Lecture 4 Flashcards
1
Q
Ethnoarchaeology
A
Ethnography [study of the lives of a particular contemporary cultural group]
+
Archaeology [the study of past societies from their material remains]
=
Ethnoarchaeology
The study of the lives of contemporary peoples from an archaeological perspective
2
Q
Ethnoarchaeology pros
A
- We can go beyond our own
culturally-specific assumptions to
see people and things in action - We can study exactly how people
go about their everyday lives - How they make things
- What they eat and how they
catch/find it - How, why, when and how often
they move around - How their decisions relate to the
environments in which they live - We can see the material culture
signatures of different behaviours - Insight into the things that are very
difficult to see archaeologically, e.g.
ideologies
3
Q
Ethnoarchaeology cons
A
- Pre-industrialized cultures are not ‘living stone age people’
- Natural environments have changed over time
- Cultural and technological environments have changed over time
- Other cultures also have long histories of development and change
- Histories of colonialism and abuse (may
also inform our interpretations!) - There are many fewer such groups than
there used to be - Many modern-day ‘traditional’ societies live in very marginal environments
- We see only a small sample of the full range of past behaviour
4
Q
Scales of ethnographic
comparison
A
- Micro-scale: intra-societal interactions and behaviour
- Meso-scale: How different sites fit together in groups’ lifeways: regional-scale movement and interaction
- Macro-scale: cross-cultural comparisons in relation to
environmental factors
5
Q
Bergman’s Rule
A
- Colder climates = bulkier bodies
tend - Warmer climates = slighter bodies
6
Q
Microscale of ethnographic comparison
A
intra-societal interactions and behaviour
7
Q
Mesoscale of ethnographic
comparison
A
How different sites fit together in groups’ lifeways: regional-scale movement and interaction
8
Q
Macro-scale of ethnographic
comparison
A
cross-cultural comparisons in relation to
environmental factors
9
Q
When did humans and primates split
A
6-7 mya
