Midterm 1 : Terms and Concepts Flashcards
Archeological Challenges
- Geological and environmental factors
- human activities
Survey
IDENTIFYING AND MAPPING physical remains of human activity
Site
any loci of past human activity
Region
culturally or geographically defined cluster of sites
What are the Survey Techniques?
Remote sensing….Lidar
What are Survey Advantages?
- non destructive
- Identity relationships
- Surface Artifacts
Excavation
Exposure of remains via CONTROLLED digging
Strata
layers= activity from different time periods
Stratigraphy
sequence of strata build up in layers
Law of Superposition
in undisturbed stratigraphic sequence, each layer (strata) is younger than the layer beneath it.
Horizontal excavation
(Grids) Expose remains from THE SAME PERIOD (same time)
Vertical excavation
(datum points) expose a sequence from SUCCESSIVE TIME PERIOD (Through time)
What is the goal of excavation?
- Identify strata
- recover remains
- reconstruct horizontal and vertical relationships
Excavation Techniques
brushing
digging
screening
flotation
Excavated materials
artifacts, features and ecofacts
Artifact
evidence of human manufacture
features
non portable cultural items
ecofacts
remains of biological organism
What is context?
the significance of remains interpreted
based on where they were deposited [provenience] and
what they were deposited with [association]
Goal of Documentation
RECONSTRUCTION of remains in CONTEXT
Documentation techniques
digitalization, photographs, drawings and maps, notes and forms
Relative dating
chronology based on stratigraphic sequences
Seriation
relative frequencies through time
absolute chronology
dating contexts & artifacts
in calendar years via scientific tests
