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ARCH 112 > Lecture 2 > Flashcards

Lecture 2 Flashcards

1
Q

What is paleoanthropology?

A

Study of fossilized remains of human ancestors. Focuses on humans and primates, the orders of which humans belong to.

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2
Q

What is a fossil?

A

Preserved remains of a plant or animal that has become mineralized over time.

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3
Q

What minerals replace the fossil over time?

A

Silica and calcium carbonate.

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4
Q

Where are the most likely places to have bone matter to fossilize?

A

Areas with volcanic activity or ground water with high mineral content.

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5
Q

What is an unaltered fossil?

A

Remains preserved without mineralization.

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6
Q

What are fossil locales?

A

Places where fossilized remains of once living organisms are found.

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7
Q

What are archaeological sites?

A

A place where evidence of past human activity is found.

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8
Q

What is the Heritage Property Act?

A

Saskatchewan legislation designed to protect archaeological sites and other heritage resources.

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9
Q

What is a site survey?

A

The process of discovering the location of archaeological sites.

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10
Q

What are the techniques for locating sites?

A
  1. Pedestrian Survey
  2. Shovel Testing
  3. Aerial photography/ Satellite Imaging
  4. Geophysical Techniques
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11
Q

What is pedestrian survey?

A

Walk back and forth in spaced lines called transects and look for any evidence of human activity (pottery, house foundations, etc).

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12
Q

What are the limitations of a pedestrian survey?

A

You may not be able to visibly see anything if there is a lot of vegatation or the archaeological material is buried beneath the surface.

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13
Q

What is shovel testing?

A

Test pits that are dug out. They will examine the soil and see if there are any artifacts that are found.

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14
Q

What is aerial photography/ satellite imaging?

A

Allows you to see different earthworks or patterns that aren’t visible from the earths surface.

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15
Q

What are nazca lines?

A

Very large patterns on the earths surface. (e.g. spider shapes, animal shapes).

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16
Q

What are some geophysical techniques?

A
  1. Electrical Resistivity
  2. Magnetic Resistivity
  3. Ground Penetrating Radar
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17
Q

What are non-invasive, sub-surface methods?

A

geophysical techniques.

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18
Q

What would geophysical methods reveal?

A

Garbage dumps, foundations for houses, burial mounds, etc.

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19
Q

What are some features that are more likely to be shown on electrical resistivity?

A

Heavy things like brick walls.

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20
Q

What are some features that are more likely to be shown when using magnetic resistivity?

A

Items like clay (pottery) or fire pits are more likely to be picked up.

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21
Q

What are features that are more likely to be shown on ground penetrating radar?

A

Useful in finding unmarked graves – look up.

22
Q

What is a method that can be used in underwater archaeology?

A

Side Scan Sonar

23
Q

Who was Sir John Franklin?

A

A sailor who was looking to map the arctic. Two of his ships (Erebus and HMS Terror) were used, but both were lost in the expedition.

24
Q

What do you need to do when you start the excavation of sites?

A
  1. Establish datum

2. Create a grid

25
Q

What is a datum?

A

A fixed location catalogue that has all the specimens identified on grid.

26
Q

What is horizontal excavation?

A

Use to expose remains of a single point in time. E.g. the floor of a longhouse.

27
Q

What is vertical excavation?

A

Used to expose a sequence of occupation. E.g. any site that has been used repeatedly like a garbage dump.

28
Q

What is stratigraphy?

A

The study of how different layers of sediments and soils, artifacts and fossils are laid down in successive deposits or strata.

29
Q

What is the law of superposition?

A

Older layers at an archaeological site are generally deeper or lower than more recent layers.

30
Q

What are material remains found at sites?

A
  1. Artifacts
  2. Features
  3. Ecofacts
31
Q

What are artifacts?

A

Portable objects made or altered by humans or human ancestors. E.g. bone tools, pottery, arrow points

32
Q

What are features?

A

Items made or altered by humans that cannot be removed. E.g. hearths, building foundations, stone circles.

33
Q

What are ecofacts?

A

Organic materials associated with human activity, but not manufactured by people. E.g. plant remains discarded as food waste, butchered animal remains.

34
Q

What affects how and where materials are deposited at a site?

A

Environmental and cultural factors (burials, disasters, etc).

35
Q

What are biases in preservation?

A

Differences in preservation create a bias in what is found on archaeological sites. E.g. bog man (Tollund man) because of acid and lack of oxygen in the soils.

36
Q

What is Taphonomy?

A

The study of the processes that affect organic remains after death.

37
Q

What is Experimental Archaeology?

A

Research that attempts to replicate ancient technologies and construction procedures to test hypotheses about past activities. E.g. Pottery burning, tools to use on mammoths

38
Q

How are human and prehuman skeletons analyzed?

A

Species, sex, age at death, geographic origin, pathology and disease.

39
Q

What is an example in determining the sex of the skeleton?

A

Physical characteristics such as the angle of the pelvis.

40
Q

What is an example in determining the age of the skeleton?

A

Tooth eruption and epiphyseal fusion.

41
Q

How can you find the geographic origin of human remains?

A

Strontium isotope analysis can reveal information about geographic origin and migration patterns.

42
Q

How can you see evidence of malnutrition in the skeleton?

A

Enamel hypoplasia, Harris Lines

43
Q

What are the two methods in determining the age of artifacts and fossils?

A
  1. Indirect methods

2. Direct methods

44
Q

What is indirect methods?

A

Age of a fossil obtained by dating something directly associated with them. Common method is to date stratigraphic layers directly above and below the object.

45
Q

What is direct methods?

A

Applying the dating techniques to the object themselves. E.g. radiocarbon dating

46
Q

What are the two dating techniques?

A
  1. Relative dating

2. Absolute dating

47
Q

What is relative dating?

A

Reveals whether an object is older or younger than another. Placing them in a temporal sequence, but not linked to calendar dates.

48
Q

What is absolute (chronometric) dating?

A

Provides an actual date with a plus or minus margin or error. E.g. 1000 years +/- 100.

49
Q

What is seriation? (relative dating)

A

Orders artifacts into series based on their similar attributes. E.g. sites with stone tools are generally older, or see cars driving by based on their style.

50
Q

What is fluorine analysis? (relative dating)

A

Chemical method. Bones and teeth undergo a slow transformation in chemical composition. The older fossil the higher the fluorine content will be.

51
Q

What is the limitation to fluorine analysis?

A

You need to have both samples from the same area. E.g. You can’t compare from different areas of the country.

ARCH 112 (19 decks)

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