Key Terms/Concepts Flashcards
ALS (airborne laser scanning)
LIDAR light detection and ranging remote sensing technique using same principle as radar to determine the range to the target
Anthropology
Study of humanity
3 subsections: biological, cultural, and archaeology
Archaeological culture
Constantly recurring assemblage of artifacts assumed to be representative of a particular set of behavioral activities carried out at a particular time and place
Archaeology
Sub discipline of anthropology involving the study of the human past through its material remains
Artifact
Any portable object used modified or made by humans
Attribute
Minimal characteristic of an artifact such that is cannot be further subdivided
Includes: aspects of form, style, decoration, color, and raw material
Characterization
Application of techniques of examination by which characteristic properties of the constituent material of traded goods can be identified and thus their source of origin
Classification
The ordering findings into groups on the basis of shared attributes
Cognitive archaeology
The study of let ways of though and symbolic structures from material remains
Cognitive processual approach
Alternative to materialistic orientation of be functional processual approach
Concerned with the integration of the cognitive and symbolic with other aspects of early societies and the role of ideology as an active organizational force
Context
Artifacts context usually consisted of its immediate matrix, provenience and association with other artifacts
Contract archaeology
Archaeological research conducted under terms of a contract
Critical theory
Theoretical approach developed by “Frankfurt school” of German social thinkers that stresses that all knowledge is historical and in a sense biased communication thus al claims to objective knowledge
Cultural anthropology
Study of human culture and society
Cultural resource management
Safeguarding archaeological heritage through the protection of sites and through salvage archaeology
Culture
Non biological characteristics to specific society
Dendrochronology
Study of tree ring patterns to develop timeline, and determine environmental changes in the past
Aerial Survey
Employing atrial and satellite imagery used in the discovery and recording of archaeological sites
The stratified random sample
Divide strata into separate areas
Site vs. findspot
Site: artifact densities indicate activity areas and function of the site
Findspot: scatters of artifacts usually found by surface survey
Total station
Survey instrument that measures and records in 3 dimensions
Inorganic preservation
Pottery survives well
Fire cooked clay
Ethnoarchaeology
Study of contemporary cultures with a view to understanding behavioral relationships that underline material culture
Experimental archaeology
The study of past behavioral processes through experimental reconstruction under controlled scientific conditions
Taphonomy
The study of processes (burial, decay, preservation) affection animal or plant remains
Primary context
The original place/site of an artifact, ecofact, or feature
Ex bones in a grave
Secondary context
The movement of artifact or ecofact from its original position
Ex moving bones from one grave to another
Immediate matrix
Material that surrounds object
Provenience
Vertical and horizontal relation of something
Associations
What else was found with the object? Something found within the same level
Ex Axe and shield both found in Bronze Age level
Archaeological context
Place where object is found, how it was found, what material (ex soil) surrounds it, the layer it came from,
Site
Place an artifact ecofact structure feature or organic & inorganic remains are found together
Places showing traces of past human activity
Ecofact
Organic and environmental remains
Ex human skeleton or plant Residue
Features
Human modified aspects of the site or landscape that provides evidence of structures, activities or interaction with the landscape
Archaeological record
Any evidence of past human activity preserved in the earth through culture and natural process
Anaerobic environment
Lacking air and moisture
Pyroclastic flows
Avalanches of hot ash, pumice, and rock fragment
I.e. Volcanic eruption flows
Pompeii
Roman city destroyed by mount Vesuvius around 79 AD Spans roughly 163 acres Was home to roughly 20,000 ppl Was trading town Famous for fish sauce and grand villas
Post processual archaeology
Explanation formulated in reaction to the ‘limitations’ of functional-processual archaeology
The ecological approach
Concerned with interactions between environment, biology, and culture
New archaeology
More scientific approach to archaeological methods and theory with tested hypotheses
Cultural historical method
Material culture defines groups and builds timelines
Natural selection
Darwinian theory for evolution
Uniformitarianism
