Arachaeology

Question 1

What are the main kinds of matrixes

Answer 1

Extreme dry
Waterlogged
Extreme cold 
Bogs/marshes 
Heavy in preserving agents such as salt and tannin

Question 2

What does matter need to decompose

Answer 2

Water and oxygen (anaerobic environments)

Question 3

What is a grid system

Answer 3

An archaeological site is divided into grids then marked with string and numbered

Question 4

Stratigraphy

Answer 4

Layers in archaeological sites are excavated one at a time. These layers are called strata layers. The closer the the surface a layer is the more recent it is

Question 5

Crop marks

Answer 5

The landscape is photographed from the sky and crop marks indicate features beneath the soil

Question 6

Soil marks

Answer 6

Landscape is photographed faster ploughing and soil marks outline buried features

Question 7

Shadow marks

Answer 7

Landscape is photographed from the sky at sunset, dawn and when the sun is low. Low mounds cast shadows revealing features

Question 8

Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

Answer 8

Radar signal as an electromagnetic force is directed at the ground. A receiver records reflection of buried objects changes in soil composition and depth

Question 9

Resistivity survey

Answer 9

Resistivity meter passes electric current between metal posts in the ground. Measures soil resistance. High resistance indicates buried walls and low resistance indicates pits and ditches

Question 10

Magnetic survey

Answer 10

Protonmegnemeter detects magnetic properties of subsurface materials. High reading indicates iron burned soil and rock. Low reading indicates disturbed soil or decayed organic material

Question 11

destructive elements

Answer 11

Animals eg waste and by eating remains
Insects eat evidence and organic remains
Plants crack and destroy wood concrete plaster and stone
Warfare destroys environments habitats and looting
Tourism causes bus and car pollution camera flashes touching and thefts
Religious intolerance
Pollution and climate change
Poor archaeological methodology
Grave robbing and theft

Question 12

Ethics: should we display human remains?

Answer 12

Religious conflicts

Familial impacts

Question 13

Ethics: who owns the bone me or artefacts

Answer 13

Return to country of origin?
We bought it?
We found it?

Question 14

Ethics: should reconstruction and restoration occur?

Answer 14

What if your wrong
Different materials used
What should it look like without/with

Question 15

PEAT

Answer 15

Chronicle found in peat bogs called SPAGNAN that creates an anaerobic environment and tans bodies

Question 16

Borremose bodies: location

Answer 16

Borre Fen peat bog Himmerland Denmark

Question 17

Boremose bodies: preservation

Answer 17

5 degrees-cool
Low moisture and oxygen levels 
Big body-peat
Humic acid preserve soft tissue and is released when peat decomposes 
Anaerobic-few drainage areas

Question 18

Boromose bodies: discovery

Answer 18

3 bodies found from 1946-48

Question 19

Borromose bodies: causes of death

Answer 19

Man 1: strangulation with hemp rope or blow to back of the head
Women: blow to front of head. Is an unfaithful wife theory

Question 20

Borromose bodies: objects found with the Bodies

Answer 20

Man: noose around the neck. Birch sticks. 2 sheepskin coats. Woven cap
Body 2: cloak with 4 layers of twill fabric. Leather cord with amber bead around neck. Bones of an infant. Ceramic jar
Woman: woollen garment. Infant

Question 21

Relative dating

Answer 21

Information used to gain an approximate time period

Question 22

Stratigraphic dating

Answer 22

Relative dating by strata level

Question 23

Typology dating

Answer 23

Relative dating by examining style and technology levels

Question 24

3 age system for dating

Answer 24

Relative dating system where:
Palaeolithic or the Stone Age 2,000,000-10,000BC
Mesolithic or middle stone 10,000-9,000BC
Neolithic or new stone 9,000-5,000BC

Question 25

Absolute dating

Answer 25

Using scientific method to determine age of an object

Question 26

Radiocarbon dating

Answer 26

Using carbon to give an absolute date to living organisms up to 50,000 years
Not organic material has carbon and carbon has a half life of 5730 years

Question 27

Dendrology dating

Answer 27

Absolute dating possible as each year a tree ring forms you can count the rings to date wood
Note must know when the wood was cut down

Question 28

Thermoluminescence dating

Answer 28

Absolute dating where inorganic material is heated to 500degrees and light and energy level used to date object

Question 29

Potassium-argon dating or K-Ar dating

Answer 29

Dates volcanic rock back millions of years through radioactivity

Question 30

Uranium series dating

Answer 30

Absolute dating method where radioactivity is used to date rocks containing calcium carbonate up to 500,000 years
Nite these rocks often found in caves

Question 31

Fission track dating

Answer 31

Absolute dying system that determines the thermo age of artefacts containing uranium works up to 20-1,000 million years
Works on glass fired ceremics and stones used for boiling it the hearth

Question 32

What is a matrix?

Answer 32

The environment an artefact is found in