Exam 2 Flashcards
Flawed Methods of Procedure
Confirmation bias, Ignore Occam’s Razor, One hypothesis: Assumed to the correct, no attempt at falsification, Cherry-picking, Uncritical use of fraudulent or negative evidence, Shifting the burden of proof, Epistemic contextualism
Flawed Methods of Attitude
Appeal to some authority and expertise or rejection of authority and expertise, Adherence to outdated models, Play the part of scientists (with props)
Occam’s Razor
the simplest explanation is probably the right one
protagonists in the giant hunter show
brothers, stonemasons
flawed methods of procedure in giant hunter show
cherry-picking, uncritical use of fraudulent or negative evidence, confirmation bias
flawed methods of attitude in giant hunter show
adherence to outdated models, play the part of scientists, rejection of authority and expertise
Hugh Newman
giant author and researcher, giant hunting show
Gil Zamora
forensic artist, giant hunting show
evidence in the giant hunting show
Terry’s illness, Denisovan tooth, Catalina Island/Ralph Gidden records, giant bones found all over the world, forensic sketch of giant, tooth and pinky toe found in Siberia belong to Denisovans
what is the claim in the giant hunter show?
Denisovans (giants) island hopped their way into the Americas and interbred with the modern human
what were Gidden’s finds on Catalina Island?
28inch femur bone
what did Gidden do that made him uncredible?
kept sloppy notes, had a side-road attraction where he displayed the bones he excavated and sold them
Paxton Hayes
a well-known giant hunter who ended up destitute at the end of his life, visited the white house
what did Paxton Hayes do?
had a fight with a well-known scientist because the world wasn’t ready to accept his theory since it would rewrite history. worked with the Yaquis (lived with and respected them) and they told his stories of a lost city of giants
Richard Freud
an archaeologist (PhD) looking for Atlantis
Donana National Park
where Freud claimed Atlantis was, Atlantis show
evidence for Atlantis show
aerial pictures, geophysical prospection, Plato’s writings, surface archaeology, pedestrian survey, nautical prospection, two small statues of Ishtar, Atlantean carvings and Horns of bull deity
what biblical city did Freud claim Atlantis to be?
Tarshish/Tartessos
Cancho Roano
ruins of what Freud claims is a refugee village from Atlantis after the destruction. Atlantean carvings
Warrior Stelae
basic image of a warrior in a T pose with the three rings overhead
why are the Warrior Stelae a flawed method of procedure?
cherry-picking: many cultures used similar carvings and drawings,
what does the carving of the horns of the bull deity mean?
contact with the Phoenicians
aerial & satellite imagery
used to find sites you cannot see on the ground
pedestrian survey
locate sites and artifacts. people walk in straight lines and scan the ground for surface level artifacts
surface archaeology
record artifacts, features, and ecofacts on a site
geophysical prospection
detects disturbances in the soil
garden creek site
hopewell ditch-and-embankment found by geophysical prospection
places where Atlantis has been believed to be
Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Bolivia, Antarctica
why was Atlantis believed to be in Morocco?
Mathematical model using 51 “clues” from the dialogues of Plato, Passed Strait of Gebralter, Sous-Massa Plain => Nothing found
why was Atlantis believed to be in Indonesia?
Island fits with 60 “clues” from the dialogues of Plato, Trading region, Gunung Padang Megalith
why was Atlantis believed to be in Bolivia?
Tiwanaku
why was Atlantis believed to be in Antarctica?
Questionable pyramids: probably just mountains
why was Atlantis believed to be in Antarctica?
diffusion
one thing melding into another thing; the spread of people, things, and ideas from one region to another
provenience
the origin of something; where something came from
Thor Hyerdol
Kon Tiki Expedition (1947) - could people sail from the Mediterranean to the Americas in Roman times?
how could historical linguistics prove diffusion?
Empirical evidence of past migrants, Comparative word lists to measure similarity in languages, Established “genetic” relationships among languages, glottochronology
Glottochronology
language “mutations” to infer time
how could genetics prove diffusion?
Biological affinities of past and present people
how could writings prove diffusion?
Stone inscriptions, Latin inscriptions in Europe on monuments, tablets, etc, Latin influences/inscriptions in North America all from last 500 years…
how could goods and foods prove diffusion?
