Chapter 9 Terminology Flashcards
Appendicular skeleton
All parts of an animal excluding the axial skeleton.
Axial skeleton
The head, mandibles, vertebrae, ribs, sacrum and tail of an animal skeleton.
Ch’ arki
Native South American (Quechua) term for freezed-dried llama and alpaca meat.
Comparative collection
A skeletal collection of modern fauna of both sexes and different ages used to make identifications of archaeofaunas.
Coprolite
Desiccated feces (Αποξηραμένα περιττώματα), often containing macrobotanical remains, pollen and the remains of small animals.
Element
In faunal analysis, a specific skeletal part of the body - for example, humerus or sternum.
Faunal analysis
Identification and interpretation of animal remains from an archaeological site.
Faunal assemblage
Identification and interpretation of animal remains from an archaeological site.
Holocence
The post-Pleiocence geological epoch that began about 10,000 radiocarbon years ago and continues today.
Kill sites
Places where animals were killed in the past.
Lipids
Organic substances - including fats, oils, and waxes - that resist mixing with water; found in both plant and animal tissues.
Macrobotanical Remains
Nonmicroscopic plant that remains recovered from an archaeological site.
Minimum number of individuals (MNI)
The smallest number of individuals necessary to account for all identified bones.
Number of identified specimens (NISP)
The raw number of identified bones (specimens) per species
Paleoethnobotanist
An archaeologist who analyzes and interprets plant remains from archaeological sites in order to understand the past interactions between human populations and plants.
Palynology
The study of fossil pollen grains and spores to reconstruct past climates and human behavior
Phytoliths
Tiny silica particles contained in plants. Sometimes these fragments can be recovered from archaeological sites, even after the plants themselves have decayed.
Pollen diagram
A chart showing the changing frequencies of different identified pollens through time from samples taken from archaeological or other sites.
Puna
Native American (Quechua) term for the treeless, windswept tablelands and basins of the higher Andes.
Seasonality
An estimate of what part of the year a particular archaeological site was occupied.
Size classes
A categorization of faunal remains, not to taxon (ταξινομικής ομάδας), but to one of five categories based on body size.
Taxon
In faunal analysis, the classification of a skeletal element to a taxonomic category - species, genus, family, or order.
Wood rats (pack rats)
Rodents that build nests of organic materials and thus preserve a record, often for thousands of years, of changing plant species within the local area of the nest.
Zooarchaeolostist
An individual who specializes in the study of animal remains recovered from archaeological sites.
