Chapter Eight: Middle Level Research Flashcards
What are some problems with archaeology as a historical science? (3)
- archaeological sites contain only material remains
- behavior is inferred from these remains and not directly observed
- not a “precision” science; we can never know the “precise” motives of past human behavior
What is uniformitarianism? (2)
- J. Hutton and C. Lyell formulated the principle that processes shaping the earth’s surface today have operated throughout the geological past
- observations of the contemporary world provide info to make inferences about the past from observations on archaeological objects
What are the problems with many inferences or multiple competing hypotheses? (4)
- equifinality: an outcome resulting from several different processes
- example: explanations for why mammal forelimbs are often missing from archaeological faunal assemblages associated with habitation sites
- several “if…then” bridging statements are needed for each hypothesis
- these are the archaeological expectations or predictions step in the scientific method
What does middle-level research do?
attempts to bridge the gap between material remains and the behaviors that left them behind and is usually done through modern analogy
What is analogy? (5)
- form of logic through which one establishes the equivalence of two things that cannot be directly compared
- formal analogies are analogies justified by similarities in form between archaeological and ethnographic cases; strengthened by several cases providing a pattern of behavior
- example: H. heidelbergensis Middle Pleistocene use of wooden spears for hunting
- relational analogies based on close cultural continuity between ethnographic and archaeological cases or close casual links between the two
- example: Ancient Puebloan kivas compared with Hopi kivas
How does middle-level theory serve as a powerful analogy? (2)
- happens when casual necessary links can be made between the present and past
- constructed through taphonomy, experimental archaeology, and ethnographic analogy
What is taphonomy? (3)
- study of how organisms became part of the fossil record
- archaeology expanded this to include how natural processes produce patterns observed in the archaeological record
- very key in understanding site formation processes because it considers how human behaviors and natural processes incorporate bones and plants into sites
How do human behaviors and natural processes incorporate bones and plants into sites? (4)
- decomposition, disarticulation, and dispersal of large animal carcasses
- raptor pellets or carnivore/herbivore feces
- packrat behavior
- geomorphological processes
Describe the Hudson-Meng Bonebed Site.
In northeastern Nebraska, L. Agenbroad excavated 500 bison with 21 spear points and dated the bone bed to 9500 carbon-14 (10,700 cal) BP
What patterns were observed at the Hudson-Meng Bonebed, and on what did archaeologists base their inferences? (2)
- pattern observed: bones buried in low swale with skull tops missing
- inferences based on ethnographic analogy
What inferences were formed at the Hudson-Meng Bonebed? (4)
- humans present to remove brains to tan hides
- hunting strategy where bison driven off a cliff, dragged to a processing location
- large group of hunters
- mean of food shortage
How would you characterize Agenbroad’s inferences at Hudson-Meng with regards to analogy? Are there elements of both formal and relational analogy present? (2)
- formal due to similarity of bison skull form and ethnographically-documented butchering practices
- relational because it extrapolated behaviors of Plains Indians, since the site is presumed to represent Plains Indian ancestors
Are Agenbroad’s inferences at Hudson-Meng middle-level theory, yet? Explain. (2)
- did not demonstrate the bridging argument that missing skull caps = brain harvesting
- could natural processes have led to the patterns observed?
What are some troubling facts of Hudson-Meng, compared with other bison kill sites in the region? (3)
- few points for so many bison
- no cut marks on bones and only carnivore tooth marks
- most bison were lying there undisturbed
How did Lawrence Todd and David Rapson approach Hudson-Meng? (3)
- revisited site for renewed excavations from a taphonomic perspective
- found several buried soils with artifacts above the bison
- question: how do dead bison fall apart?
