Lecture 10 - Intro To Archaeology

Question 1

What are the two types of archaeological dating?

Answer 1

Relative and absolute dating.

Question 2

What is relative dating?

Answer 2

Comparing two or more bits of archaeological data to determine which one is older, without giving a specific age.

Question 3

What does stratigraphy refer to in archaeology?

Answer 3

The interpretation of the layering of the ground.

Question 4

What are the basic necessities of an archaeological laboratory?

Answer 4

Storage, space to lay out materials, equipment for measuring, illustrating (drawing, photos), and cleaning.

Question 5

How much time is typically spent in the lab compared to the site?

Answer 5

About three times the amount of time used on the site.

Question 6

What specialized equipment might some archaeological labs have?

Answer 6

Mass spectrometers, XRF instruments, scanning electron microscopes, and more.

Question 7

What is an assemblage in archaeology?

Answer 7

All materials collected from a single site or layer.

Question 8

What is the first step in processing artifacts?

Answer 8

Artifact cleaning and sorting.

Question 9

Why is artifact conservation important?

Answer 9

Organic material may need conservation as they decay quickly in a new context.

Question 10

What does artifact labeling involve?

Answer 10

Labeling numbers in the order they are discovered.

Question 11

What is artifact cataloguing?

Answer 11

Recording details of artifacts.

Question 12

How can artifacts be classified?

Answer 12

By color, shape, etc.

Question 13

What is typology in archaeology?

Answer 13

Ordering artifacts in time and space.

Question 14

Who began developing archaeological typologies in the 19th century?

Answer 14

Oscar Montelius.

Question 15

What is stylistic seriation?

Answer 15

Analyzing similarities and differences in artifacts.

Question 16

What is frequency seriation?

Answer 16

Analyzing what’s popular through time based on relative frequencies of artifacts.

Question 17

What is an example of a fossil index?

Answer 17

Clovis points.

Question 18

What time period does the Pleistocene cover?

Answer 18

1.8 million years ago to 10,000 years before present.

Question 19

What geological events occurred during the Pleistocene?

Answer 19

Glacial cycles, including ice advance and retreat.

Question 20

What is the Bering land bridge?

Answer 20

A land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the last Ice Age.

Question 21

What is loess?

Answer 21

Fine dust particles.

Question 22

What studies can be conducted using pollen?

Answer 22

Pollen studies, also known as palynology.

Question 23

What does faunal dating involve?

Answer 23

Using the evolution of mammoth teeth through time to compare ages.

Question 24

What is chemical dating?

Answer 24

The process where organic material, such as bone, is transformed as organic material is replaced by minerals.

Question 25

What is the significance of fossils in chemical dating?

Answer 25

Fossils of different ages will have different mineral content.

Question 26

What was discovered at Piltdown, UK in 1912?

Answer 26

A skull and mandible by Charles Dawson, which was later revealed to be a hoax.

Question 27

What was the initial belief about Piltdown Man?

Answer 27

It provided ‘proof’ that early humans evolved in Europe, not Africa.

Question 28

What led to the rejection of the first discovery of small-brained hominins in Africa?

Answer 28

The belief in Piltdown Man as evidence of European evolution.

Question 29

What was revealed about the skull and mandible of Piltdown Man?

Answer 29

They were separate parts; the skull was modern human and the mandible was from an orangutan.

Question 30

What is absolute dating?

Answer 30

Methods that provide a specific age, such as calendars, coins, and glacial varve counting.

Question 31

What civilizations had calendars?

Answer 31

Civilizations such as the Aztec and Greek had calendars, some of which were very complicated.

Question 32

What is glacial varve counting?

Answer 32

Counting layers of sediment within varves that are connected to an active glacier.