Context: How does an archaeological find relate to its provenience (where something came from)? Provenience: Polynesian chickens in South America by AD 700-1400, Provenience - where an artifact comes from, Caveats - things (artifacts) can move somewhat independently of people
Caveats
things (artifacts) can move somewhat independently of people
what was the swastika’s first meaning?
Meant good luck - popular symbol, Sanskrit word “svastika” means “auspicious”, Native American symbol for “migration” or “four direction” or “sun”
why is it likely that the Mayan pyramids and the Egyptian pyramids are not derived from a mother civilization?
difference in building: Mayan’s were made all in one go, Egyptian’s were made over a course of 400 years
difference in function: Mayan’s were temples, Egyptian’s were burial chambers
Theosophical Society
1875 - founded by Helena Blavatsky - modern spiritualist
Graham Hancock
Ancient monuments encode knowledge from these “civilizers” (10,000 BCE)
Crustal Displacement Theory
1958 - the hypothesis that the Earth’s continents have moved over geologic time
Edgar Cayce
The Sleeping Prophet - had hypnotic visions of Atlantis, claimed they could use magic and were very technologically advanced
ESP
Extrasensory Perception - spiritually projecting to find archaeological sites. not real form of science (must be falsifiable)
Stephan Ossowiecki
Polish psychic, usually inaccurate interpretations of the past (bias)
inference and intuition
common sense - where would people want to live and why? Defensive => on a hill, farming => flat plain, near a river
Giza Plateau pyramid workers
uncovered barracks, bakeries, and breweries (worker’s town),
NHPA
National Historic Preservation Act 1966
WPA
Work Progress Administration - Federal archaeology put people to work during the Great Depression
National Historic Preservation Act (1966): Section 106
Requires mitigation of archaeological sites impacted by “undertakings”
Case Study: Townsend Sites, TN
Mitigation of an ancestral Cherokee site by CRM unit at UT-Knoxville
Phase 1: Where are sites in the area of impact?
Shovel-digging test pit near Hwy 321
Phase 2: What’s at these sites?
Stone tools
Phase 3: Recover data (that would otherwise be destroyed)
Identification of Cherokee structures dating to 18th Century: winter house and summer house
Stakeholders?
Cherokee
Landowners, private and public
State Government
Project developers
Archaeologists: University of Tennessee and beyond
Museums educate the public and train students
Clovis
thought to be the earliest people in America, made Clovis stone tools (indented bottom), said to have come over on an ice bridge (Solutrean Hypothesis, Siberian Hypothesis)
Solutrean Hypothesis
Ice bridge from Europe to East cost of America
Siberian Hypothesis
Ice bridge from Russia to Alaska (Beringia)
genetic evidence for Siberian Hypothesis
Biological anthropology (individuals and populations), DNA from living populations, DNA can provide a measure of common ancestry, Nearly all mtDNA haplogroups show unambiguous connection to Asia, Y-Chromosome DNA shows similar pattern, Ancient DNA specimens
linguistic evidence for Siberian Hypothesis
America language family
Bioarchaeological evidence for Siberian Hypothesis
Ancient DNA specimens
Environmental evidence for Siberian Hypothesis
Shows possible routes: Where is crust bouncing back? (glacier weighed down surface of earth)
evidence for Solutrean Hypothesis
Ethnograhic analogy = voyage possible, Similar stone tools, Cherry-picking the stone tools to fit the hypothesis, Many Clovis sites in eastern US, mtDNA haplogroup “X” is ambiguous
issues with Solutrean Hypothesis
Time gap from Solutrean to Clovis Culture (16,000 BCE & 11,000 BCE), Similar tools could be parallel invention, Can be taken out of context by public, Solutrean hypothesis taken as fact by white nationalists
George McJunkin
freed slave that found stone tools on his farm => first Clovis tools found
Anzick Boy
Burial with Clovis artifacts around 12,600 before present, Collaboration not Confrontation
Genetics = Native American
Reburied in 2014 following genetic and archaeological study
End of Clovis Culture hypotheses
Over-kill (hunting)
Big game hunting
Circulation of stone tools = Migration up to 200 miles
Also hunted smaller animals (turtles, rabbits) and farmed crops
Not all big game => Lions, sloth, were not hunted but went extinct
over-chill (climate change), over-ill (disease), over-grill (comet => burned layers at Clovis site)
what might Clovis culture be the cause of?
the extinction of the megafauna
Monte Verde, Chile
Pre-Clovis migrations, Radiocarbon dating of seeds embedded in footprints = 23-21kya
