Archaeological Materials Flashcards
What is paleoethnbobotany?
The study of ancient plant remains
What is palynology?
The analysis of plant pollen and spores
What is phytoliths?
Plant stones or microscopic plant opals
What are coprolites
Green word kopros for “dung” and lithikos “store”
What is anthropophagy?
Cannabalism
What does lithium analysis means?
The art of making and studying stone tools
What are oldowan core tools
Mode I: purposefully stone tools
Homo habilis
Handy man (species was thought to be the first maker of stone tools)
Monkey
So when is a rock an artifact?
When it is clearly a shape that could form naturally
Stages of reduction
Primary reduction: remove large flakes or chunks and will contain parts of the original exterior called cortex
Secondary reduction: reduced to a smaller size and switching to a softer material like deer antler or hard wood which gives the flint knapper greater control
Teritiary reduction: someone would create the final morphology of an object as well as sharpen and objects edges (finishing flakes)
Notching sometimes happens
What are other things you can learn from bonez?
• Season of occupation
• Environmental
reconstruction/change
• Food choice/taboo
• Domestication?
• Communal hunting
• Hunting vs. Scavenging
• Dietary stress (human & animal)
• Trade/Exchange
Identifying bones
- Elements
- Taxon
- Size classes
Need comparative collections
• Number of identified specimens
(NISP)-how many bone fragments
Ex: 30 tibia 3 NISP
• Minimum number of individuals (MNI)-minimum possible of actual animals that are buried or humans
Ex:
• Differential preservation
What does an archaeobiologist do?
Study the ancient times through archaeological materials (skeletal remains)
From..
Flakes to cores and blades
