Lecture 13 - Intro To Archaeology Flashcards
What is the earliest debated use of fire?
Good evidence suggests at least 1 million years ago in an African cave.
What is likely the earliest method of starting a fire?
Friction fire.
What materials can produce a spark for fire starting?
Iron pyrite and flint.
What is the significance of Kalambo Falls, Zambia?
It features shaped wood objects and some of the oldest modified wood, dated to 476,000 BP.
When did bone and antler tool technology first appear?
In the Upper Paleolithic era in Europe, around 40,000 BP.
What materials are typically used for cordage?
Plant fibers, grass, bark, and leather.
What is the importance of containers?
They are used for collecting materials, water, food, and for transportation.
When did the earliest pottery appear? How did it evolve?
Around 12,000 BP in Japan. May have been the coil method. The potters wheel was invented around 5000 BP in SW Asia.
What is the relationship between pottery and sedentary societies?
Pottery tends to be associated with sedentary societies, as mobile hunter-gatherers didn’t use it due to its weight.
What was the first metal used in metal work? And metallurgy?
Copper, first used in SW Asia around 9,000 BP. It was molded into shape, cold hammered or rolled. It was also the first metal used in metallurgy 6000 BP in SW Asia.
What is bronze made from? When did it start?
An alloy of copper with tin or arsenic. Alloying first shows up in SW Asia 5,500 BP.
What was significant about the Shang Dynasty in relation to technology?
It produced very complicated bronze items around 3,750 BP.
What is the process of carburization?
The conversion of iron to steel in the Eastern Mediterranean around 3,200 BC.
What methods are used to understand ancient technologies?
Ethnographic analogy, experimental archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology.
What is experimental archaeology?
The replication and use of ancient technologies.
