Chapter 2

Question 1

Archaeological Theory

Answer 1

ideas that archaeologist have developed about the past and about the ways we come to know the past

Question 2

How long have the written records been recognized by previous people?

Answer 2

2,600 years

Question 3

First clear evidence of the use of excavation to recover relics

Answer 3

1564 in the Renaissance Europe

Question 4

A major challenge

Answer 4

distinguishing between relics made by humans and those created by natural processes (arrowheads were thought by some to be a fossilized serpent tongue)

Question 5

Thunderstones

Answer 5

objects such as stone axes that Medieval people thought was formed in spots where lightning struck the earth

Question 6

Three Age system (Developed in the 1800s)`

Answer 6

cataloged artifacts into three periods (stone age, Bonze age, and Iron age) based in a material of manufacture (also examined designs found on objects to further catalog)

Question 7

Archaeology as a scientific study

Answer 7

emerged in the late 1800s and was closely linked to European imperialism and colonialism

Question 8

What caused scientists to ask just how far back the human timeline went?

Answer 8

Neanderthal skull in Germany (1857)

Darwin’s theory of evolution (1859)

Question 9

Neolithic (new stone age)

Answer 9

period of polished stone tool

Question 10

Paleolithic (old stone age)

Answer 10

a period when humans lived with now-extinct animals such as woolly mammoths

Question 11

Processual Archaeology (New Archaeology)

Answer 11

The 1960s and focused on strict adherence to the scientific method with a focus on hypothesis testing and deduction rather than induction

Question 12

Induction

Answer 12

recover items and makes conclusions (or inferences) about how past peoples live
- Find objects
- Make observations
-  Create a hypothesis
- Develop a Theory
ex.
found Maya artifacts
artifacts are adorned males
artifacts seemingly gods
Maya peoples are polytheistic (belief in more than one god)

Question 13

Deduction

Answer 13

developed general laws and theories about human societies and then use recovered items to test whether those laws or theories are true
- Develop a theory
- create hypothesis
- Make observation
- Confirm Hypothesis
ex.
Maya peoples are polytheistic
Multiple gods represented in the archaeological record
artifacts found that seem god-like
artifacts represent gods and thus, prove Maya peoples polytheistic

Question 14

Study of ancient societies

Answer 14

1940s archaeology began to move away from just recovery

Question 15

Systems theory

Answer 15

society viewed as an interconnected network (or system) of elements that operate at a steady rate
ex.
change from the barter system to capitalism

Question 16

Cultural Resource Management

Answer 16

changes in legislation increased public archaeology and need to protect heritage sites through the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
All major construction projects that receive federal funding must adhere to act and have archaeological

Question 17

Postprocessual Archaeology

Answer 17

seeks to offer interpretations of the past based on contextual data rather than test hypotheses (an emic approach)

Question 18

Etic approach

Answer 18

“outsider” view human society ar objective and observable from a detached status

Question 19

Emic approach

Answer 19

“insider” view of human culture and society that recognizes people attach meaning to their actions and culture

Question 20

Hermeneutics

Answer 20

theory of interpretation that calls for continually refining knowledge in an ongoing process of confronting preexisting knowledge with new information

Question 21

Feminist archaeology

Answer 21

an approach that focuses on the way archaeologists study and represents gender while bringing attention to gender inequities and bias in the practice of archaeology

Question 22

Agency Theory

Answer 22

recognizes that each human makes active choices and engages in purposeful actions that are shaped by structure, the social world and material conditions in which that live (an individual pottery-makers own design within the context of a particular cultural style)

Question 23

Evolutionary archaeology

Answer 23

a range of approaches that stress the importance of evolutionary theory as a unifying theory for archaeology

Question 24

Niche construction

Answer 24

way humans have shaped that globe ecosystem

Question 25

Anthropocene

Answer 25

period of rapid global dissemination of novel materials including aluminum, concrete, and plastics, as well as by-products of fossil fuel combustion (black carbon, ash, other pollutants)

Question 26

Indigenous archaeology

Answer 26

archaeological research conducted by, with and for indigenous peoples and descendants communities that center on indigenous worldviews, perspectives, and practices, while simultaneously challenging and critiquing past approaches in archaeology