exam 1 Flashcards
the unknown function or identity of something is inferred from a known case
analogy
the same behaviors and processes we observe in one setting may well have happened somewhere else
uniformitarianism
portable objects used, made, or altered by humans
artifacts
when analogy is based in part or whole on artifact shape or appearance
formal analogy
non-portable objects, deposits, constructions made by humans (buildings, storage pits, rock art)
features
interpreting function/use of something using observations or known examples from presumed descendent communities
direct historical analogy
spatial clusters of artifacts and features
sites
opposite from formal analogies. Instead of drawing conclusions, one must prove the relationship
structural / relational analogy
structures ‘scientific’ description of any aspects of a people or culture
ethnography
written accounts including observations of a people or culture by travelers, traders, missionaries, soldiers
ethnohistory
controlled replication of artifacts or activities
experimental archaeology
what material remains are found, where, in what condition, and its associations
context
what is something found with or near? What stuff is near the stuff?
association
the assumption that the archaeological patterns you find are a perfect frozen-in-time reflection of the past
The Pompeii Premise
layered cultural or natural deposits
stratigraphy
things on the top are newer than things on the bottom
Law of superposition
building, digging, looting
cultural transforms
earthquake damage, natural soil deposition
natural transforms
all the processes that affect artifacts, features, and sites over time
taphonomy
the Earth has been shaped by sudden, often unpredicted, events that are short-lived but impactful
catastrophism
the study of old and rare objects and their history
antiquarianism
Thomsen (1819) proposed the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Ages of human history
Three Age System
all societies pass through the same stages of cultural development (Savagery, Barbarism, Civilization)
unilineal evolution
a from of archaeological dating by arranging objects from earliest to latest
seriation
determining if something came before or after an object
relative dating
described ancient history in terms of major transitions and reorganizations (The Neolithic and Urban Revolutions)
V. Gordon Childe
there is no universal standard or trajectory for human societies
cultural relativism
each culture is the product of its own circumstances
historical particularism
human culture is an adaptation to the environment
cultural ecology
interactions between humans and environments over time shape and reshape both
historical ecology
calculating the age of an archaeological object or site based on physical/chemical properties
absolute dating
-half life rate of decay is 5730 years
-can measure age up to 60,000 years
Radiocarbon (14C) dating
the past shows us universal patterns of human behavior
processual archaeology
-archaeology of the material culture of early humans
-origins of our technologies, culture, symbolism, strategies
paleolithic archaeology
lowkey looks more like an ape
Paranthropus boisei
less of an ape
-larger brain case
-more human-like
homo habilis
any stone that has been worked by humans
Lithics
233,000 years old
-oldest known homo sapiens
Omo Kibish
the usually false idea that major human innovations arose only once and spread from a single origin
hyper-diffusionism
people of the Americas in the Late Pleistocene
Paleoindians
study of household-level activities, spatial organization, family and gender organization, domestic material culture
household archaeology
-focused on the inter-relationship between humans and their environment
-how do environments impact societies and vice versa
environmental archaeology
-large deposits of shells accumulated as waste piles from human consumption
-channel islands; mostly mussels
-only at some sites
shell midden
seeing where people move to over time. Such as in the Nile Valley. People moved away from the river as other places got more rain. Then it got dry really fast and people moved back.
settlement pattern
-Richard Lee and Irven DeVore led a project studying the !Kung San living in the Kalahari desert
-“Man the Hunter” symposium April 1966 applying ethnoarchaeological observations to human evolution
-mapping floorplans of houses
Kalahari Research Project
using elemental composition of stone or metal artifacts to identify its source
geochemical sourcing
using annual growth rings of trees to reconstruct absolute chronology
dendrochronology
the earliest possible date for something
terminus post quem
proposed a model of unilineal evolution
Lewis Henry Morgan
called “The Father of American Anthropology”
-cultural relativism
Franz Boas
-cultural changes are adaptive relative to the environment
-cultural change is scientifically predictable once all the variables are understood
Lewis Binford
German businessman set out to “prove the ancient Greek stories of Homer”
-found Priam’s Treasure
-it was 1000 years too early
Heinrich Schliemann
culture is designed to fulfill important functions and meet universal human needs
functionalism
uses sociocultural and archaeological research methods to understand how archaeological sites are created by living people
ethnoarchaeology
deposits naturally form in flat horizontal levels unless disturbed or altered
Law of Original Horizontality
vast desert / valley in East Africa
Oldovai Gorge, Tanzania
pairs of footprints imprinted on the ground here
Laetoli, Tanzania
the oldest stone tools were found here
Lomekwi, Kenya
a rock with just a few pieces knocked off of it
oldowan
made the handaxes
acheulean
composite stone tools, fishhooks and harpoons, bows and arrows, spear throwers and sewing needles
tools associated with homo sapiens
the genetic mutation that allowed the cognitive powers of speech and imagination to emerge some 70,000 years ago
The Cognitive Revolution
-often referred to as the Ice Age
-the geological epoch that lasted from c. 2.58 million to 11,700 years ago
Pleistocene
-geologic epoch that follows right after the Pleistocene
-when the Earth had a stable warm period
Holocene
Madjedbebe Rockshelter
peopling of Australia
-combining archaeology, linguistics, and genetics
-introduced peoples to Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, regions they had previously been absent from
The Bantu Expansion
-really focused on hunting red deer
Star Carr, UK
-there was a lot more rain as the earth warmed up
-evidence of river species
-Nile River Valley
Sahara environmental change
a broad native set of interactions between diverse communities that give signs they were trading with each other
interaction spheres
-during the Bronze Age off the coast of Turkey
-ox-hide ingots
-diverse pottery from different regions
Uluburran Shipwreck
-core-and-periphery
-can map strength, frequency of connections to create past social networks
World systems
-gold production
-jade teapot
Great Zimbabwe
the first toolmakers
homo erectus
walking apes
Australopithecines
