams to the ground. By measuring the time taken for these to return to the aircraft an accurate picture of the ground in the form of a digital elevation model is created. Software used with LIDAR provides archaeologists the ability to 1. Tree canopies can be eliminated by switching off the "first return" so the sensor can see into woodland, and the angle and azimuth can be moved to enable ground features to be viewed under optimal lighting.
What makes a good candidate for animal domestication?
Large terrestrial mammalian herbivores and carnivores. 1 - Does not depend on rapid flight to escape predators (not skittish/nervous) 2 - Placid dietary generalist (flexible diet) 3- Relatively short growth rate and birth spacing 4 - Highly social and gregarious 5 - Part of a dominance hierarchy 6- Tolerates breeding and feeding in close confinement
What is New Archaeology? Who was the leader of this movement?
Lewis Binford was the leader of the NEW ARCHAEOLOGY MOVEMENT - which aimed to make archaeology a science. To be objective, employ the scientific method, test hypothesis. Try to find an explanation for why we see change in the past, come up with a generalization about human nature and culture, rather than just describe. Archaeological reasoning should be made explicit. Conclusions should not be based on simply the authority of the scholar making the interpretation, but on an explicit framework of logical argument. Conclusions, if they are to be considered valid, must be open to testing.
How do we know that a society was centrally organized? How can we figure that out archaeologically?
Look at the settlement hierarchy. Social stratification is alike to site hierarchy. A "highest-order" center, such as the capital city of an independent state, can be best identified from direct indications of central organization, on a scale not exceeded elsewhere. Indication is the existence of an archive, or of other symbolic indications of centralized organization. Monuments and Public Works: the scale of monuments and public works, as well as their distribution, can be a good indicator of social organization Burial analysis: buried with precious materials - higher rank. Buried with nothing - lower rank.
What are some surface manifestations of archaeological sites? How can we tell where sites are?
Look for evidence of past sites: mounds in an area that is flat. Soil discoloration - soil marks. Vegetation Differences - crop marks. Architecture - evidence of features (walls, old building materials) Artifacts - stone tools, ceramics. EARTHWORKS, SOIL MARKS, CROP MARKS.
What is looting?
Looting: the illicit removal of artifacts from an archaeological site. This removes the artifact from its context, removing archaeological meaning.
What are matrix, provenience, and association? How are they related to context?
Matrix - the material surrounding a find (an artifact, ecofact, or feature) Provenience - the exact position of a find within the matrix Association - a find's relationship with other finds = context. Without context, an artifact loses much of its archaeological value.
If we were interested in searching for the beginning of plant domestication (of rice, corn, millet, etc.) where should we first look? Where is that for maize?
Mesoamerica Xihuatoxtla Shelther - starch granules from domesticated maize
What is dendrochronology? How does it work? About how far does it go back? What are some of the limitations?
Method is based on the annual cycle of tree-ring growth. Goes as far back as 10,000 YA. Annual growth rings can be counted, matched and overlapped, to build up a master sequence for a particular region. The rings become narrower with the increasing age of the tree. The amount a tree grows each year is affected by fluctuations in climate. Limitations: restricted to regions outside the tropics where pronounced differences between the seasons produce clearly defined annual rings. A direct tree-ring date is restricted to wood from those species that 1. Have yielded a master sequence back from the present and 2. People actually used in the past. 3. The sample affords a sufficiently long record to give a unique match.
What current day country was maize domesticated in?
Mexico
What are microfauna and macrofauna? Why are macrofauna not as good an indicator of environment as microfauna?
Microfauna: small animals. Are better indicators of climate and environmental change than macrofaunal because they are much more sensitive to small variations in climate and adapt to them relatively quickly. Macrofauna: remains of large animals found on archaeological sites mainly help us build up a picture of past human diet. Macrofauna tend to accumulate naturally on a site and reflect the immediate environment more accurately than larger animals, whose remains are often accumulated through human or animal predation.
What do the sites of each look like?
Mobile hunter-gatherer groups - small, seasonally occupied temporary camps and smaller specialized sites: kill sites, work sites, camp sites. Segmentary societies - settled, permanent agricultural homesteads or villages with ditches, storage pits. Monuments. Burial mounds, cemeteries. Chiefdoms - similar to segmentary but on a larger scale. Bigger monuments. center of power: temples, residences of the chief and his retainers. Site hierarchy Early states - city: large population center with massive monuments, roads, administrative buildings, standardized buildings. Economy, armies, burials.
