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
Radiocarbon dating
Measurement of rate of decay of radioactive (unstable) carbon isotope C14 from dead plant/animal remains
Dendrochronology
(Tree ring dating) Absolute age, tree cross sections
Potassium- Argon Dating
Measures rate of decay of isotope potassium
40 into argon-40.
-lava, volcanic rock and ash
fossil contexts
Microarcheology
analyzes microscopic residue from flotation and soil
SITE: Ashkelon, Israel
“plaster” actually decayed plants and fecal matter
Stable isotope anaylis
Measures light (stable) elements of hydrogen,
carbon, nitrogen, oxygen & sulfur in ORGANIC SAMPLES
to determine composition.
Human, animal bone, teeth and hair determine
diets and origin
Three Age System
Rooted in technology and focused on artifacts
Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age
Culture History
Classifies regions into “culture areas”
material culture
descriptive approach
Neolithic revolution
settled life and beginnings of agriculture
V. Gordon Childe
Neolithic revolution
urban revolution
focus from material remains to SOCIETIES that produced them
Urban revolution
cities and complex government
Processualism
New Archeology
Archeology = science
- hypothesis testing and scientific method
- rejects descriptive approach from culture
Post- processualism
1980’s-1990
Archeology is more like history than science
epic perspective
archeological remains = text
Why is post processulism against processualism
positivism too objective
archeological excavation not replicable
Emic perspective
insiders view of their own culture
Etic perspective
outsiders view of a culture
