Michaelmas Flashcards
What did Pitt-Rivers contribute to archaeology?
importance of military approach and emphasised publication/recording.
What is the difference between how bulk finds and small finds are treated during excavation?
store small finds separately to bulk finds
What do field archaeologists mean by the term ‘context’
where an artefact is excavated
How did WWII effect the development of British archaeology?
In the aftermath of WWII there was a rise of urban archaeology following the blitz, and deeper stratigraphy.
What is stratigraphy and why is it important?
the analysis of the order and position of layers of archaeological remains.
What did Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler contribute to archaeology?
realised the importance of stratigraphy for establishing relative ages
-It is a right, not a privilege to study archaeological human remainders
false
-Age-at-death estimation is more accurate in non-adult skeletons then in adult individuals
True
-Preservation of human bones is not affected by climate
False
-Biological sex estimation is most accurate when using the skull
False
- Name FOUR methods of analysis that can be used to study human skeletal remains. Which is the most common method?
Macroscopic → most common approach to study
Radiography → use of CT scanning
Microscopic → histology
Biomolecular - aDNA or stable isotopic analysis
- State which of the following morphological features are indicative of female sex
Wide u-shaped sciatic notch and subpubic angle; sacrum more straight
State which of the following morphological features are indicative of male sex
Narrow v-shaped sciatic notch and sub-pubic angle; sacrum more curved
- Name FIVE limitations of human palaeopathology
Most diseases affect soft tissues
many diseases affect bone in similar ways
Takes a while for diseases to have an impact - only chronic
Name 4 crops cultivated in Neolithic Europe
Wheat, oat, barely, corn
List 5 negative effects of urban post medieval environment visible in human skeletal remains
Overcrowding strains resources Impacts mortality rates Trauma Rickets Stunted growth
Name one iron tool used for agriculture prior to the Romans arrival in Britain
Mouldboard plough
What’s one area the Romans advanced
Granaries
Iron tool introduced by the Romans
Grass cutting scythe
What ways are water supply linked to health and disease?
Cholera outbreaks
No running water
Poor sanitation
Diseases like TB, typhoid and smallpox
What symptoms are associated with vitamin D deficiency
Poor bone development/ rickets
Where in the human skeleton does enamel hypoplasia occur and what does it indicate?
Teeth - it is caused by malnutrition, premature birth or viral/ bacterial infection
Name the 4 main forest trees of Atlantic Europe
Oak, ash, lime and elm
Where in the human skeleton do you find Cribra orbitalia and what does this condition indicate?
Orbital roof - anaemia or malnutrition
What are the five main stages in processing a free threshing crop?
Threshing Winnowing Coarse sieving Fine sieving Hand cleaning
What were the most common place taxa found in the guts of the graubelle man?
Barley, grass, knotweed, emmer wheat, oat, weeds, he was thought to have been eating fine sieve residue
what are the main 5 animals of the last 15,000 years?
AUROCHS, ELK, RED DEER, ROE DEER, WILD BOAR.
Techniques to test ecology…
corering for pollen/ insects/ice cores
Pollen coring
- sample the core at chosen intervals
- Identify several hundred pollen grains in each sample.
- calculate percentage in each sample.
Why can’t we see undergrowth pollen?
- Undergrowth pollen is not present but this doesn’t mean it wasn’t there…..
- Pollen was required for large mammals’ food and shelter
- Humans were present (Mesolithic hunter – gatherers)
- Hazel was present and wouldn’t regenerate under closed canopy
Gerhard Bersu
identified wooden building impact of the soil, and pioneered the use of aerial photography
Brian Hope Taylor
Used large open area excavation
what affects preservation?
inhumation , cremation
Coffin, shroud, depth
Acidity of soil
Disturbance (tree roots and drainage ditches)
Length of time buried
Age - youth have less mineralised, older may have osteoporosis
Cold, Peruvian mummy, Bog body (due to lack of O2 and bacteris
4 diseases that affect the skeleton
Dental disease - Caries, periapical lesions,
Tuberculosis - associated with poverty, poor living conditions
Venereal Syphilis - later stages affect the skeletons of sufferers eg) cranial
Leprosy - affects the facial bones, fingers and toes
describe Medieval agriculture
Primitive and badly organised?
Ridge and furrow, open field system
Crop rotation system
Well organised, not primitive
how are bones often found?
Human skeletons often complete
Animal bones often smashed by human action (precisely what we want to understand)
Bones may never reach the site worked on
Bones broken for marrow (v nutritious and fatty yum)
Dogs!! Domestic dogs eat away at softer bones more than harder bones
Bones also destroyed by acid etching ~ digesting by stomach acid
Name four categories of animal bone that are underrepresented if excavation deposits are not sieved
fish bones, carpals, loose teeth, cremated bones
What were the main FOUR species of domestic animal (in addition to the dog) that were present in Neolithic Britain?
goats, pigs, cattle, sheep
Name the THREE main animal products/uses originally argued to comprise the ‘Secondary Products Revolution’. Which has subsequently been shown to be of much greater antiquity?
cattle for traction and dairy, sheep for wool
lipids from dairy present in ceramics from 7000 BC
How do the animal remains AND the plant remains and granaries at Arbeia suggest that the Romans mobilised and utilised agricultural products?
south shields granaries had storage for 3,200 tons of grain
there was organisation between who got what meat, commandant get sirloins and the soldiers get the feet
List five factors that affect the taphonomy of animal bone assemblages
acidity, carbonisation, waterlogging, butchery, burial
How do you tell the difference between domestic and wild species of a) goat and b) cattle
cattle - domesticated are smaller, high mortality of young cattle
goats - domesticated are larger
List five things one can tell from studying the animal bones from a site
potential trade hunting practices diet domestication ritual
Name FIVE domestic animals you might find in a zooarchaeological assemblage in Iceland.
sheep, pigs, cows, horses
Name FIVE anthropogenic uses of birch trees that are apparent from the Icelandic archaeological record.
building houses building long boats clearing for pastures firewood making weapons
What is a) tephra, b) tephrochronology and c) the Landnám tephra?
Tephra - particulate material erupted from a volcano
Tephrochronology is based on the identification, correlation and dating of tephra.
landnam eruption just before Viking arrival allows differentiation
Name FIVE types of human impact on the environment that both pre-date and post-date the 19th century cal AD.
deforestation, infrastructure, domestication, smoke pollution, waste pollution
What is ‘Landnám’, when did it occur in Iceland and what impact did it have on the environment of Iceland?
a volcano which erupted just before the Viking arrival, before the eruption
Lots of peat bogs and well preserved lakes
Pre-settlement vegetation of over 27% of landmass covered in mixed birch-willow woodland.
