Arch. Final Section I Flashcards
exposure of remains via controlled digging
excavation
what is the goal of control in excavation?
to reconstruct everything and see how they fit together in space
what does excavation tell us? (2) (HW)
1) how are sites created?
2) what are they composed of?
layers represent activities and deposit (cultural and natural) from different time periods
STRATA
sequence of strata built up in layers
stratigraphy
in an undisturbed stratigraphic sequence each layer (strata) is younger than the layer beneath
law of superposition
problems with the law of superposition (2) (WM)
1) wall can be built on top of older strata
2) making sense of what you’re digging during excavation is most challenging
types of controlled excavation
1) grids (horizontal)
2) datum points (vertical)
what do horizontal excavation rep?
activities at any point in time
what does vertical excavations rep?
a single fixed point that all depth points are taken from (how the site has changed)
goals of excavation
1) identify strata
2) recover remains
3) reconstruct horizontal (same) and vertical (through time) relationships
excavation techniques
1) digging (axes, trowels, picks)
2) brushing
3) screening- put dirt through screens and find artifacts
4) flotation (stones will sink and bones and artifacts will float)
excavation strategies
1) horizontal excavation (remains from the same period)
2) vertical excavation (remains from successive time periods)
excavated materials (3)
1) artifacts
2) features
3) ecofacts
evidence of human manufacture
artifacts
non-portable cultural items (buildings, monuments, burials)
features
remains of biological organisms (human bones, animals, seeds, wood)
ecofacts
what type of material is a mammoth foot bone that is craved into a flute and why?
an artifact because it was modified
documentation techinques (4) (NPDD)
1) notes and forms
2) photographs
3) drawing and maps
4) digitization
what is the goal of documentation?
rconstruction of remains in context
the significance of remains interpreted based on where they were deposited (provenience) and what they were deposited with (association)
context
chronology based on stratragraphic sequences. not sure of the actual date.
relative dating
relative frequencies through time
seriation
dating contexts and artifacts in calendar years via scientific tests
absolute chronology
what type of dating technique is radio carbon dating?
absolute
what does radiocarbon dating measure?
how long it has been since something organic died (must have once been alive)
measurement of the rate of decay of the radioactive (unstable) carbon isotope C14 from dead plant/animal remains
radioactive carbon dating
when someone dies do they continue to take in C14?
no but it continues in body until its decayed
how long does all the decay take to leave the body?
40,000 years
what does the three age system consist of?
stone age, bronze and iron age
what was the three age system rooted in and what was its focus?
rooted in technology and focused on artifacts
who is associated with the three age system?
Christian Jurgensen Thompsen 1816
characteristics of culture history (4) (CDDM)
1) classifies “culture areas”
2) development over time
3) descriptive
4) material culture (pots=people)
geographic location with lots of remains
culture areas
characteristics of V. Gordon Childe
1) neolithic revolution
2) urban revolution
settled life and beginnings of agriculture
neolithic revolution
cities and complex gov’t
urban revolution
what else was proccesualism also known as?
“The New Archaeology”
who was part of processualism?
American Graduate students (1970) that rejected descriptive approach of culture historians
what was archeology seen as in processualism?
archaeology as science
how was processualism tested?
1) hypothesis testing
2) scientific method
what did Lewis Binford do?
search for universal laws and processes
what does culture represent according to Lewis Binford?
adaption to the environment
what type of approach did Binford take?
Etic
objectiv , outsiders view of culture
etic
when did post processualism occur?
1980s-1990s
charactersitics of post-processualism? (3) (BAP)
1) backlash against processualism (culture history)
2) archaeological excavation not replicable
3) positivism too objective
what approach does arcchaeology take in post processualism?
more like history than science (remains in text)
prespective “the insiders view” of their own culture
Emic
types of hominin species
1) sahelanthropus tchadensis
2) australopithecus
3) homo habilis & homo erectus
4) homo naledi
what was the earliest hominin?
sahelanthropus tchandensis
when and where was sahelanthropus tchandensis from?
