9 and 10

Question 1

relative dating

Answer 1

Relative dating refers to
making chronological
sequences without
recourse to a fixed time
scale

Question 2

Absolute dating

Answer 2

Absolute dating refers to
determining age with
reference to a specific
time scale.

Question 3

Dating conventions

Answer 3

BC / AD = “before Christ” and “anno domini”

BCE / CE = “before the Common (Current) Era” and Common Era

BP = before present (the “present” is always 1950)

ka (or kya) = “kilo annum” = thousand years

bc (or bp) = uncalibrated radiocarbon dates

cal BC, cal AD, cal BP = calibrated radiocarbon dates

Question 4

Terminus post quem

Answer 4

Terminus post quem refers to the date after which an artifact or
feature must have been deposited

Question 5

Terminus ante quem

Answer 5

Terminus ante quem refers to the date before which an artifact
or feature must have been deposited
X 1
Mount St. Helen’s 1980

Question 6

ways in which archaeologists can determine
relative dates for artifacts, sites and cultures.

Answer 6

1. stratigraphy – the Law of Superposition = in general, deposits
   physically on top of a section are the youngest and those at the
   bottom are oldest.
2. seriation – styles change through time
3. Environmental sequences- changes in the climate through time

Question 7

Seriation

Answer 7

Seriation is a technique of relative ordering of artifacts,
occupational layers or sites based on the idea that styles
change through time.

Question 8

Stylistic seriation

Answer 8

Stylistic seriation is ordering according to similarity in
style
* not all archaeological material can be easily
ordered

Question 9

Frequency seriation

Answer 9

Frequency seriation is the
ordering of archaeological
sites, layers within a site or
materials based on the
frequency of the artifacts
preserved in different time
periods.

Question 10

Environmental sequences

Answer 10

Environmental sequences are created based on changes in the
Earths climate over time