ANTH 2301 Archaeology Test 3
Guila Naquitz
- earliest evidence for domesticated plants in the region - maize at 6500YA - hunter/gatherers incorporate domesticated foods into diet
Kebaran settlements
- small camps - seasonally occupied - ex: ohalo site (23kya) in northern israel
what are PPNB 3 categories of rituals?
1. hidden rituals 2. display rituals 3. daily life rituals
Lunates/Sickle Polish
A lunate- tiny, crescent shaped stone tool characteristic of the Natufian Sickle Polish- a luster that forms when stone tools are used to harvest grasses
Natufian mortuary practices; dogs
Burials: buried under house floors and skulls removed!!!!!!!!!********* variability in mortuary practices, secondary variables suggest some group mobility. - children comprise 1/3 of graves, high mortality could indicate growing stress. - Dogs were sometimes buried with human remains. They were domesticated and lived w people
coprolites & indigenous plants
Coprolites: human fecal remains. 3400ya. On one site in kentucky, domesticated plants played a minor role in diet and in the other site they played a major role.
adena
Early Woodland Culture, intensive mound building in the ohio river valley. shows mounds and other earthworks, complex structures, elaborate burials, and extensive trade.
Ain Ghazal
Located in Jordan, Plaster figures found here
Abu Hureyra in Natufian
Located on Upper Euphrates River in Syria, a site with multiple levels of occupation. Houses were sunken pits (not built walls), used broad spectrum plant strategy. - 80% of bones found here were gazelle bones
Çatalhöyük: art, architecture, burial
Located on the Konya plain of central turkey. Formed 9500ya, flourishes 8500ya. "Start of late neolithic" - Houses: 4 walls touching, access via flat rooftops, ladders, or stairs, some floors painted red or painted scenes on the walls. Rooftop spaces were important, and they had burials under the houses. Rooms had frescoes with little figures inside them, benches running through rooms.
agriculture in the new world
Maize, squash, beans, domestication
Late Neolithic Rituals & symbolism
No more skull removal, no ornamentation. New stuff: small figurines that depict humans rather than animals, frescoes, zoomorphic shrines.
Jerf el Ahmar
PPNA site on upper euphrates in syria with remains of communal structures. - houses are grouped around large buildings that are built into the ground, suggesting communal roles. - roles of ritual and violence together?
early neolithic rituals
PPNB's time period called "the birth of the gods" and you'll see ritual objects emerge. There are 3 categories of rituals: hidden, display, and rituals of daily life.
PPNB
Pre pottery neolithic B... 10800-8500ya. improved climate, use of plaster. - shift from round to rectangular houses. increase in settlement sizes, rituals, social order but no social hierarchy in the architecture.
otoliths
Small, dense calcareous concretions from the middle ear region of fish, quite commonly found on archaeological sites. They're species-distinctive, and can therefore be used for identification purposes in the analysis of fish remains from a site. They also grow in annual rings and can thus be used to age the fish and to indicate seasonal use of the site
jornada Mogollon
The onset of agriculture occurred at 1000AD, so late because the region had lower rainfall.
Kebaran Burials
These were rare for the time period. ex: wadi Mataha site in southern jordan
domestication
a BIOLOGICAL process (changes in the genotypes and physical characteristics of plants and animals.) Includes: - human intervention/protection - the animal/plant becomes dependent on humans for reproductive success - can be unintentional
agriculture
a commitment to the relationship between humans and plants, may involve the use of domesticated animals. - changes in the human use of the earth, and in the structure and organization of human society EX: supports a larger, more sedentary society... requires intensive labor... changes the landscape
cultivation
a cultural phenomenon that involves harvesting plants and storing seeds. This can include preparing the fields (clearing, slash and burn)
Younger Dryas
a period of global climatic stress that had a significant impact on Natufian society.
hopewell
a period of intensive mound building in the Ohio River Valley. corresponds to the middle woodlands culture. Hopewell mounds- some mounds built over structures. multiple human remains buried in a variety of ways...
Fertile Crescent
a ribbon of Mediterranean climate that arcs across the middle east. - dry summers, winter rains with enough precipitation to support vegetation ranging from woodlands to open-park woodlands.
"Curcubita Pepo"
aka SQUASH. This was the earliest plant to be domesticated in Mexico. Called "pepitos" now. - seeds @ Guila Naquitz, 10kya-8300ya, around 8kya they go from green to orange
Cerro Juanaqueña
an early agricultural site in northern mexico with evidence of terracing and other stone-built features... 20k metric tons of rock which would have required 16 person-years of labor. potholes used as flat surface for houses?
tower of jericho
an early neolithic communal structure, 9 meters high, mud-brick, attached wall, internal staircase, estimated 10k-15k working days to complete.