Who were the Moundbuilders?
Native Americans.
What are site formation processes? What are the 2 types of processes? Why are they important to archaeology?
Natural formation processes (N transform) - natural causes of deposition: wind and water erosion, actions of plants and animals, climate: soil formation. Natural events that govern both the burial and the survival of the archaeological record. Cultural formation processes (C-transform) - cultural (human) causes of deposition and disturbance. Reuse of materials, agriculture, other landscape transformations. deliberate or accidental activities of human beings. They affect our interpretation of the site, and are vital to the accurate reconstruction of past human activities.
What are some radiocarbon cautions?
Only can date organic items. Contamination by human/ water/ modern organic Samples must be carefully chosen. Samples can easily be contaminated; results can be difficult to interpret correctly and require statistical treatment
What was the climate like for the past 50,000 years and 100,000 years?
Oscillating between glacial and inter-glacial periods.
What are the 2 different types of mounds? How were they different? What use did they have?
Platform mounds - for the elite, rulers who lived on top in structures Burial mounds - linear mounds, for burials, built by the Hopewell
What is settlement hierarchy? How do you figure it out?
Plot number and size of sites in a bar graph.
What are microbotanical remains? What information can we get from it?
Pollen: most useful for the study of minor fluctuations in climate over the last 12,000 years, although pollen can be preserved for millions of years in some contexts. Can recreate: plant life, climate, available resources. Distinct shape and look. In mud bricks, tombs, guts of bodies, ancient feces. Drawbacks: only pinpoint to genus and not species and pollen can be transported by animals and wind. Phytoliths: minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants, and they survive after the rest of the organism has decomposed or been burned. These crystals are produced in large numbers, survive well in ancient sediments, and they have myriad distinctive shapes and sizes that vary according to type. They inform us primarily about the use people made of particular plants, but their simple presence adds to the picture of the environment built up from other sources. Like pollen, have a distinct shape and size. Seen in hearths, ash layers, pottery, plaster, and even on stone tools and animal teeth. Because preserves well can see how people used the plants in addition to reconstructing environment. Diatoms: found in lake and shore sediments and thus useful for the analysis of past marine environments.
What are primary and secondary context?
Primary (undisturbed) Secondary (disturbed) many things can affect the position of an artifact in the ground. Primary context: the undisturbed situation of a find, unmoved. Secondary context: when a find is moved, either due to cultural (looters) or natural causes.
What is public archaeology?
Public archaeology is concerned with the "processes by which meaning is created from archaeology materials in the public realm." The method and means by which archaeological information is communicated to non-archaeologists through educational programs, museum exhibitions, site tours, and other forms of interpretation.
What is pyrotechnology? How is it important to technology?
Pyrotechnology - control of fire. It is the technological ability that was the driving force behind the evolution of the 3-age system. Synthetic materials depend on the control of fire. New technology was dependent on achieving higher and higher temperatures.
How are dates given?
Quoted in years BP (before present)
What are radiometric dating methods? What is the basic principal behind the method?
Radiocarbon, potassisum-argon dating, thermoluminescence dating Method: based on the regular decay of a radioactive element
What are the 3 kinds of sampling strategies that we discussed in lecture?
Random Stratified Random Systematic
What are the two general methods that archaeologists use to date?
Relative and Absolute dating
What is stratigraphy? What does it have to do with uniformitarianism?
STRATIGRAPHY: the layers of cultural or natural debris visible in the side of any excavation. Uniformitarianism -that geologically ancient conditions were in essence, similar to, or "uniform with" those of our own time.
What are sampling strategies? Why do archaeologists have to use them?
Sampling: investigating a small part of a phenomena to extrapolate a generalization. To take out the bias. Limited time and resources, money. Because there is too much, can only do one portion and extrapolate to the whole. Archaeologists cannot usually afford the time and money necessary to investigate the whole of a large site.
What are macrobotanical remains? Why are they easier for archaeologists to use? What information can you get from it?
Seeds and Fruits: can usually be identified to species, but interpretation can be difficult since they can be brought to a site from elsewhere Plant residues: can give some idea of what species were available Wood: charcoal survives well in the archaeological record, and can be identified to species, but what is found tends to reflect human selection of wood rather than full range of species growing around a site. Bigger remains can be seen with the naked eye.
