Chapter 2: The Variety of the Evidence Flashcards
artifact
any portable object used, made, or modified by humans
e.g., stone tools, pottery, and metal weapons
ecofacts
non-artifactual* organic and environmental remains which have cultural relevance
e.g., faunal and floral materials, soils and sediments
*textbook considers them not artifacts; prof considers them a type of artifact
feature
non-portable artifact
e.g., hearths, architectural elements, soil stains
tell
Near Eastern word for a mound site formed by human occupation over a very long time
regions
large geographic areas, containing archaeological sites, defined by physical or ideational features
matrix
physical material containing or supporting artifacts
e.g., sediment
provenience
- place of origin/(earliest) known history of something
- horizontal and vertical position of an artifact, ecofact, or feature within a matrix
primary context
original position of deposition or discard of an object
secondary context
location of archaeological material that has been moved from its primary context by subsequent human activity/natural phenomena
experimental archaeology
reconstructing past behavioral/archaeological processes through scientific experiment
e.g., trying to fell a tree with different axes to see which they used
hoards
assemblage of valuables that were deliberately buried (e.g., during a time of conflict) and have not been reclaimed
religion
framework of beliefs relating to supernatural or superhuman beings or forces that transcend the everyday material world
electrolysis
Standard cleaning process in archaeological conservation.
1. Artifacts are placed in a chemical solution.
2. A weak current passes between them and the surrounding metal grill.
3. This causes the corrosive salts to move from the cathode (object) to the anode (grill), removing any accumulated deposit and cleaning the artifact.
taphonomy
study of processes that have affected organic materials (e.g., bone) after death; also involves microscopic analysis of toothmarks or cutmarks to asses the effects of butchery or scavenging
australopithecines
earliest hominins ca. 4.5 million ya in East Africa
includes Australopithicus and Paranthropus
systemic context
behavioral system in which artifacts are part of the ongoing process of manufacture, use, reuse, and discard
archaeological sites
locations showing significant traces of human activity (artifacts + features)
context
an artifact’s matrix, provenience, and association with other nearby artifacts
association
how an artifact is associated with other nearby artifacts
formation processes
processes affecting the burial and survival of archaeological materials
cultural formation processes
formation processes that are human in origin
e.g., a farmer plowing a field over an archaeological site
Which survives better, inorganic or organic materials? Why?
inorganic
Organic materials decay in all but extreme conditions.
The survival of organic materials depends on which two factors?
- the matrix
- the climate
What environment is most destructive to organic materials?
tropical climates with acidic soils
What environment(s) best preserve(s) organic materials?
- dry, desert
- extremely cold
- waterlogged
List six types of artifacts.
- lithics (stone artifacts)
- ceramics
- metals
- ecofacts
- jewelry/adornments
- organics
stratigraphy
the study and validation of stratification
stratification = analysis of how sediment strata got deposited over time
assemblage
group of artifacts recurring together from a time and place, representing the sum of human activities
natural formation processes
formation processes stemming from nature
e.g., erosion
