Archaelogy Test 1 Flashcards
Define Culture
The complex that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, customs and other habits. -Tyler 1871
Holistic
Humans are more than sums of their part
Define Ethnocentrism
A form of racism
“One culture is superior than another one.”
Define Archaeology
The study of human history through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts or other physical remains.
Define Cultural Relativism
Different cultures need to be understood on their own terms.
Define Extreme Relativism
The saying “anything goes.”
Judging the moral or ethical of a group or person has no meaning at all.
Define Synchronic and Dachronic
Synchronic- one point in time
Dachronic- two or more points in time
Define Ecofacts
Not made by people but contributes to an understanding of a site. For example animal carcasses.
Define Assemblage
A group of artifacts found together.
Define Conceptual
Abstract questions or questions that are harder to grapple. For example measuring community.
Define Artifacts
Anything that was made or used by humans and is portable.
Define Taphonomy
What happens to the remains after something dies.
Define Copolite
Fossilized feces
Define Features and Regions and Sites
Features: a non portable artifact
Regions: archaeological regions
Sites: Spatial clusters of artifacts and features
Stenos laws/ principals of stratigraphy
Stratigraphy: look at layers of rocks and how they form.
Law of superposition
L of original horizontality
L of Cross- cutting
L of lateral continuity
Define Uniformitarianism
Natural laws have always operated and apply everywhere.
Unilinear Evolutionary Model
C.J. Thomsens age system
Stone-bronze-Iron
Savagery-Barbarism-civilization
Define Historical Particularism
Approach to understanding culture and cultural changes of a specific populations of people.
What is Direct historical approach?
Extrapolating backwards into the past from a known historical period by studying a site with known historical occupations and then excavating it to establish prehistoric activity.
What is the scientific method?
Empiracle method of acquiring knowledge, involves careful observation, skepticism, and the use of testing and experimentation.
Define EthnoArchaeology
The use of sociocultural and archaeological research methods to determine how archaeological sites are created by people.
Define Behavioral archaelogy
Expands upon the archaeology in regards to human behavior.
How are Sites formed?
Humans leave traces and alter the environment
Humans abandon or discard tools
Reconstructing past past environments
Primarily based on modern environments
Define Site catchment analysis
Look at the environment
Study the animals and vegetation.
Paleoecological Data
Soils, sediments and ice cores
Ecofacts. Pack rat middens.
Different data sources, different limitations , small animals are more susceptible to environmental change.
Define Sampling
A way to explicitly take a portion of the whole available data for study.
Unethical to take everything as well as other economic reasons.
Only need about 10-15 mg
What is the conservation method?
Don’t dig if you don’t have to.
Very small scale 1cm
Define Reconnaissance
The scouting of an area.
What is Pedestrian Survey?
Walking on foot and looking for sites or areas.
What is site mapping?
Surface collection?
Mapping a site so that you can find it again.
Surface collection-collecting sample of artifacts from the surface
Define Excavation
Means by which archaeologists collect data.
Many arguments against excavation.
Context and Association are important!
Crappy data = crappy interpretations
Differentiate Context and Association
Context is the broader environment.
Association is how the items are connected.
Describe the scientific method and identify the ways that it differs from pseudoscience. How have racism and ethnocentrism influenced archaeological research and interpretations?
How is sampling important to archaeology? Why don’t archaeologists collect and analyze everything?
Explain what context and association are and why they are so important to archaeology. How do archaeologists preserve information related to the context and association of artifacts/ecofacts and features?
Past cultures must be understood within the context of their wider environments. How do archaeologists reconstruct these aspects of the past?