What is Electron Spin Resonance? How does it work? What material do you use to date with this method?
Similar to Thermoluminescence but less sensitive. It can be used for materials that decompose when heated and thus when TL is not applicable. Its most successful application so far has been for the dating of tooth enamel.
What is the fundamental difference between males and females? How can we use that difference to sex individuals?
Skeletal height
Why do archaeologists dig square holes?
Square holes allow for a stratigraphic profile: stratigraphy: the layers of cultural or natural debris visible in the side of any excavation.
What are lithics?
Stone.
What are some relative dating techniques? How do they work?
Stratigraphy - in a succession of layers the bottom layer is the earliest and the top layer is the latest. Associations - objects found in the same stratigraphic layer were buried at the same time. Typological sequence - artifacts with similar characteristics were produced at the same time. "Like goes with like" Seriation - assemblages of objects can be arranged in serial order to create a relative chronology.
How do we figure out the scale and settlement patterns of a society?
Survey. To reach some classification of the sites on the basis of their relative importance - site hierarchy. Or excavation of settlement remains.
When do organic materials preserve?
Survival of organic materials is determined by the matrix (the surrounding material: soil or sediment) and by climate (local and regional) Extremely dry - great dryness prevents decay through the shortage of water, which ensures that many destructive micro-organisms are unable to flourish. Extremely cold - natural refrigeration can hold the processes of decay in check for thousands of years. Extremely wet - the wetter the environment the more likely organic materials survive. Because due to waterlogged environment (anaerobic condition) - no oxygen
What is the difference between total vs. selective excavation? What about vertical and horizontal?
TOTAL - a lot of time and money, covers the total space, depending on site can be impossible. SELECTIVE - covers selective area VERTICAL EXCAVATION: - Selective trenching or pits into deep deposits - Small glimpses at small areas - Diachronic Focuses on exposing the stratigraphy of a site, examine change through time HORIZONTAL (OPEN-AREA EXCAVATION) - Area or block excavation, exposes large area - Associations - Spatial distributions - Destructive - Synchronic Focuses on exposing a large area to one particular level to reveal associations and spatial relationships of features and artifacts, one time period.
What do TPQ TAQ stand for? How are they used to relatively date something?
TPQ - TERMINUS POST QUEM "limit after which" a dateable object provides only the date WHEN OR AFTER which the layer of soil that contains it was deposited The earliest time an event may have happened TAQ - TERMINUS ANTE QUEM "limit before which" The latest time an event may have happened
What is a typology? An assemblage? What about an archaeological culture?
TYPOLOGY - a classification according to general type, using the style of artifacts to put things into order. ASSEMBLAGE - the designation for a set of artifacts found in close association with each other and thus considered to be the product of a distinct species or culture from one period of time. ARCHAEOLOGICAL CULTURE - is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place that may constitute the material remains of a particular past human society.
What is the secondary products revolution?
Technological innovations that involved new uses for domesticated animals, beyong their meat and hides. Learned to ride horses, camels, use animals to plow and carry carts.
What are the different ways to age an individual at death? What is the basic principle behind each method? Which is the most accurate?
Teeth - the more worn the teeth the older the individual Fusion of bones. Tooth eruption and epiphyseal fusion are the most accurate for aging.
What is the wild ancestor to maize (corn)?
Teosinte
How have satellites been helpful to archaeologists? What was the CORONA Intelligence Satellite Program? How did it help find sites? What about Google Earth?
The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the CIA - used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China. It was recently declassified. CORONA images have led to the detection and detailed mapping of numerous kinds of archaeological remains, such as ancient roads, ruins, irrigation networks and so forth. Google Earth is a free public program that allows archaeologists to also locate sites from satellite images with color. The introduction of Google Earth has been a true "aerial revolution" since it offers every archaeologist the opportunity to examine the ground and look for archaeological sites.
What is the Pompeii Premise? Why do archaeologists have to be careful of it?
The Idea that all sites are like Pompeii - last moment frozen in time. The last second of habitation of that site. Basic Assumptions: 1. Items found by archaeologists were laid down by the last user at the moment the site was abandoned. 2. These items mirror activities that took place in the architectural places they were found in. Archaeologist need to be careful because in reality, sites, artifacts, remains - change through time. There are different processes that occur that affect how it looks, how it preserves, how it was found. They cannot assume that sites are like Pompeii. It is important to understand how sites preserves, what are the conditions on which we find them.