Coxcatlán Cave
beans, 2500ya.
mesoamerican triad
beans, maize, and squash work together to produce what each plant needs to grow&thrive. (symbiosis).
Kebaran/Geometric Kebaran
distinguished by stone tools. Bladelets- small blades. Geometric Kebaran- What it sounds like. Triangles and Rectangles (think of geometry)
Ain Mallaha (Mallaha or Eynan)
dogs buried with human remains here
woodland periods
early and middle- cultivation of indigenously domesticated plants. Late woodland- maize spreads super high into even Ontario.... Early and middle: 3200-1700ya. Late woodland: 1700ya
Early Neolithic vs Late Neolithic
early neolithic: PPNA & PPNB (went from "little ice age" to improved climate, arrowheads & long blades to use of plaster) late neolithic: PPNC- "collapse", use expedient tools rather than arrowheads or skillful blades, use decorations and no more skull removal, move from large sites to smaller sites.
rapa nui
easter island culture in the pacific, were super isolated and didn't have any written record of their society besides the Moai.
plastered skulls
human skulls on which a plaster face has been molded, found buried beneath floors from the PPNB period. Ritual?
optimal foraging theory
humans act on the basis of rational self-interests to maximize the efficiency in collecting and processing resources
Examples of hidden rituals
in pits and under floors, plastered real human skulls, hidden axes in walls, painted stone mask, plaster figures, ancestor worship?
Gobekli Tepe
located in Euphrates river in eastern turkey... had monumental T-shaped pillars with a temple structure, sacred precincts, human/animal figurines, deities being controlled? ritual class?
milagro
located in arizona. late archaic time, stored maize in bell-shaped pits, domesticated maize and wild plants/grasses, 2950ya.
poverty point
located in louisiana. late archaic, 3600ya. massive construction... 6 concentric embankments, massive mounds. purpose unclear. the stone was brought in from 100s of miles away, and it was a focal point in feasting. cultural materials such as: net sinkers, stone tools, soapstone, pottery
maize in eastern north america
maize played a minor role in people's diet for 1k years and intensive maize agriculture became established in the late woodland villages.
archaic, stalling island
material culture: ceramic vessels (beginning around 5kya), "stalling island culture, georgia), ceremonial items and ornaments, trade in minerals (galena, hematite, copper, long distance trade).
Kebaran Rituals
nearness of burials to huts. was this a cultural practice? Art is rare as well but 2 incised pebbles were founds. Found post holes/post molds
Kebaran Domestication
no evidence for plant and animal domestication. Ex: Ohalo Site....
ohalo
ohalo site (23kya) in northern israel, remains of 6 brush huts and anthropogenic soils. There were ritual burials and stone bladelets, awl, beads
proxy indicators
physical characteristics that can tell you the climates and things about the past without the direct evidence.
PPNA
pre pottery neolithic A... 12kya-10800ya. younger drayas "little ice age", arrowheads and long blades in tool kit. - settlements began to increase in size and begin making communal structures
REMEMBER
read articles, videos, etc.
neolithic revolution
reliance of domestication - large settlements: community planning and monumental architecture -cereal - pottery - agriculture as a response to village life.
vacant center pattern
sees Hopewell earthworks as the empty core of a dispersed settlement system.
rituals of daily life (example PPNB)
simple clay figurines- either kids toys or symbolic meaning?
Wadi Mataha
site in southern jordan, geometric kebaran, small campsite, elaborate burial... burial goods= stone bowl with broken bottom, long flint blade
Abu Hureyra in Late Neo/PPNB
site that could have housed 100s or 1000s or people.
anthropogenic soils
soils produced by humans
formative period, american southwest
the introduction of pottery and beans happened 1800ya. Pit houses: square/rectangle, perishable superstructure, storage pit placement (inside/outside/between houses).
rachis
the part of a cereal plant that holds the seed to the stalk and keeps the seed on the plant until it's harvested
moai
those big ass easter island statues. believed to have supernatural powers and "walked themselves" magically to the sacred platforms by the ocean.
examples of display rituals
tower of jericho-type stuff. Meant to be seen, visible, special buildings. Standing stones, huge pillars, and human/animal figures
Natufian Culture
transition to village life. the structures were stones piled up to form walls, they faced the issue of how to deal with their poop - burials under floor of houses, skulls removed
energetics
used to build the tower of jericho....
broad spectrum plant strategy
using a broad/wide range of plants. it's a way for hunter gatherers to minimize the risk that any resource will be scarce
Teosinte
wild grass found in the highlands of mexico, the wild ancestor of Maize/Corn.