Chapter 4

Question 1

provenience

Answer 1

an artifact’s location relative to a system of spatial data collection

Question 2

Pleitocene

Answer 2

a geologic period from 2 million to 10,000 years ago, which was characterized by multiple periods of extensive glaciation

Question 3

in situ

Answer 3

from Latin, meaning “in position”; the place where an artifact, ecofact, or feature was found during excavation or survey

Question 4

test excavation

Answer 4

a small initial excavation to determine a site’s potential for answering a research question

Question 5

datum point

Answer 5

the zero point, a fixed reference used to keep control on a dig usually controls both the vertical and horizontal dimensions of provenience

Question 6

natural level

Answer 6

a vertical subdivision of an excavation square that is based on natural breaks in the sediments (in terms of color; grain size, texture, hardness, or other characteristics)

Question 7

arbitrary level

Answer 7

the basic vertical subdivision of an excavation square; used only when easily recognizable “natural” strata are lacking and when natural strata are more than 10 centimeters thick

Question 8

strata (singular: stratum)

Answer 8

more or less homogeneous or gradational material, visually separable from other levels by a discrete change in character of the material–texture, compactness, color, rock, organic content–and/or by sharp break in nature of deposition

Question 9

living floor

Answer 9

a distinct buried surface on which people lived

Question 10

total station

Answer 10

a device that uses a beam of light bounced off a prism to determine an artifact’s provenience; it is accurate to +_ 3 centimeters

Question 11

water screening

Answer 11

a sieving process in which deposit is placed on a screen and the matrix washed away with hoses; essential where artifacts are expected to be small and/or difficult to find without washing

Question 12

matrix sorting

Answer 12

the hand sorting of processed bulk soil samples for minute artifacts and ecofacts

Question 13

flotation

Answer 13

the used of fluid suspension to recover tiny burned plant remains and bone fragments from archaeological sites

Question 14

Principles of Archaeological Excavation

Answer 14

Record artifact context by recording provenience in detail
Structure excavation methods to level of preservation
Follow natural stratigraphy wherever possible; used arbitrary levels only where necessary
Excavate in the smallest practical horizontal and vertical units to maintain provenience of artifacts not found in situ
Utilize sieving, water screening, and sediment samples to recover small items

Question 15

systemic context

Answer 15

the living behavioral system in which artifacts were originally manufactured, used, reused, and discarded

Question 16

archaeological context

Answer 16

once artifacts enter the ground, they become part of the archaeological context, where they can continue to be affected by human action but are also affected by natural processes

Question 17

formation processes

Answer 17

the ways in which human behaviors and natural actions operate to produce the archaeological record

Question 18

cultural deposition processes

Answer 18

the ways in which artifacts enter the archaeological context through human action, primarily discard, loss, caching, and ritual interment

Question 19

reclamation processes

Answer 19

human behaviors that result in artifact’s moving from the archaeological context back to the systemic context–ex: scavenging beams from an abandoned structure to use them in new one

Question 20

cultural disturbance processes

Answer 20

human behaviors that modify artifacts in their archaeological context–ex: digging pits, hearths, canals, and houses

Question 21

reuse processes

Answer 21

human behaviors that recycle and reuse artifacts before the artifacts enter an archaeological context

Question 22

floralturbation

Answer 22

a natural formation process in which trees and other plants affect the distribution of artifacts within an archaeological site

Question 23

faunalturbation

Answer 23

a natural formation process in which animals, form large game to earthworms, affects the distribution of material within an archaeological site

Question 24

krotovina

Answer 24

a filled-in animal burrow

Question 25

cryoturbation

Answer 25

a natural formation process in which freeze/thaw activity in a soil selectively pushes larger artifacts to the surface of a site

Question 26

argilliturbation

Answer 26

a natural formation process in which wet/dry cycles push artifacts upward as the sediment swells and then moves them down as cracks form during dry cycles

Question 27

graviturbation

Answer 27

a natural formation process in which artifacts are moved downslope through gravity, sometimes assisted by precipitation runoff