How are the site of Pompeii and the Otzi Man related to the Pompeii Premise?
The Site of Pompeii was the last moment before the volcano erupted. The Otzi man archaeologists can study what he had on him during his moment of death. Both were found in their primary context.
What is the younger dryas? What big invention correlates with it?
The Younger Dryas - around 13,000 years ago, a mini ice age, very dry for 2000 years. Was a return to glacial conditions which temporarily reversed the gradual climatic warming after the Last Glacial Maximum. Last Glacial Maximum - peak coldness, glacials were max. Correlates with: farming.
How do lithics reflect human cognitive evolution?
The evolution of lithics reveal long term change - from oldowan (simple, slow to change) acheulean (design) Mousterian (increasing planning/diversity) Aurignacian (increasingly sophisticated reduction)
Why is it important to know about ice ages?
The ice cores suggest that the next ice age is about 15,000 years away. Since the Industrial Revolution, levels of carbon dioxide have risen to an alarming amount. Knowing about the ice ages helps us explain migration patterns of humans.
What triggers societies to change from hunter-gatherers to state societies? Why?
The introduction of farming triggers the cultural change. Because - reliable food source, storage, surplus, specialization, weaning foods ( cereal, grains)
Jared Diamond's "The worst mistake in the history of the human race" has another view of the "Neolithic Revolution." What is the "worst mistake" he discusses? What are the negative consequences of the revolution?
The mistake: adoption of agriculture. Due to malnutrition, starvation, epidemic diseases, deep class divisions, inequality between the sexes.
What responsibilities do museums and collectors have in stopping looting? What can they do?
The most important thing in archaeological interpretation: CONTEXT. Without context, material remains have no meaning. Museums can stop looting by: declining to purchase or accept gifts of any antiquities that aren't legally exported.
What do we mean by "ancient environment?"
The past climate, geology, vegetation, soils, hydrology.
What 2 primary diagnostic features do we use to sex individuals? How do we use these features to sex individuals? (i.e. brow ridge, etc.) Which method is more accurate?
The pelvis - male: narrow and deep, heart shaped Female: wide and shallow, large and oval Skull - male: prominent brow ridge, sloping forehead, behind the ear is bigger Female: gracile, vaulted forehead, behind the ear is small Pelvis is more accurate.
What is context? Why is it important?
The position of artifacts, ecofacts, and features in relation to one another and the natural environment. It is important to always consider context in order to correctly interpret.
What is fall-off analysis?
The quantity of traded material that usually declines the further away from the source.
What are ethics?
The science of morals: what is right or wrong.
V. Gordon Childe came up with the concept of the "Neolithic Revolution," what is this "revolution?" What were some positive consequences of this revolution?
The shift from hunter-gatherer societies to agricultural societies. Positive: allowed for expanded group size (weaning foods, dependable food source) - Sedentism - Food surpluses - Specialization Cereals / Grasses - high yield, dependable. BUT poor in protein, high in carb Negative: Trade quality for quantity - Varied to few - Risk starvation - Sedentism and disease - Class division - Support more with worse diet
What is taphonomy? Why is this important to archaeology?
The study of formation processes that may have affected both the ways in which finds came to be buried and what happened to them after they were buried.
What is archaeology?
The systematic investigation of material remains in order to reconstruct past human activities and to understand why such patterns developed.
What led to the downfall of the Moundbuilders? Why?
Their reliance on corn agriculture or agriculture in general led to conflict. Their crops failed. Their reliance led to their downfall due to bad seasons of harvest
Why do radiocarbon dates have to be calibrated? How do they do it?
There is always a statistical error attached to a carbon date. Calibration with dendrochronology.
How did the archaeologists and students figure out how long it took to build a mound in the movie?
They gathered a team and tried to recreate, best to their ability, how mounds were prepared, and made a mound. Timed it, figured out how much human hours it took, and figured out how long it took to create a mound. (about an afternoon) Experimental archaeology.
What was James Hutton and Charles Lyell's major contribution to geology and archaeology? What idea did they come up with?