According to taphonomic studies in Africa, how do large animal carcasses fall apart naturally after death? (3)
- natural death assemblages showed collapse in place with gradual disarticulation of the forelimbs and tail; forelimbs and vertebrae separate
- skeleton lies flat on the ground with the skull raised slightly
- skulls are last to become buried and rapidly erode
What did Todd and Rapson conclude about Hudson-Meng? (3)
- prairie fire drove bison into the swale where they died natural death
- through time, spear points and other artifacts discarded at this point
- slow burial of the remains led to the skull caps eroding completely in the sun of the Plains
How did taphonomy and uniformitarianism work together at Hudson-Meng? (4)
- incomplete crania resulted from sun exposure and weathering, not brain tanning
- taphonomic studies of how large animal carcasses today decay and become disarticulated, buried and weathered provide middle-level theory
- Principle of Uniformitarianism applies here; the ancient bison had the same basic anatomy as the modern-day fauna observed by Hill and Beyrensmeyer
- analogy can be made with a powerful inference
What is experimental archaeology? (3)
- experiments designed to determine the archaeological correlates of ancient behavior; may help overlap with both ethnoarchaeology and taphonomy
- useful in establishing how things might have been made or worked in the past
- first experimental archaeology: Ishi and Saxton Pope’s “Hunting with the Bow and Arrow”
What were the raw materials involved in flintknapping? (2)
- rocks with a glassy fracture such as obsidian, chert, or quartzite
- procurement requires searching and extracting the raw material
What is heat-treatment in flintknapping?
process by which the flintknapping properties of stone tool raw materials are improved by subjecting the material to heat
What are cores in flintknapping?
objective pieces of stone that are worked or “knapped”
What are flakes in flintknapping?
thin, sharp sliver of stone removed from a core during the knapping process
According to Don Crabtree, what are Folsom fluted points?(2)
- flute: wide, shallow, longitudinal groove on each face of the point, formed by removal of one or more flakes from the point’s base
- channel flakes: longitudinal flake removed from the faces of Folsom and Clovis Points to create the flute
How do archaeologists perform experimental archaeology?
they use replicative experiments in several ways and with a variety of methods
Describe replicative experiments with regards to Folsom points. (3)
- Folsom point manufacture is difficult and risky
- fluting results in high breakage rates
- the precise reason for fluting is still unknown
What role does uniformitarianism play in experimental archaeology?
uniformitarianism elements present, but sometimes experimental archaeology only tells us what was possible/impossible, not exact technique used or precise method to the outcome
What are a couple examples of experimental archaeology? (2)
- monumental architecture
- microwear: minute evidence of use damage on surface and working edges of a stone tool
What is ethnoarchaeology? Provide a case study. (5)
- study of contemporary peoples to determine how human behavior is translated into the archaeological record
- L. R. Binford and the Nunamiut Inuit; 1970s ethnoarchaeological project
- interested in better understanding humans in periglacial settings
- F. Bordes: different tool types = different tribes/cultures
- Nunamiut left behind products of varied behaviors, not different cultures or “tribes;” seasonal use of sites, distances to camps, transportation, amount of food in camp, weather, etc.
Describe the case study of R. Kelly in Madagascar. (3)
- goal: explore levels of nomadism archaeologically
- Mikea: nomadic people in southwestern Madagascar who grow maize and manioc, raise cattle, and do dome hunting and gathering
- Mikea live in four major settlement types, differing based on length of stays
What are the 4 major settlement types of the Mikea? (4)
- permanent villages: wattle-and-daub houses
- forest hamlets: house w/ shade structure
- seasonal hamlets: very expedient houses
- temporary forest camps: lean-tos
What variables were recorded in R. Kelly’s study of the Mikea’s settlements? (3)
- trash distribution
- # of postholes per house
- features outside houses
What role does uniformitarianism play in ethnoarchaeology? (3)
- case study: Ian Hodder’s ethnoarchaeological research of two Sudanese horticulturalist groups
- similarities in house types, places where activities take place, but ways of treating trash was totally different
- uniformitarianism difficult here
Why was uniformitarianism misleading in Hodder’s ethnoarchaeological research? (3)
- human behavior is not mechanical and can be culturally-based
- technologies, resources, and hence human response change through time
- should be provisionally used to set up hypotheses to test
