Chapter. 1, 3 (P. 156-176), 5, 9, & 10 Flashcards
The study of the human past, combining the themes of time and change.
Archaeology
A company owned by archaeologist that contract with the government
Contact archaeology (CRM)
Broad in scope, concerned with all facets of human life
Holistic
Utilizes cross cultural examples to understand human condition
Comparative
Humankind
Anthropos
Study
Logos
Cultural, linguistics, archaeology, biological (physical), applied
Fields of anthropology
CLABA
Cultural, linguistics, archaeology, biological (physical), applied
The systematic description of a culture based on first-hand observation (or participant observation) Live with other people
Ethnography
Study of culture from a comparative or historical view point using ethnographic accounts Study people from all over the world
Ethnology
Studies (past) cultures through material remains (Without records)
Prehistoric
Studies cultures of the recent past by means of a combination of written records in archaeology excavations (With records)
Historic
the science that deals with the origins, physical and cultural development, biological characteristics, and social customs and beliefs of humankind.
Anthropology
As travel became easier, an interest began in collecting curiosities from around the world, and this included
Antiquarian Period
Scholars eventually became intrigued with more intimate knowledge about the people who created the world archaeology
Enlightenment Period
Two of the fathers of scientific archaeology from England both pioneered meticulous field methods
Pitt-rivers and William Flinders
The emphasis during this period was on description, which was a necessary base, organizing the materials they have recovered, especially in creating timelines and by regions
Enlightenment period
Radiocarbon dating
1950
Lewis Binford
The founder of explanatory (processal) archaeology
Lewis Binford Incorporated basic scientific theory structure into archaeology
Incorporation of the scientific method Hypothesis creation and testing Seeking explanations, the how and why of the past And to answer these new questions, we had to develop new techniques and technology
Archaeology has three traditional goals by which we understand the past
- Cultural history 2. Cultural reconstruction 3. cultural process
- Cultural history
Examines questions concerning when and where events took place in the past and who in the broadest sense was involved Establishes sequence of cultures in regions through time
- Cultural reconstruction
Examines functional questions of what happened in the past Reconstructs past lifeways
- cultural process
Examines questions concerning why events happened in the past and as they did (the how and why questions) Depends on solid cultural history (diachronic) and reconstruction (synchronic) data to proceed
Jorvik the Viking center
Built on the exact site of a huge archaeology dig. The York archaeological trust preserved the center in the city of Jorvik
Any object or item created or modified by human action
Artifact
And immovable structure or layer, pit, or post in the ground having archaeological significance
Feature
A geographically defined area containing a series of interrelated human communities sharing a single cultural-ecological system.
region
Any of the remains of plants, animals, settlements, or other unmodified materials that result from a human activity
Eco-fact
The association and relationships between archaeological objects that are in the same place
Context
The exposure and recording of buried materials from the past
Excavation
A systematic search of the landscape for artifacts and sights on the ground through aerial photography, field walking, soil analysis, and geophysical prospecting
Survey
Walking with a row of people down a field scanning the surrounding area for interesting objects
Surface survey
A technique used to estimate that antiquity of archaeological materials, generally based on association with materials of knowing age or simply to say that one item is younger or older than another
Relative dating
An absolute dating technique based on the principle of the decay of the radioactive isotope of carbon, used to date archaeological materials within the past 40,000 years
Radiocarbon dating
And absolute dating technique based on the principle of the K of the radioactive isotope of potassium, used to date materials ranging in age from 500,000 years old to the age of the oldest rocks in the universe. Also called ________________
potassium argon dating
The body of material and information that survives for archaeologist to study
Archaeological record
The buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute to the material remains of former societies
Material culture
is a spatial cluster of artifacts, ecofacts and features located together. Representing a place where people conducting activities
Site
For most of us this is in the archaeology of us unlike old world archaeology. At first it was even question whether this was the archaeology of Native Americans. And since it was the archaeology of the concord there was little incentive to prevent destruction of the USA’s archaeology
Uniqueness of American archaeology
Theoretical innovation and larger field of anthropology influences archaeology. Technology advances in USA as well
Uniqueness of American archaeology
Descriptive
Classificatory period
Explanatory
Processual Period
