Cognitive Archaeology Flashcards
What is cognitive archaeology?
• The study of aspects of ancient culture that are the product of the human mind:
- The perception, description, and classification of the universe.
- The nature of the supernatural.
- Principles, philosophies, and values by which human societies are governed.
- The ways the world, the supernatural, or human values are conveyed in art.
What is Religion and what are rituals?
• A set of beliefs about one’s relationship with the supernatural.
- Ritual: Behaviors that must be performed in a particular order
• under particular circumstances.
- Rituals often have important tools associated with them.
What is cosmology? What is iconography
• Study of the origin, large-scale structure, and future of the universe.
• Iconography: Art forms or writing systems that symbolically represent ideas about religion or cosmology.
Blombos Cave (70,000-100,000 BP)
South Africa
Lion Man of the Hohoenstein Stadel
Lions at Chauvet Cave, France
What is personal adornment
How we used certain artifacts on our bodies
-labrets, pendants, gorgets
Jewelry and associated items designed to enhance a person’s appearance. jewelry, makeup, hairdressing, nail care, body care.
Venus Figure
Stood for feterility and love
Upper Paleolithic female figurines in reference to the Roman Goddess of beauty Venus
Who is the Siberian Ukok Princess
The Ice Maiden was a representative of the Pazyryk culture that thrived between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC in the Siberian steppe. The Ice Maiden’s tomb was found on the Ukok Plateau near the border of China, in what is now the Autonomous Republic of Altai.
What are totems?
-a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem.
- a built reliplica of a natural object tied to lineage or clans
-can be used as witchcraft
What is the role of a shaman?
-people who communicate with the spiritual world
-animistic in beliefs
A shamanlis a religious or mystical expert (male or female) who, in traditional Indigenous societies, functions as a healer, prophet and custodian of cultural tradition.
What is Epigraphy?
The study and interpretations of ancient inscriptions
Writing engraved on hard surfaces
What are hieroglyphics?
A stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound.
What are Quipus?
Recording devices used by the Inka Empire, the largest empire in pre-Colombian America. (Llama hair)
The strings were used to keep records and communicate information.
