Ch. 2 - The Structure Of Archaeological Inquiry Flashcards
Anthropology
The study of all aspects of human kind - biological, cultural, and linguistic; extant and extinct - employing a holistic, comparative approach and the concept of culture.
Biological anthropology
A subdiscipline of anthropology that views humans as biological organisms; also known as physical anthropology.
Cultural anthropology
A subdiscipline of anthropology that emphasizes nonbiological aspects: the learned social, linguistic, technological, and familial behaviors of humans.
Linguistic anthropology
A subdiscipline of anthropology that focuses on human language: it’s diversity in grammar, syntax, and lexicon; it’s historical development; and its relation to a culture’s perception of the world.
Archaeology
The study of the past through the systematic recovery and analysis of material remains.
Culture
An integrated system of beliefs, traditions, and customs that govern or influence a person’s behavior. Culture is learned, shared by members of a group, and based on the ability to think in terms if symbols.
Ideational perspective
The research perspective that defines ideas, symbols, and mental structures as driving forces in shaping human behavior.
Adaptive perspective
A research perspective that emphasizes technology, ecology, demography, and economics in the definition of human behavior.
Science
The search for universals by means of established scientific method of inquiry.
Scientific method
Accepted principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of secure knowledge. 6 steps.
Hypothesis
A proposition proposed as an explanation of some phenomenon.
Inductive reasoning
Working from specific observations to more general hypotheses.
Deductive reasoning
Reasoning from theory to account for specific observational or experimental results.
Testability
The degree to which one’s observations and experiments can be reproduced.
Theory
An explanation for observed, empirical phenomena. It seeks to explain the relationship between variables. Answers the “why” question.
Low-level theory
The observations and interpretations that emerge from hands-on archaeological field and lab work.
Data
Relevant observations made on objects that serve as the basis for study and discussion.
Rockshelter
A common type of archaeological site, consisting of a rock overhang that is deep enough to provide shelter but not deep enough to be called a cave.
Ecofact
Plant or animal remains found at an archaeological site.
Feature
The non-portable evidence of technology, such as fire hearths, architectural elements, artifact clusters, garbage pits, and soil stains.
Middle-level theory
Hypothesis that links archaeological observations with the human behavior or natural processes that produce them.
High-level theory
Theory that seeks to answer the large “why” questions.
Paradigm
The overarching framework, often unstated, for understanding a research problem. It is a researcher’s “culture.”
Processual paradigm
The paradigm that explains social, economic, and cultural change as primarily the result of adaptation to material conditions. External conditions are assumed to take causal priority over ideational factors in explaining change.
General systems theory
An effort to describe the properties by which all systems, including human societies, allegedly operate. Popular in processual archaeology of the late 1960s and 70s.
Processual paradigm
A paradigm that focuses on humanistic approaches and rejects scientific objectivity. It sees archaeology as inherently political and is more concerned with interpreting the past than with testing hypotheses. It sees change as arising largely from interactions between individuals operating within a symbolic and/or competitive system.
Deconstruction
Efforts to expose the assumptions behind the allegedly objective and systematic search for knowledge
Stelae
Stone monuments erected by Maya rulers to record their history in rich images and hieroglyphic symbols. These symbols can be read and dated.