7 mya, chad
what was a sahelanthropus tchadensis like?
mixed ape-like human
how was a sahelanthropus tchadensis like an ape?(2) (CL)
1) cranium 350cc
2) long arms=aboreal
how was the sahelanthropus tchadensis like a human? (2) (JA)
1) jaw, small canines
2) angled femur= bipedialism
characteristics of Australopithecus (5) (E364R)
1) East and south Africa
2) 3.5 MYA
3) 6 species
4) 450-475cc
5) robust (big bony mohawk, muscles gracile, taller leaner)
examples of australopithcus (2) (LL)
1) Lucy
2) Laetoli
Lucy (5) (H6F3E)
1) Hadar, Ethiopia
2) 60% complete
3) fully bipedal
4) 3.3 tall, female
5) example of Australopithicus
Laetoli (4) (ET3S)
1) example of Australopithicus
2) Tanzania
3) 3.8 mya
4) side-by-side footprints (volcanic erruption) (bipedal)
what is the earliest form of the Genus Homo
Homo Habilis
characeristics of homo habilis (4) (E2MB)
1) east and south Africa
2) 2.5-1.6 mya
3) more gracile
4) Brain: 500-800cc
what was the first Genus Homo outside of Africa?
Homo Erectus
characteristics of Homo Erectus
1) Africa, Asia, Europe
2) 1.9 MYA-45,000 ya
3) Brain 750-1250cc
newly discovered hominin. first fossils of this species ever discovered. a mosaic of species
homo naledi
what were homo naledi’s teeth similar to?
humans but not all of them
what were homo naledi’s feet most like?
humans but not the upper leg
what were homo naledi’s hands similar to?
human but not finger tips
what did homo naledi look most like?
more like homo erectus than austrolopithecus
why weren’t they able to date the remains of homo naledi?
because they were found in loolse soil
what physcial changes were associated with hominin evolution?
large brains and bipedalism
cranial capacity of hominins (3) (LEM)
1) larger, rounder brain case
2) earliest homs: 350cc
3) modern homs: 1300-1400 cc
shrinking jaw characteristics of hominins
1) smaller canine and molar size
2) less prognatism
why did homins have a smaller jaw?
because the brains were larger which allowed them to make tools rather than use their teeth, therefore teeth get smaller
characteristics of bipedalism of hominins (5) (WCFAI)
1) walking upright
2) curved lumbar
3) foreshadowed pelvis
4) angled femur/fully extenedable lower limbs
5) inflexible ankles
where were homins found?
Africa
what was the earliest type of tools?
Oldowan Industry (core tools)
characteristics of Archeulian industry (4) (1BHF)
1) 1.7mya-200,000 ya
2) bifacial handaxes
3) homoerectus
4) flake tool
three theories of spread of hominins out of Africa
1) “Out of Africa”
2) “multiregionalism”
3) hyrbridization
theory that neanderthals and homo sapiens evolve separatly from homo erectus; neanderthals in Europe and homo sapiens in Africa (replacement) (no inner breeding) (we either killed them or out smarted them)
“out of Africa”
theory that neanderthals and homo sapiens both evolve from 1st migration of homo erectus. Gene flow. both contribute to modern human genome
“multiregionalism”
theory that is the same as “out of Africa” but instead of replacement, interbreeding
Hybridization
which theory of hominins migrating out of Africa is today’s theory?
hybridization
what were neanderthals physical attributes for language ability? (3) (HHP)
1) Hyoid bone (connects tongue and larynx)
2) hypoglossal canal and nerve (controls movement of tongue)
3) FoxP2= speech articulation gene (DNA)
when did the Upper Paleolithic period occur?
40,000-11,000 ya (ice age)
what occured during the Upper Paleolithic period?
Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa (after appearance of H. Sapiens approx 200,000 ya in Africa)
3 major time period of the Upper Paleolithic period
1) Aurignacian
2) Gravettian (solutrean)
3) Magdalenian
what was the upper paleolithic periods based on?
stone tool technologies
when did the Aurignacian period take place (upper paleolithic)
40,000-26,000 ya
who existed during the Augnacian period?
Neanderthals and homo sapiens co-exist (homo sapiens migrate from Africa and encounter neanderthals)
how long ago did homo sapiens arrive during the Aurignacian period?
36,000ya
characteristics of homo sapiens during the Aurignacian period? (3) (NDS)
1) nomadic; hunter gatherers
2) diverse toolkit (stone and bone points and bladelets)
3) symbolism and art
what did homo sapien jewelry consist of?
beads (animal teeth, ivory and shell)
what was evidence for shoes during the aurignacian period
toe bone evidence 30,000 ya (weaker toe bones=supportive footwear)
types of mobiliary art during the Aurignacnian period (3) (LVM)
1) lion-man
2) “venus figure”
3) musical instrument (bone flute)
when were neanderthals present since during the Aurignacian period?
