Exam 1 Terms & Concepts Flashcards
Culture Anthropology
Archaeology
Cultural Relativism
Understanding another culture in its own terms sympathetically enough so that the culture appears to be a coherent and meaningful design for living
Ethnocentrism
Judging another culture based on your own cultural standards rather than from within the context of that culture; the opinion that one’s own way of life is the natural and correct way
Material Culture
Artifacts, architecture, and objects made and used by humans
Terra Preta
Terra preta is black in color due to its weathered charcoal content; made by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, broken pottery, compost and manure to the low fertility Amazonian soil; a product of indigenous soil management and slash-and-char agriculture, the charcoal is stable and remains in the soil for thousands of years, binding and retaining minerals and nutrients
Chinampa
A form of raised field agriculture conducted by the Aztecs originally
Culture
A set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared that together form an all encompassing, integrated whole that binds groups of people together and shapes their worldview and ways of life
Pseudoarchaeology
Pseudoarchaeology attempts to explain archaeological materials without the use of evidence or by taking evidence out of context; can often be offensive and racist as it diminishes the accomplishments of ancient civilizations, instead attributing their successes to a higher power
Site
The material remains of a place inhabited in the past where people lived or carried out activities
Region
Regions are generally defined by geographic boundaries, (such as by mountains, basins, or river valleys) that often serve as natural barriers.
Excavation
Clearing a space in search of objects or structures of archaeological significance
Artifact
Any portable object or material that was made or modified by humans in the past
Ecofact
Natural remains that were used or moved by human activity or that represent human activity (domesticated plants and animals)
Research Design
Planning how archaeological data will be collected and analyzed
Sampling/Different Types
Portion of data that will be collected; systematic, random, stratified, or judgmental
Sample Units/Different Types
What portions of a site will be excavated or studied; arbitrary vs. non-arbitrary; arbitrary = random parts wil be excavated vs. non-arbitrary = culturally defined units exist so only certain parts need to be dug/excavated
Survey
The process of locating archaeological remains; ground recon i.e. field walking/total station survey or aerial or subsurface reconnaissance
Excavation
Clearing a site of dirt or covering to discover objects or structures of archaeological significance underneath
Ground Reconnaissance
Walking a field, total station survey
Aerial Reconnaissance
Looking from above can reveal features that one might now see from the ground
LIDAR
Light Detecting and Ranging; remote sensing laser used to generate models of geography; provides affordable topographic data and allows for faster planning for archaeologists; has been used to locate ancient features like roads and buildings of the Maya civilization
Total Station Survey
Measures distances and geographical aspects of a site
Subsurface survey techniques
Resistivity testing, ground penetrating radar, auguring, shovel tests, coring; resistivity detects the ability of subsurface features to conduct electricity
Test pit/trench excavations
Smaller excavations to see if a larger area is worth excavating
Clearing Excavations
Large scale excavations of a site; deep and longer excavations
Primary Context
Artifacts remain undisturbed since they were originally deposited
Secondary Context
Transformational processes, either human or natural activity, have disturbed the original context
Provenience
Three dimensional location of an object in space
Law of Superposition
Deposits on the bottom were deposited first and the deposits on top were deposited last
Law of Association
Objects found within the same strata were associated with each other
Phytoliths
Microscopic silica bodies produced by many plants; as a plant grows, an individual phytolith forms in a cell to aid in the physical support of the plant structure. Each phytolith retains the shape of the cell in which it was formed, and these forms may be quite specific to a given type of plant. Can be used to find out info about plants on or near archaeological sites
Stratigraphy
Layering of cultural or natural matrices (soil, sand, gravel, rock, etc.) and features
Relative vs. Absolute (Chronometric) Dating
Relative: Determining the age of an item relative to another item, not chronological date
Absolute: Methods that give calendrical dates
Direct vs. Indirect Dating
Direct: Dating an artifact itself to arrive at chronological evaluation
Indirect: Dating another material associated with the artifact
Stylistic Seriation
A technique for ordering artifacts and attributes according to their similarity in style
Frequency Seriation
A way to order archaeological deposits based on the relative frequencies of artifact types; battleship curves
Radiocarbon Dating
Based on radioactive decay of carbon-14; half life - the time it takes for one half of the unstable atoms to decay and form the stable isotope (14C -> 14N in 5,370 yrs; up to 100,000 years)
Potassium-Argon Dating
Radiometric technique; (40K -> 40Ar in 1.3 billion years; 100,000 years and up)
Dendrochronology
Based on counting annual growth ring of trees; trees up to 10,000 years old
Bioarchaeology/ Forensic anthropology
Study of biological remains i.e. through dendrochronology or radiocarbon dating
Looting Antiquities Act
Protects archaeological sites from looting and vandalism (1906)
UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization - protects many archaeological sites across the world
NAGPRA
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990)
Advocational Archaeology
Protecting private land; attempts to buy private land with sites of archaeological/cultural significance in order to preserve the contents of the land
Archaeotourism
Tourism of archaeological sites; creates jobs for locals of sites, provides independence for local people, educates the public, and fosters appreciation, but it also allows for graffiti, wear and tear, and destruction of sites
Cultural Resource Management
Management of objects, artifacts, or remains that hold significance to a culture, whether it be archaeology or architecture, etc.
Experimental Archaeology
Studies that aid archaeological interpretation by attempting to duplicate behavioral processes
Ethnographic Analogy
Study of modern behavior to understand archaeological remains through analogy
Phenomenology
Physical experience of doing something; newfound understanding from personal experience
Terminus Post Quem (TPQ)
The date after which the site could date to
Terminus Ante Quem (TAQ)
The date before which a site could date to; often based off assumptions and lack of data
