Ch. 2 - The Structure Of Archaeological Inquiry

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Biological anthropology

Answer 2

A subdiscipline of anthropology that views humans as biological organisms; also known as physical anthropology.

Question 3

Cultural anthropology

Answer 3

A subdiscipline of anthropology that emphasizes nonbiological aspects: the learned social, linguistic, technological, and familial behaviors of humans.

Question 4

Linguistic anthropology

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Archaeology

Answer 5

The study of the past through the systematic recovery and analysis of material remains.

Question 6

Culture

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Ideational perspective

Answer 7

The research perspective that defines ideas, symbols, and mental structures as driving forces in shaping human behavior.

Question 8

Adaptive perspective

Answer 8

A research perspective that emphasizes technology, ecology, demography, and economics in the definition of human behavior.

Question 9

Science

Answer 9

The search for universals by means of established scientific method of inquiry.

Question 10

Scientific method

Answer 10

Accepted principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of secure knowledge. 6 steps.

Question 11

Hypothesis

Answer 11

A proposition proposed as an explanation of some phenomenon.

Question 12

Inductive reasoning

Answer 12

Working from specific observations to more general hypotheses.

Question 13

Deductive reasoning

Answer 13

Reasoning from theory to account for specific observational or experimental results.

Question 14

Testability

Answer 14

The degree to which one’s observations and experiments can be reproduced.

Question 15

Theory

Answer 15

An explanation for observed, empirical phenomena. It seeks to explain the relationship between variables. Answers the “why” question.

Question 16

Low-level theory

Answer 16

The observations and interpretations that emerge from hands-on archaeological field and lab work.

Question 17

Data

Answer 17

Relevant observations made on objects that serve as the basis for study and discussion.

Question 18

Rockshelter

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Ecofact

Answer 19

Plant or animal remains found at an archaeological site.

Question 20

Feature

Answer 20

The non-portable evidence of technology, such as fire hearths, architectural elements, artifact clusters, garbage pits, and soil stains.

Question 21

Middle-level theory

Answer 21

Hypothesis that links archaeological observations with the human behavior or natural processes that produce them.

Question 22

High-level theory

Answer 22

Theory that seeks to answer the large “why” questions.

Question 23

Paradigm

Answer 23

The overarching framework, often unstated, for understanding a research problem. It is a researcher’s “culture.”

Question 24

Processual paradigm

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

General systems theory

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

Processual paradigm

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Deconstruction

Answer 27

Efforts to expose the assumptions behind the allegedly objective and systematic search for knowledge

Question 28

Stelae

Answer 28

Stone monuments erected by Maya rulers to record their history in rich images and hieroglyphic symbols. These symbols can be read and dated.