Principle that stratification if rocks is due to processes still going on today
I.e. Ancient geological conditions are similar to today’s
Prehistory
Period before the written record
Biblical archaeology
Work with reference to the events set out in the bible
Ex Noah’s ark
Classics archaeology
Interest in the societies of Ancient Greece and Rome and neighboring territories
Linguistic archaeology
Study of how speech varies with social factors and over time
Physical anthropology
Aka biological anthropology
Study of human biological or physical characteristics and how they evolved
Ex skeleton
Classical archaeologist
Study Greek and Roman civilization
Historical archaeologist
Study medieval or historic towns, events, etc
Pre historians
Study prehistoric settlements
Paleoanthropology
Study of earliest human cultures
Ex cave men
Bio archaeologist
Study skeletons of people and animals
Material remains
Artifacts that remain of a group of people
Electrolysis
Standard cleaning process in archaeology
Object is played in chemical solution and has weak current ran through it. Debris fall off and object is clean
Evolution
Process of growth and development generally accompanied by increasing complexity
I.e. Bigger brains
Evolutionary archaeology
Darwinian evolutionary concepts applied to the archaeological record
Excavation
Uncovering archaeological remains through the removal of deposits of soil or materials covering and a accompanying them
Feature
A non-portable ‘artifact’
Ex architectural element
Formation process
Processes affecting the way artifacts were buried and their following history
GIS
Geographic information systems
Software for the overall conservation, organization, and analysis of the archaeological record
Landscape archaeology
Study of individual features over a wider area once filled with human activity
Marxist archaeology
Based principally on the writings of Karl Marx. A materialistic model of societal change
Material culture
Buildings, tools etc
Artifacts that constitute the material remains of former societies
Mesolithic
Period beginning around 10,000 years ago. Between Paleolithic and Neolithic
Neolithic
Characterized by the settling of people to one area and beginning of farming
Neolithic revolution
Origin and consequences of farming and settled village life
Off site data
Evidence from a range of information including scatters of such artifacts and features as plow marks and boundaries that provide important evidence about human exploration of the environment
Open area excavation
I.e. Digging
Opening up large horizontal areas for excavation
Usually used with single period deposits
Paleolithic
Period before 10,000
Characterized by the earliest known tool making
Aka Stone Age
Post processual explanation
Explanation formulated in reaction to the perceived limitations of functional-processual archaeology
Processual archaeology
Approach that stresses the dynamic relationship between social and economic aspects of culture and the environment as basis for understanding the process of culture change
Pseudo archaeology
Use of selective archaeological evidence to make fake history
Radiocarbon dating
Absolute dating method that measures decay of the radioactive isotope carbon in organic material
Reconnaissance survey
Recording of surface artifacts and features by walking in a strategic format and picking up things in the immediate area
Research design
Systematic planning of archaeological research
Salvage archaeology
Aka rescue archaeology
Location and recording usually through excavation of archaeological sites in advance of construction
Site
Distinct spatial clustering of artifacts features organic and environmental remains and structures
The residue of human activity
Soil resistivity
Soil changes when things decay.
Aka earth resistance survey
Method of subset face detection that measures changes in conductivity by passing electrical current through soils. Buried features can be detected by ground water retention
Stela
Plural is stelae
Free standing carved stone monument
Stratification
Layers one above the other
Aka timeline using things buried on top of eachother
Structuralist approach
Interpretations that stress that human actions are guided by beliefs and symbolic concepts
Style
Any distinctive and recognizable way in which an act is performed and made
Surface survey
Systematic -straight lines
Unsystematic- not straight lines
Taphonomy
Study processes that have affected organic materials such as bone after death
Three age system
System for sequence of time periods Stone Age Bronze Age and Iron Age
Type
Class of artifacts defined by the consistent clustering of attributes
Typology
Systematic organization of artifacts into types on the basis of shared attributes
Underwater reconnaissance
Geographical methods of underwater survey
Wheeler box grid
Excavation technique developed by Mortimer Wheeler involving excavation grid squares
