midterm 2

Question 1

what is a hypothesis?

Answer 1

a testable statement

Question 2

what is the scientific method

Answer 2

observation 
question 
hypothesis 
prediction
test 
result

Question 3

what happens once an archaeological site is opened up?

Answer 3

• Once opened up or exposed, they deteriorate quickly

* Ex. Pompeii

Question 4

what happens with a habitation site?

Answer 4

• Archaeologists will spend time mapping out ring of stones- location and placement may lead to how different sites are connected
  
  • Tells you something about the environment ex. Door placement

Question 5

what is founded in a bison kill site? example?

Answer 5

• Lots of bison bone found (prairies)
  
  • May find tools/projectile points
  • Trauma on the bones
  • Head-smashed-in buffalo jump site

Question 6

why are historical sites used? how are they found?

Answer 6

• We have documents
  
  • More recent in time
  • How are sites found?
  • Pedestrian survey
  • Test pits

Question 7

what does proton magnetometry pick up?

Answer 7

• Pick up disturbances

Question 8

what is space archaeology?

Answer 8

Satellite imagery (space archaeology)
• Dr. Sarah parcak
• Used satellite to find sites

Question 9

what is ground penetrating radar?

Answer 9

• Detector that picks up on reflected waves

Question 10

what is a feature?

Answer 10

Feature
• Evidence you don’t pickup
• a collection of one or more contexts representing some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical characteristic to it in relation to site stratigraphy

Question 11

what is an artifact?

Answer 11

Artifact
• Evidence you pick up and analyze
• Spatial context is important

Question 12

what are ecofacts?

Answer 12

Ecofacts 
	• Connected with environment 
	• Animal bones 
	• Pollen
	• Phytoliths

Question 13

what is zooarchaeology?

Answer 13

• Recognize what animal was utilized in that area

* Need knowledge on animal bones

Question 14

what is taphonomy?

Answer 14

• Look for tooth marks etc… Spend more time on items

Question 15

add dating techniques from textbook

Answer 15

• Pg 194-200 in text

Question 16

what is relative data?

Answer 16

• What’s present around area of interest
• Contextual info maintained as you dig down by keeping walls smooth bc you see stratigraphy-
the analysis of the order and position of layers of archaeological remains.
• Law of superposition- lower down is older, on top is newer

Question 17

what is dendrochronology? (based on biology.)

Answer 17

• Dendrochronology
  
  • Analyzing tree rings
  • Has to be in an area with seasons; moisture change + growth
  • Rings match up with years
  • Might need to remove a piece of wood
  • Need trees at site- especially ones used in a cultural context
  • Calculating a master sequence

Question 18

describe K-Ar dating

Answer 18

radioactive decay
• Around 60,000 years
• Review- does it take us back to paleolithic?
• Radiometric

Question 19

describe C-14 dating

Answer 19

• Ratio of carbon atoms in fossil used
  
  • C-14 is unstable, so it decays after death
  • Ratio of carbon 14 and carbon 12 (Which does not decay) is used to date
  • If near a body of water you need a marine
  • Results must be calibrated

Question 20

half-life of C-14? importance?

Answer 20

Half life = 5730 years remember this number, bc of half life we can only use this on sites 60,000 years or younger

Question 21

what is subsistence?

Answer 21

• Collectors vs producers
• Neolithic 10,000 BP, animal and plant domestication
anthropologists categorize societies based on how they organize themselves

Question 22

describe a band society

Answer 22

• Common social organization of foragers
  
  • No more than 50 people
  • Equal access to material and social valuables (egalitarian)

Question 23

describe chiefdom

Answer 23

• A leader has privileged access to power, wealth, and prestige
  
  • Other people share roughly the same status and access to material and social valuables
  • Greater degree of craft production

Question 24

describe states

Answer 24

• A stratified society with unequal access to material or social valuables
  
  • A defined territory and a centralized govt
  • Led by an elite with the power to tax and a monopoly on using force

