1 - Introduction to Archaeology Flashcards
Anthropology
the study of humanity is holistic; studies human culture and evolutionary aspects of human biology; broad discipline
Subdisciplines of Anthropology
archaeology, cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, linguistics
Cultural Anthropology
contemporary and modern cultures
ethnology
studied through comparison
ethnography
studied by living/observing a culture
archaeology
the study of the human past through the examination of its material remains; remains can be used to reconstruct the past
prehistoric/precontact
time period before written words; precontact used more for north america
Biological anthropology
focuses of humans as biological organisms, examining human evolution and human variation
What is emphasized in biological anthropology?
interaction between culture and biology, they affect one another (ex: development of cooking tools results in change of diet, teeth shape, etc)
Specialties within bio. anth
paleoanth, osteology, primatology
paleoanthropology
study of human evolution; fossil remains
osteology
study of skeleton
primatology
study of non human primates, out closest living relatives
culture
all aspects of human adaption, including tech, traditions, language, religion, social roles; transmitted through learning not biological/genetic means; one of the reasons we can adapt so well to the environment is our ability to use culture
first scientific excavation on record
mid 1500s
antiquarians
people interested in the past, dig up artifacts unscientificl rich people would travel the world to collect artifacts for their personal collections; developed as a popular hobby until the late 1600s
Christian J Thomsen
3 age system; recognized that material culture changed over time; marked beginning of shift to scientific understanding of artifacts
Jens Worsaae
Christian Thomsen’s assistant, tested theory of age system
Thomas Jefferson
one of the first people to have archaeological excavtion in NA; wanted to understand construction/origin of burial mound on his property; took careful notes (stratigraphy); found that the mound builders were native Americans
burial mounds
mounds and native americans were not inked; lots of myths to explain the mounds (ex: lost tribes of Israel, vikings, garden of Eden), well known one is the Serpent mound in Ohio
Establishment of the antiquity of Earth
the idea that the earth is super old is relatively new; universe = 15 bill. yrs old; earth = 4.5 bill. yrs old
Archbishop James Ussher
Analyzed Bible (particularily Genesis) to determine that the Earth was created in 4004 BC; the idea that the Earth is young was major obstacle encountered by theory of evolution
James Hutton
Estimated the earth was few hundred thousand years old; developed uniformatiarianism
Uniformitarianism
the theory that Earth’s features are a result of long term processes that continue to opperate in the present as they did in the past
Charles Lyell
founder of modern geology; built in uniformitarianism; dating methods like salt deposit formations, stratification, etc
Establishment of the antiquity of humankind
1800s –> irrefutable evidence for the existence of human remains with extinct animals like stone tools
1857 –> Neanderthal skulls discovered
1797 (possible typo)–> John Frere discovered stone tools under layers that contained bones of extinct animals like wooly mammoths, water bison, etc
Jaques Boucher de Perthes
discovered ancient stone tolls with bones of extinct animals; his writings were controversial but agreed with other scientists of the field at the time
Great Chain of Being
heirarchal system with all species in a chain; all species had permanent positions, could not go extinct; gradual continum towards perfection with God at the top; predominant worldview for a long time
Fixity of the Species
notion that once species were created, they could never change; another huge obstacle encountered by evolutionary theories
Georges Cavier
French paleontologist; Catastrophicism; still believed in fixity of the species
catastrophicism
changes in earth could be accounted by series of catastrophic events
Jean Baptiste Lamark
Suggested relationship between an organism and its environment; one of the first scientists to investigate evolution; theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics
Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics
an animal’s activity patterns ward change to accommodate the new circumstances; this would result in eventual modification of body parts; classical example is explaining why giraffes have long necks; thought that traits acquired by parents over lifetime could be passed down to offspring (clearly doesn’t happen, but still a significant contribution)
charles darwin
theory of evolution by natural selection; started as a medical practitioners; only published partial studies because of his wife’s religion and general controversy until Alfred Wallace showed up with very similar ideas
Alfred R Wallace
Independantly arrived at the theory of evolution by natural selection
Natural selection
genetic change(s)in frequencies of certain traits in populations due to differential reproductive success between individuals
Main Principles of Natural Selection
variation, inheritability, differential reproduction success
Main Principles of Natural Selection: variation
within a species, some are better adapted to their environment and others are less so
Main Principles of Natural Selection: inheritability
offspring inherit traits from their parents
Main Principles of Natural Selection: differential reproduction success
those better adapted to their environment are more likely to make offspring, and those offspring are more likely to have better adapted traits
Examples of principles of natural selection
peppered moths, galapogos finches, bacteria
paleoanthropology
the study of fossilized remains of human skeletons, focuses on humans/primates (the order to which humans belong)
Fossils
