Lab Quiz #1 Flashcards
What is a topographic map?
A detailed graphic representation of features that appear on the Earth’s surface
How is terrain represented on topographic maps?
Contour lines
What are the 2 main purposes topographic maps have in archaeology?
Location of sites and Environmental assessment of a region
Map Reference
A number and a title indicating which map in the series one is working with
Generally located near the corner of a map
Date of Publication
Should always check date of original geographical survey and publication of map
allows you to reference map and check that you’re using recent representation of terrain and environment
How many north arrows on topographic maps?
3
True North
Fixed geographical north point (the North Pole) on Earth
arrow with star
Magnetic North
Point on Earth where magnetic lines of force converge, and consequently where a magnetic compass points
Traditionally has been in the North of Canada near Ellesmere Island, but is moving towards Russia
Arrow with MN
Grid North
Follows orientation of Universal Transverse Mercator system
Arrow with GN
Magnetic Declination
Angle between True North and Magnetic North
Used to calibrate compasses
When is True and Magnetic North in 0 degrees?
When they’re in the same direction
When is True and Magnetic North positive?
When magnetic north is east of true north
When is True and Magnetic North negative?
When magnetic north is west of true north
Angle between True North and Grid North
Grid Declination
What do contour lines represent?
The elevations of points on the ground
Illustrate the shape of the land surface
Can be negative or positive
The number and horizontal separation between contour lines
A reflection of steepness of a slope
Every 5th line in a contour lines is what?
An Index contour
What are location systems?
The methods by which locations of things are recorded
3 most widely used location systems in Canada?
- Legal Description
- Geographic Systems
- Universal Transverse Mercator System
Meridians - Legal System
North/South lines
Baselines - Legal Systems
East/West lines
First baseline is on US/Canada border
Each subsequent baseline is about 39km (24 miles) north of the previous
Where are townships
At each intersection of a baseline and meridian
Townships
About 6x6 miles square
Every township is divided into 36 sections
How big are the 36 sections
1 mile square
Sections are divided into
4 quarters
sections of SE, SW, NE, NW
Which one represents Meridian - 5-1-87-18W4
W4
In Western Canada, land is identified as being west of a Meridian
Which one represents Range - 5-1-87-18W4
18
Which one represents Township - 5-1-87-18W4
87
N/S lines of division
Which one represents Section - 5-1-87-18W4
1
Which one represents Legal Subdivisions (L.S.D.) - 5-1-87-18W4
5
The Geographic System
Based upon the roughly spherical shape of the Earth, refers to position by degrees, minutes and seconds
A degree and minute is divided into what?
degree - 60’
minute - 60”
Locations on geographic system is represented by what 2 coordinates?
latitude and longitude
Latitude
Measured in degrees from the equator, increasing as one moves north in our hemisphere, or south in southern hemisphere
Longitude
Measured from east to west from the Prime Meridian which is a line running N/S through Greenwich, England
Which one represents Degrees - 56o 1’ 40”
56o
Which one represents Minutes - 56o 1’ 40”
1’
Which one represents Seconds - 56o 1’ 40”
40”
Challenges of Cartography
Earth is roughly spherical, however it isn’t a true sphere
Earth is ellipsoid (oblate spheroid)
Rough surface topography of earth is actually best characterized as a geoid
Most commonly used map
Lambert Cylindrical
Most accurate map yet created
designed by Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa
The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
An international locational reference system that depicts the Earth’s 3D surface in a 2D plane
UTM allows users to identify what
geographic locations anywhere on the Earth’s surface between northern limits of North America and southern limits of Antarctica
What is not included in UTM system and why
Remaining N/S polar regions
due to extreme projection distortions in grid
Rules when using UTM
- All measurements must be taken from central meridian due to curvature
- To avoid complicating location calculations with negative values, easting points are measured from a false origin lying 500,000m west of the zone’s central meridian
To avoid dealing with negative values
How are northing points measured - UTM
Relative to equator
UTM grid is composed of:
light blue lines over the entire map
vertical easting lines and horizontal northing lines
UTM easting and northing coordinates specify
position of a point on Earth
Every UTM coordinate consists of what
UTM zone, easting, northing
Which one represents UTM zone - UTM 11 0701750 5661700
UTM 11
Which one represents easting - UTM 11 0701750 5661700
0701750
Which one represents northing - UTM 11 0701750 5661700
5661700
Why add a 0 in beginning? - UTM
just so numbers digits are even
What are Site designation systems
methods by which archaeologists assign names and numbers to archaeological sites
Borden System
Canada’s system site of designation
divides country into grid of units each measuring 2 degrees of latitude by 4 degrees of longitude
What is provenience?
The location of objects on an archaeological site
recorded in 3 dimensions from a known point on a site - DATUM
How many methods of recording Horizontal Provenience from a datum
3
1st method of recording HP from datum
Set up a grid on the site and record an object’s location within that grid
2nd method of recording HP from datum
Measuring a bearing and a distance from the site datum to the object being recorded
3rd method of recording HP from datum
If one has a set up of 2 or more datums the position of an object can be triangulated based on its distance from the datums
Vertical Provenience
The 3rd dimension, depth, elevation or altitude
3 measurements of vertical provenience
- Depth below datum (b.d.)
- Depth below surface (b.s.)
- Altitude above sea level (a.s.l.)
Stratigraphy
An artifacts vertical provenience
layering of soils, sediments and deposits
How to determine layers
often distinguished by soil color, size, texture and compactness of soil
some sites are marked by amount of cultural material found or by cultural features
Relative age
Archaeologists use stratigraphy to determine relative age of artifacts and soils
Law of Superstition
Basically states lower layers are older than upper layers
Processes which may disturb stratigraphy
erosion, rodent burrowing, root action and human burials
Profile
The general stratigraphy of a site
or a particular excavation unit of
a site is illustrated in reports
cross-section view of layers through which the archaeologist excavated
Harris Matrix
Visual tool that represents three-dimensional
stratigraphic layers in a 2D diagram
Developed by Dr. Harris.
Most recent contexts sit on top and the oldest sit at the bottom, with lines to link them together to represent direct stratigraphic contact