Question 25

describe feminist archaeology

Answer 25

• Feminist archaeology: recognizes that traditional approaches have often ignored the presence of women (seeks new ways to include them)

Question 26

describe gender archaeology

Answer 26

* Gender archaeology: questions the binary male-female distinction * Investigates variation in sex, gender, and other human differences by focusing on detailed contextual features of archaeological sites

Question 27

stewardship

Answer 27

stewardship- respect for archaeological remains access to knowledge from the past conservation preferred when it isnt possible

Question 28

principles of ethical conduct

Answer 28

stewardship aboriginal relationships professional responsibility public education and outreach

Question 29

what is domestication? ex?

Answer 29

* The sunflower was domesticated in north america | * Domestication: human involvement in growing and development of plants

Question 30

what is niche construction? what does it buffer?

Answer 30

* Natural selection traditionally sees organisms as adapting to the environment * However, organisms actively engage in niche construction to modify their environments * Niche construction buffers against selection for morphological changes.

Question 31

what is neolithic?

Answer 31

era of farming | • Evidence of dependence on domesticated animals and plants

Question 32

what is the neolithic revolution?

Answer 32

the transition from hunting and gathering to a farm based economy • Paleo diet- doesn't exist, every area had different resources- not just one paleo diet- local variety

Question 33

describe natufian culture

Answer 33

(14,000-9800 BP). Southwestern Asia • Evidence of agriculture: grinding stones, food storage pits, polished stone blades • Pits- no evidence of food storage previously • Grinding stones: grains, corns, spices,

Question 34

what is cultivation?

Answer 34

* For the domestication of plants and animals, careful modification of the environment must occur * Cultivation: activities of preparing fields (sowing, weeding, harvesting and storing products)

Question 35

what is agriculture?

Answer 35

systematically modifying environment in which crops are cultivated and animals maintained

Question 36

3 hypotheses to explain origin of agriculture

Answer 36

readiness, demographic, and multistrand

Question 37

describe the readiness hypothesis

Answer 37

people lived where wild plants and animals that could be domesticated were found

Question 38

describe the demographic hypothesis

Answer 38

agriculture became necessary because of an increase in population

Question 39

describe the multiple strands theory

Answer 39

that include influences of climate, environment, population, technology, social organization, and diet on the emergence of domestication are not appropriate.

Question 40

3 ways to recognize domesticated plants

Answer 40

• Seed size - larger with domestication • Seed coat thickness- thinner with domestication Seed dispersal mechanisms

Question 41

what is horticulture?

Answer 41

* Growing crops with simple tools and methods | * Small scale

Question 42

what is intensive agriculture?

Answer 42

• Techniques are used to cultivate the fields permanently

Question 43

how can we recognize domesticated animals?

Answer 43

* Geographic distribution * Population characteristics * Osteological changes * Limited use of muscles in domesticated animals when compared to wild animals

Question 44

how does domestication occur? ex?

Answer 44

• Domestication can happen multiple times • Can have a gap between domestication events Paw prints were found in a 2000 yr old site in the UK

Question 45

new world domestication?

Answer 45

* Squash seeds found from * Maize from tehuacan valley, Mexico * 5,000-6,000 years ago * Sites found variation in cob size that showed how domestication occurred * Teosinte plant was bred into maize

Question 46

why are certain animals domesticated in certain areas?

Answer 46

ex llamas alpacas | environmental aspects

Question 47

why was sumpweed domesticated and where?

Answer 47

north america • Climate patterns- what was and wasn't being used

Question 48

what are the advantages of food production?

Answer 48

* More abundant, support more people * Creation of a surplus- access to food resources * Long term storage, less of a need to shift around to different locations.

Question 49

disadvantages of food production?

Answer 49

* Demand on environment * Conflict between populations over land control * Health costs- less variety

Question 50

what is the neolithic demographic transition?

Answer 50

• Population growth after agricultural revolution