Anth Exam 2

Question 1

What do we see at the end of Homo erectus that are signs of the beginnings of culture?

Answer 1

beginnings of shelter and use of fire

Question 2

Shanidar Neanderthals

Answer 2

Evidence of beginnings of behaviors similar to modern humans.

An arm bone had evidence of a healed amputation, showing that this person was being cared for by others.
Flower burials were evidence that those that passed were missed/ceremonial burials.

Question 3

Paleopathology

Answer 3

Study of disease in prehistoric populations based on analysis of skeletal remains and archaeological evidence.

Question 4

Things you can know from human remains:

Answer 4

Violence

Infections and Diseases

Diet issues

Tumors

Genetic Issues

Question 5

forensic anthropology

Answer 5

the application of anthropological science to answer legal questions, most commonly identification of human remains and what happened to them

Question 6

What are the big picture questions of archaeology?

Answer 6

origins of domestication
origins of complex civilization
peopling of the new world
archaeology and global politics

Question 7

archaeological site

Answer 7

concentration of material evidence of human activities

Question 8

Integrity of a site

Answer 8

refers to the absence or restricted disturbance of a site’s strati-graphic and material record

Question 9

Significance of a site

Answer 9

the determination of whether a potential site can expand, refine, or change established interpretation

Question 10

prehistoric archaeology

Answer 10

archaeology of the ancient past (pre-columbus)

Question 11

historical archaeology

Answer 11

archaeology of the more recent past (associate with textual sources/written records, roughly last 500 years in Europe)

Question 12

maritime archaeology

Answer 12

underwater archaeology

Question 13

old world archaeology

Answer 13

working in Europe, Asia, and Africa

Question 14

new world archaeology

Answer 14

working in the Americas

Question 15

Why do archaeologists dig?

Answer 15

sometimes determined by research
sometimes salvage (contract)

Question 16

What are the three principles of archaeological study?

Answer 16

excavation
analysis
interpretation

Question 17

relative dating

Answer 17

determining the relative order of past events, without necessarily determining their absolute age

Question 18

absolute dating

Answer 18

determining an age on a specified chronology; a fixed date

Question 19

How does culture change come about?

Answer 19

Invention of new ideas
Diffusion: movement of ideas
Migration: movement of people and with the people comes ideas

Question 20

Why did farming spread in the fertile crescent?

Answer 20

cradle of civilization
biodiversity and rich soils
wild precursors for wheat, barley, flax, lentils, etc
cow, sheep, pigs, and goats

Question 21

What are the five theories of domestication of animals?

Answer 21

Oasis Theory
Hilly Flanks
Demographic/ Population pressure
Reliability of food model
Feasting (social)

Question 22

Oasis theory

Answer 22

shift in environment led to congregation around water, symbiotic relationship between humans and animals

Question 23

Hilly Flanks theory

Answer 23

first theory really based on fieldwork

assumption of drive to domesticate

intimate familiarity with region and plants, result of specialized knowledge

Question 24

Demographic theory

Answer 24

Environmental change and sedentism compelled people to abandon hunter-gathering
postulate that the increase in human population is hampered by the carrying capacity of the natural environment in supplying food. With further increase in population, the food that the wild naturally supplies became too insignificant

Question 25

Reliability theory

Answer 25

developed agriculture not to increase yield but to make food more reliable

Question 26

Feasting theory

Answer 26

gifts and trade create social bonds
Those wishing to achieve rank and status in societies did so by throwing feasts that create lasting dependencies between themselves and other members of the community who are unable to reciprocate on the same scale
h/g would not have provided opportunities for this kind of social emulation, the adoption of cultivation did

Question 27

Why were animals domesticated?

Answer 27

hunting and protection
meat
labor
secondary products

Question 28

What were the characteristics desired in choosing animals to domesticate?

Answer 28

not too territorial
gregarious/curious
short inter-animal distances (tend to herd)
social

Question 29

How can archaeologists tell an animal bones at a site are that of a domesticated animal?

Answer 29

morphological selection
population make up
presence of new species

Question 30

What are the five problems of agriculture?

Answer 30

It is hard work
Ag diets aren't as balanced as h/g diets
Cultures more prone to death due to famine
Disease
Violence

Question 31

How do archaeologists decide a site is a city?

Answer 31

permanent architecture
storage facilities
new tool kits
social complexity

Question 32

Characteristics of Urbanism?

Answer 32

large and dense population

economic complexity and interdependence

bureaucracies

diversity of services

non-agricultural activities

monumental architecture and infrastructure

Question 33

ethnoarchaeology

Answer 33

ethnographic study of contemporary peoples for archaeological reason