Archaeology & History Flashcards
What is prehistory?
the period of time before writing was used.
What is archaeology
the study of the remains left by people in the past
What is an archaeologist?
They investigate objects and places left behind by people in the past.
What is a source?
Anything that gives us information about something from the past.
What is cross-checking?
check using different sources or a different method
What is an archive?
A place that catalogues and stores a collection of sources.
What is being biased?
When an account is unbalanced or unfair
What is exaggeration?
When something is represented better or worse than it actually was
What is propaganda?
Information that has been designed to influence the attitudes of the general public
What is an excavation?
When archaeologists dig up the ground to find evidence left by people in the past.
How do archaeologists know where to excavate?
- Ruins of an old building or structure
- An aerial photograph showing something unusual or ripples/hills in the ground
- A map or document that might lead archaeologists to a site
- Geophysics (an x-ray of the ground)
- Something might be found by accident
- Rescue archaeology
How is evidence preserved?
- peat bogs preserve extremely well
- if someone or something is buried in an airtight or sealed coffin
- if its somewhere very hot and dry
What is a test trench?
a sample hole dug to see if anything of interest id there. Also used to see if its worth excavating the whole site.
What are 6 methods that are used in archaeology to date how old something is?
- Radio-carbon dating(carbon-14 dating)
- Geophysical survey
- Pollen analysis
- Stratigraphy
- Dendrochronology
- DNA testing
Explain radio-carbon dating
They test how old something is by seeing how much carbon-14 is in them, how little carbon can tell us how old this thing is