the preserved remains of a plant or animal that has been mineralized over time; silica or calcium carbonate replaces organic matter, needs right conditions, groundwater with high mineral content, lava, covered up right away and doesn’t decompose immediately, etc
Unaltered fossils
remains preserved without mineralization, ex: baby wooly mammoth frozen in ice, can be preserved by maintaining temperature or injecting them with resin, plastic, etc
Fossil locales
places where fossilized remains of once living organisms are found; Oldvvai Gorge, Tanzania is one of the most well known
Archaeological Sites
a place where evidence of past human activity is found
Heritage Property Act
Sask. legislation designed to protect arcaheological sites and other heritage resources; laws are a provincial responsibility; road construction, mining, etc cannot unnecessarily disrupt heritage resources; most of these development projects require a cultureal resources evaluation executed by a person in CRM (cultural resource management)
Site survey
the process of discovering the location of archaeological sites; aka site reconassaince
Pedestrian survey
field walking in straight lines (transects) looking for traces of artifacts and other archaeological materials; most common type of field survey; restrictive in that artifacts must be visible
Shovel testing
Often combined with pedestrian survey; dig 15 cm holes to see what is underground; sometimes use augers instead of shovels, but augers risk damaging artifacts
Aerial Photography/Satelite Imagery
Sometimes differences in land levels are too flattered to notice on the ground but can be seen in the air; Nazca lines are examples of geoglyphs are 100-200m long
Geophysical Techniques
Non invasive, doesn’t break ground surface, doesn’t show “snapshot” but suggests where irregularities
Electrical resistivity
measures differences in sediments’ etc electrical conductivity
Magnetic resistivity
uses a magnetometer to measure differences in relative magnetivity
Ground penetrating radar
uses pulse of electromagnetic radiation to produce maps of disrupted areas; commonly used for finding unmarked graces and building foundations etc
John Franklin’s ship
two ships trapped by King Williams Island, some remains have been found on island sicne, slide scan sonar were used to find ship in September 2014, location confirmation Inuit oral recounts of the ships
Excavation of sites
establish datum, area where artifacts are going to be searched for; create grid with detailed maps
Horizontal Excavation
achieved through grid system, used to expose large area over single point in time
Vertical Excavation
achieved through depth from certain datum point, used to expose a sequence of occupation
Stratigraphy
the study of how different layers of sediments and soils, artifacts and fossils are laid down in successive deposits or strata
the law of superposition
states that older layers at an archaeological sites are generally deeper/lower than more recent layers; frost, human interference, and animal burrows can disrupt this law; spatial context is crucial
Artifacts
portable objects made/altered by humans/human ancestors (ex: pottery, arrowheads)
Features
items made/altered by humans/human ancestors that cannot be moved (ex: building foundations, hearths, soil staining, stone circles)
ecofacts
organic materials associated with human activity, but not made by people (ex: food waste, butchered animal remains)
Site formation processes
environmental and cultural factors that affect how/where materials are deposited at an archaeological site or fossil locale
taphonomy
how materials become part of the paleontological/archaeological record, the study of the processes that affect organic remains after death
experimental archaeology
research that attempts to replicate ancient technologies and construction procedures to test hypotheses about past activities ( ex: clovis points)
Goerge Frison
Clovis points; could these Colvis technologies really be used to hurt mammoth? replicated colvis tools and used elephants to test them
analysis of skeletons: sex
certain physical characteristics, sexual dimorphism (ex: angles of pelvis), sex can be determined over 95% of the time
analysis of skeletons: age
bones (tooth eruption, epiphyseal fusion), diaphysis (shaft) and epiphyses (end caps) fuse together at relatively set time during teens
analysis of skeletons: goegraphic origin
stronium isotope analysis can reveal information about geographic origin and migration patterns (ex: similarities between east asians and north american aborigines)
analysis of skeletons: health
tuberculosis, severe fungal infections, cancer, etc leave traces on bones; evidence of malnutirition can be seen on teeth and bones (ex: wilson bonds, enamel hypoplasia, harris lines)
Indirect dating methods
age of fossil obtained by dating something directly associated with it; common method is to date the stratigraphic layers directly above and below the object
direct dating methods
apply the dating method directly to the object themselves
relative dating
reveals whether an object is younger or older than another
absolute (chromatic) dating
provides an actual date, plus or minus margin of error
stratigraphy
relative dating, law of superposition
seriation
relative dating, orders artifacts into series based on their similar attributes (ex: similar features in cars)
fluorine analysis
relative dating; used in bones and teeth; they will absorb chemicals from groundwater after being buried for a long time; restricted to specimen tests from the same site
radiometric decay
absolute dating; measure the rate at which radioactive isotopes disintegrate
potassium-argon / argon-argon dating
absolute dating; for argon 40 build up in volcanic rock, radioactive potassium’s half life of 1.25 billion; useful for measuring early homonid sites
radiocarbon dating
absolute dating; for organic materials up to 50 000 years old through carbon 14; 14 C has a half life of 5 730 years
accelerator mass spectometry
allows much smaller samples to be dated
dendrochronology
true dating method used to determine the age of wood samples by examining growth rings; has been used to asses the accuracy of radiocarbon dating
