Exam 1 - Concept/Terms Flashcards
Seriation
a relative dating method in which assemblages or artifacts from numerous sites, in the same culture, are placed in chronological order.
Shephelah
a lowland in south-central Israel stretching over 10–15 km between Mount Hebron and the coastal plain. It was one of the regions allotted to the biblical Tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:40-41). Today the Shfela is largely rural with many farms.
Arabah
“Desolate/Dry Area” a section of the Jordan Rift Valley running in a north-south orientation between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee (as the Jordan river valley) down to the Dead Sea and continuing further south where it ends at the Gulf of Aqaba. It includes most of the border between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east.
absolute chronology
chronology that determines the age of a feature or event in years.
relative chronology
chronology that determines the age of a feature or event relative to the age of other features or events (for example, younger than or older than)
Indicators of Sedentism
- Increasing presence of organisms who benefit from human sedentary activities, e.g.
House mice
Rats
Sparrows
2. Cementum increments on gazelle teeth
Indications that hunting took place in both winter and summer
3. Energy expenditure
Leveling slopes Building houses Production of plaster Transport of undressed stones Digging of graves Shaping of big mortars[2]
Northern Mesopotamia
name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq and northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
Queen Helena
Mother of Constantine
Sickle Blade Sheen
Silica residue found on blades suggesting they have been used to cut cereals…forming indirect proof for incipient agriculture
Processual Archaeology
Used the scientific method to get past the limits of the archaeological record
Gobekli Tepe
Hilltop temple. Excavated by Klaus Schmidt. Early neolithic sanctuary
Cave of the Warrior
Judean Desert. Skeleton in contracted position along with reed mat, textiles, bowls, bow and arrow, leather sandals.
Zagros Mountains
Mountains on the East border of Iraq
Startum
a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers.
Tel el-Hesi
First major site excavated in Palestine by Flinders Petrie in 1890 sponsored by the Palestine Exploration Fund. One of the first sites to use stratigraphy and seriation
Oasis Theory
as the climate got drier due to the Atlantic depressions shifting northward, communities contracted to oases where they were forced into close association with animals, which were then domesticated together with planting of seeds.
Balk
A side wall of an excavated unit (square) or a partition of earth left standing between adjoining excavation units. Balks are often left to aid with stratigraphic analysis.
Pottery Blanche
Precursor to clay pottery developed in the Levant during the Neolithic period
Desert Kites
used for hunting wild animals and consist of long dry-stone walls converging on a neck which opens into a confined space which was used as the killing floor. Given name by pilots
Hill Country
???
Way of the Sea
Trade route during early Bronze age linking Egypt with Syria, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia
Domestication of Plants/Animals
???
Southern Mesopotamia
“Land of the rivers” Area in the Tigris-Euphrates river system. Modern Day Iraq, Kuwait, NE Syria
Beidha
One of the earliest villages of habitation. Built a wall around the settlement of round houses with subterranean floors.
Egypt (Upper & Lower)
Lower: North, Upper: South
Abu Hureya
Located in the Euphrates Valley in Modern Syria. Remains spread 4000 years of habitation spanning Epipaleolithic and Neolithic. Started as hunter-gathers but transitioned to farming.
Teleilat Ghassul
Chalcolithic site located in Jordan Valley. Excavated by Alexis Mallon. Contains bud brick houses beginning about 5200 BC. Eventually transformed into multiroom complmex and sanctuaries
Shiqmim
Largest Chalcolithic village in Beersheva valley. Major cheifdom center with evidence of social stratification, political integration, and wide-ranging trade relations
Gilat
Sanctuary in southern Levant
Tel Beit Mirsim
Site located between Shfela and Mount Hebron. Excavated by Albright. Town plan characteristic of the Kingdom of Judah
Bihistun Inscription
“Place of God”.Crucial to the development of the cuneiform script. Autobig of Draius. Provides description of deaths of Cyrus the Great and Cambsyses II
Stratification
An arrangement or deposition of sediment or sedimentary rocks in a sequence of layers (strata); the accumulated sequence of strata on an archaeological site. A succession of layers should provide a relative chronological sequence, with the earliest at the bottom and the latest at the top. Stratification is the basis for stratigraphy.
Lachish
Site of ancient Near East city. Located in the Shephelah. Second in importance to Jerusalem.
Hisarlik/Troy
Important regional capital of western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age.
Wadi
a valley that is dry except in the rainy season
Cataract
Any rocky areas of rapids interrupting the flow of the Nile River, caused by granite abruptly interspersed in the Nubian sandstone belt. There are six numbered and several minor cataracts between Aswan and Khartoum, which are hazards to navigation. The 2nd Cataract, the most formidable, was impassable except during the annual inundation. Cataracts 1-4 and the Dal Cataract were political frontiers at different times.
King’s Highway
Ancient trade route that stretched from Egypt to Aqaba
Jericho
???
Glume/rachis
???
Plastered Skulls
???
Mureybet
West bank of the Euphrates, Started as hunter gathers, then domesticated animals.
Lost Wax Process
Structure created. Mold created. Wax applied. Contents poured into wax mold.
Ein Gedi Temple
Main building, smaller structure, and circular structure
Chiefdoom
A society that operates on the principle of ranking, i.e., differential social status. Different lineages are graded on a scale of prestige, calculated by how closely related one is to the chief. The chiefdom generally had a permanent ritual and ceremonial center, as well as being characterized by local specialization
