Archaeology Final

Question 1

Domestication

Answer 1

Biological process that changes the genetic makeup and morphology of a plant or animal, resulting in a new species
o The isolation of the domesticated species from their wild relatives is a result of human intervention, whether intentional or unintentional

Question 2

Cultivation

Answer 2

The act of intentionally propagating, raising or harvesting a plant or plant parts (may be a precursor to domestication)

Question 3

Herding

Answer 3

The act of intentionally gathering, keeping, tending, or placing animals together

Question 4

State

Answer 4

Society distinguished for scale and centralization; supra-kin organization

Question 5

Civilization

Answer 5

Refers to a state society or a regional tradition composed of multiple states
o Entrenched with a value judgement

Question 6

Childe’s 10 Characteristics of a city within a state or civilization

Answer 6

Large, dense population
Craft specialization
Food surplus
Central administration
Social stratification
Monumental architecture
Monumental/sophisticated art
Long-distance trade
Writing
Development of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy

Question 7

Origins of the State

Answer 7

Occurred independently in various regions around the world during the later Holocene
Was a gradual process
First states appear in Mesopotamia in the Middle East
Probably not due to one, single cause
May have occurred for different reasons in different parts of the world

Question 8

Writing

Answer 8

Any system for symbolizing a language
Occurred independently in various regions around the world
First evidence is found in Mesopotamia and Egypt

Question 9

Bullae

Answer 9

3500 BC - Hollow clay balls used to hold tokens
Impressed with the tokens on the outside > allows for verification of the contents
Sometimes sealed with a cylinder seal

Question 10

Cylinder seal

Answer 10

A cylinder incised with a design, scene, and/or inscription which would stamp the wet clay; denotes ownership and legalizes documents

Question 11

Cuneiform

Answer 11

3100 BC - Writing system in which standardized symbols were impressed in wet clay
Invented by the Sumerians (civilization) in present-day

Question 12

Logograms

Answer 12

Pictures of words with a sound close to that desired

Question 13

Hieroglyphs

Answer 13

3100 BC - Writing system in which pictographs are used to convey a sound, object, or idea

Question 14

Oracle Bones

Answer 14

1200 BC - Bones used in divination ceremonies
Made of ox and water buffalo scapulae or tortoise shells
Bones were smoothed, cleaned, potentially softened, hollowed on the underside then the priest would apply a heated metal point to the bone, causing it to crack
Priests interpret cracks in the bone as messages from the ancestors
Inscriptions of characters record the question asked, the message received, and/or the name of the diviner
Many characters have still not been translated

Question 15

Codices

Answer 15

Handwritten documents of painted glyphs on bark paper or animal skins

Question 16

Unilinear cultural evolution

Answer 16

Theory that all cultures pass through the same sequence of evolutionary stages

Question 17

Ethnocentric

Answer 17

Viewing other cultures based on the standards of one’s own culture; the idea that one’s own culture is superior

Question 18

Eurocentric

Answer 18

Viewing other cultures based on Western values

Question 19

Trilithons

Answer 19

Three stones together, two upright, and the third is a lintel

Question 20

Ritual

Answer 20

A succession of discrete behaviours that must be performed in a particular order under particular circumstances

Question 21

Religion

Answer 21

Institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; beliefs relate to forces that transcend the material world