200,000 ya
characteristics of neanderthals during the Aurignaccian period?
1) nomadic; big game hunters
2) simple tool kit
3) limited symbolism and art (burials and imitative jewelry)
what type of tools were used by neanderthals during the Aurignancian period?
Mousterian (retouched flakes)
when were the last neanderthals seen during the Aurignancian period?
30,000 ya (survived 140,000 then vanish in 6000)
when did the Gravettian period occur?
26,000-23,000 ya
who existed during the Gravettian period?
homo sapiens only
characteristics of the Gravettian period (4) (tVFN)
1) tools=increased hunting
2) venus figurines and cave art
3) formal burials
4) nomadic camps
tools during the Gravettian period
1) hunting points with hafting
2 )burins= working hides
3) bow and arrow
4) atlatl
characteristics of venus figurines during the gravettian period
1) stone, bone, ivory, clay
2) small (4-25cm high)
3) cultural ideas about “gender” (idealized not realistic)
what was the meanings of venus figurines in the gravettian period?
1) erotica
2) self-portraits
3) great goddess/fertility cult
4) marriage exchanges/regional groups
when did the solutrean period occur?
23,000-20,000 ya
charactertistics of solutrean period?
1) regional developments
2) solutrean points
when di the magdalenian period occur?
20,000-11,000 ya
characteristics of the magdaelenian (2) (LI)
1) last ice age advance
2) intensification of previous trends
tools of the magdalenian period
1) harpoons (fish enter diets)
2) variety= less chance of starvation
what does the law of superposition state that in an undistrubred stratigraphic sequence each layer should be than the layer beneath it?
younger
emphasizes the similarities between history and archaeology and suggests archeologists take an emic approach to understanding culture
post processualism
Proposed by V. Gordon Childe, the Neolithic revolution is a key moment of change in human prehistory, what is it characterized by?
the first time humans begin to domesticate platns and animals and settle into villages
what species of hominin was the first to bury their dead?
neanderthals
what did the new tools during the Gravetian period in Europe include?
the bow and arrow and atlatl, which reflect an increased emphasis on hunting
what is the purpose of survey?
to identify and map the physical remains of past human activity
artifacts and feature are both created by intentional human action. what is different about features?
they are non-portable
what are the physical differences of Neanderthals and homo sapiens a result of?
the Neanderthals adaption to the harsh, cold climate of Ice Age Europe
what activities impact the preservation of achaeological remains? (3) (FLS)
1) farming
2) looting
3) soil coniditions
why is excavation have advantages over survey?
excavation allows for recovery of a wide variety of artifacts, features and ecofacts
what is the most important purpose of excavation?
to reconstruct horizontal and vertical relationships and recover remains in context
groups the artifacts based on shared attributes, such as color , shape and materials
typology
charactertistics of the three age system(3) (DDO)
1) developed to explain large-scale changes in technology over the course of human prehistory
2) divided into stone, bronze and iron ages
3) one of the first archaeological theories used to understand change in the past
Due to Hominins upright walking what changes were seen?
curved lumbar and shorter wider pelvis
why is the site of Laetoli important to our understanding of hominin evolution?
because it contained fossilized austrolopithicine foot prints, demonstrating they walked fully upright
What is the best evidence that hyrbridization occured?
DNA showing that neanderthal genes survive in modern homo sapien population, proving we interbred
what are the major physical differences between neanderthals and homo sapiens?(3) (BBM)
1) body size and height
2) brain size
3) muscularture and strength
what occured during the Auragnacian period in the Upper paleolithic? (2) (CT)
1) co-existence of neanderthals and homo sapiens
2) the appearance of symbolic behavior and art
what provided evidence for the emergence of abstract thought and symbolism among homo sapiens during the Upper Paleolithic? (3) (PLP)
1) the production and use of jewelry
2) the Lion man artifact
3) production of cave art
hunting and burial characteristics of neanderthals
1) they buried their dead
2) engaged in cooperative hunting to bring down big game
where were the earliest known cave painting in Europe found?
Chauvet
