FINAL - everything Flashcards
Provenience
Shorthand for the context of a find; an artifacts location relative to a system of spatial control and records context
Profile
Stratigraphic cross section
Shovel testing
Method for finding site limits
Feature
Unmovable kind of evidence
De Vries effect
Problem with radiocarbon dating having to do with sunspots
Stratigraphy
Basis for relative dating; an aspect of physical structure of a site produced by the deposition of sediment and other material in a series of separate strata
Replication
Builds confidence in findings and is a basic goal of experimental archaeology
Coordinate system
Utilized for horizontal space control
Taphonomy
Study of natural processes affecting archaeological evidence
Paradigm
Overarching theoretical framework
LIDAR
Laser based mapping method of geophysical survey; can cut through vegetation
Seriation
Concerned with stylistic changes; the chart from gravestones
Proton precession
A type of magnetometer
GPR
Ground penetrating radar! Can view results as verticals slices, can go through many a surface. Utilizes radio signals
Multispectral imaging
Infrared photography using satellites
Crop marks
Identified by arial survey - can result from unusual nutrient input, upheaval and reentry of soil, and being buried over stone
UAV
Remotely operated arial device
Law of superposition
The geological principle that strata closer to the surface should be younger than the strata below
Material culture
The full range of physical objects that result from cultural activity
Conventional 14C method of dating
Date is calculated from measures of beta decay
AMS 14C method of dating
Date is calculated from direct counting of carbon atoms
Culture
An integrated system of learned beliefs, traditions, and customs that influence individual and group behavior
Law of association
Assumes objects found within a discrete deposit are related
Archaeological site
A location bearing evidence of past human activity
Pathology
Usually an indication of disease, poor nutrition, etc.
13C and 15N isotopes
Chemical source of information about diet (plants and animals)
Strontium and oxygen isotopes
Chemical source of information on geographical location
Heirloom effect
Potential cause for overestimating the age of a site
Henge
Monument consisting of a ditch and berm
Attribute
Artifact characteristic
What was the point of garbology?
To test if archaeology really works! Also it’s applies archaeology
Parkinson’s law of garbage
If you’ve got the space for it people are gonna use it
Oldowan tools
Australopithecine era tools that were purposeful and simple, inconsistent and widespread
Archeulian tools
After oldowan, greater control over medium led to symmetrical, long cutting edge that were large, complex, and consistent
MSA and middle Paleolithic tools
After archeulian, narrow and small that varied and were diverse from place to place. Corresponds to second wave out of Africa
Late Paleolithic characteristics
Complex and consistent tools, regionalized language, abstract thought and ethnicity
Why are caves and rock shelters important?
They preserve artifacts and are not subject to erosion
What does darker soil indicate?
Human habitation
Reflexive behavior
Aware of our own existence through writing, painting, burying the dead
Things found at Blombos cave that question the idea that the Great Leap Forward happened in Europe
Red ochre style art kit, shells and stones, symbols in ochre, and personal adornments
BC-AD
Before Christ, Anno Domini
BCE-CE
Before common era, common era
BP
Before present
RCYBP
Radiocarbon year BP (1950)
Two absolute dating methods
Dendrochronology and radiocarbon
Dendrochronology
Tree ring dating; theorized by AE Douglass and requires cross-dating. ONLY METHOD THAT GIVES SINGLE YEAR PRECISION
How are radiocarbon dates calibrated?
Dendrochronology my man
When is radiocarbon applicable/useful
In the remains of formerly living things!!
What does radiocarbon give us?
Death date! Not necessarily date of use
Who created radiocarbon dating?
Willard Libby
What kind of carbon is used for RCD
Carbon 14
What’s the half life of C14?
5730 years
What does 14C decay into?
14N; it originated in the atmosphere and then living organisms absorb it
When does 14C sample become unusable?
50,000 years
Conventional RCD
14C decay over given time; the original way, least precise… Very slow and you need a large sample
AMS
Accelerated mass spectrometry - the better form of radiocarbon dating! Direct count if 12,13,14C atoms in a sample… Very precise and needs a small sample!
Bomb effect
Nuclear stuff in air can fuck up radiocarbon dating
Seuss effect
Industrial carbon emissions fuck up radiocarbon dating
George McJunkin
Found giant buffalo bones in New Mexico with a spear point in them
Blackwater Draw
Clovis NM found mammoth and mastodon bones with spear pound
Datum
Primary elevation reference
Paleoindians
Pioneer humans in this hemisphere
Anomaly
A geophysical finding