They introduced the concept of Uniformitarianism: that geologically ancient conditions were in essence, similar to, or "uniform with" those of our own time. This idea could be applied to the human past also - established the antiquity of humankind. Biblical notions of the creation of the world just a few thousand years could no longer be accepted.
What is the difference between using squares versus transects in survey?
Transects: sampling unit is a long strip. More efficient: can save time, strip can cross a variety of terrain. Square: can expose more of the land to survey. Transects - straight paths, far easier to walk along a path than to locate accurately and investigate a square. Transects can easily be segmented into units, whereas it may be difficult to locate or describe a specific part of a square. Also useful for recording artifact densities across the landscape. COVERS LONG DISTANCES Squares - have the advantage of exposing more area to the survey, thus increasing the probability of intersecting sites. WHEN LARGER CONCENTRATIONS OF MATERIAL are ENCOUNTERED.
What are the 2 most used absolute dating techniques archaeologists use? Why?
Tree-ring dating and radiocarbon dating.
What is the difference between unaltered materials and synthetic materials?
Unaltered materials include stone, fabric, bone, wool - materials that have not been chemically changed. Synthetic materials go through a chemical change.
What are the 2 types of survey? What are the pros and cons of each?
Unsystematic - involving walking across each part of the area scanning a strip of ground, collecting or examining artifacts on the surface, recording their location (archaeologists randomly search an area on foot for artifacts) PROS: simpler; flexible, enables team to focus greater efforts on the areas that have proved most likely to contain sites/finds. CONS: biased and misleading, walkers will stray towards areas that seem richer, rather than obtaining a sample representative of the whole area that would enable the archaeologists to asses the varying distribution of material or different periods or types. Systematic - employing a grid system or series of equally spaced transects (straight paths) across the area. Divided into sectors, and walked systematically. Have to employ a sampling strategy. PROS: makes it easier to plot the locations of find since an exact position is always known.
Why is the question "Who owns the past" so difficult to answer?
Until recent decades, archaeologists gave little thought to the question of the ownership of past sites and antiquities. Most archaeologists themselves came from Western, industrialized societies the economic and political domination of which seemed to give an almost automatic right to acquire antiquities and excavate sites around the world. Should antiquities acquired for Western museums during the colonial era be returned to their lands of origin? And should archaeologists be free to excavate the burials of groups whose modern descendants may object on religious or other grounds?
What is Thermoluminescence dating? What material can you use to date? What is a major drawback of this method?
Used to date crystalline material (minerals) buried in the ground, which have been fired (usually pottery) but also baked clay, burnt stone. Difficult to make precise. Generally used when other methods such as radiocarbon dating are not available. Based on radioactive build-up Reheat object to measure TL released Ambient radiation may not have been constant
What is a typological sequence? What are some issues with it?
Uses an artifact's attributes and style to put into a chronology. Artifacts with similar characteristics were produced at the same time. "Like goes with like" PROBLEMS: - Don't know the direction of change, which end was first - Don't know how fast the change was occurring
What is ground survey? How do you do it? What is the goal?
Walk around, looking at the ground, mark where you find artifacts and features, create an inventory of ancient remains. Can help to create a map using GIS. Leave the stuff. Can use surface survey in it of itself to answer questions - to find a site can be the goal.
When we study production, what are we studying? The production of what?
We are studying products, production waste, infrastructure, sources of raw material, tools, iconography. Figuring out "how did they do that?" When we study production we are interested in the technological realm of society. We want to know "how did they do that?"
Why study the environment?
We need to set the study of past cultures into a context, environment is a variable and not something homogenous and constant. In order to understand the environmental context we need to figure out the environmental chronology and how human activities fit into this timeline.
What is the "myth" surrounding the Moundbuilders?
Who built them: people speculated lost tribes of Israel, people from India or Central America. Because they assumed Native Americans did not possess the capabilities to have built the mounds.
Why was Willard Libby so important in archaeology? What did he invent?
Willard Libby developed radiocarbon dating in 1949. With it, archaeologists can now find an exact date, which frees archaeologists up from just doing chronology.
Explain Wolff's law. How is that useful for archaeologists?
Wolff's law states that bone grows and remodels in response to the forces that are placed upon it. It allows archaeologists to learn the role of environment on health and lifestyle, consequences of adaptive shifts (sedentism) and status or class differences.
