Module 1 Flashcards
Archeology
The scientific study of human past through traces of the past that exist in the present
Anthropological Subdisciplines
1.) Archeology
2.) Cultural Anthropology
3.) Biological Anthropology
4.) Linguistics
Artifacts
Portable objects used, modified, or made by humans
Features
Non-portable artifacts
Sites
Places where artifacts, ecofacts, and features are found together
Preservation environments
Dry environments; Cold environments; Waterlogged environments
Survey
Process of locating and demarcating archeological sites
Excavation
Structured according to survey
Horizontal Excavation
Reconstructing a specific moment in time (shallow but expansive)
Vertical Excavation
Focuses on sequence of occupation by examining stratigraphy (deep but small are). Highlights change through time
Stratigraphy
The study of rock layers and the sequence of events they reflect
Provenience
Exact 3-dimensional position of a find
Context
A find’s provenience, matrix, and association with other finds
Pleistocene Epoch (2.5 mya - 11,600 BP)
Characterised by ice age (caused increase in brain size) with glacial and interglacial periods and megafauna
Holocene Epoch (11,600 BP - ???)
Characterised by warmer climate, no rising sea levels
Anthropocene Epoch
Humans cause the primary changes to environment
Terraforming
(“Symptom” of Anthropocene) Making physical changes to the Earth
Technofossils
(“Symptom” of Anthropocene) Manmade items that become part of geological layers
Anthroturbation
(“Symptom” of Anthropocene) Digging our large sections of Earth
Boundary Limits
Thresholds that, once surpassed, there is no turning back
Archeological Theory
Perspective through which archeologists interpret data (usually socially/politically motivated)
Archbishop James Ussher
Claimed Earth originated in 4004 BC, and promoted catastrophism
Catastrophism
Theory that states that natural disasters such as floods and volcanic eruptions shaped Earth’s landforms and caused extinction of some species
Antiquarianism
Collecting artifacts without proper archeology perspectives, destroying sites in the process
Three Age System
Created by Christian Thomsen, consisting of the Stone, Iron and Bronze Ages
Uniformitarianism
Charles Lyell’s challenge to catastrophism, stating past must be discussed through observable phenomena occurring in the present
Culture History
Practiced in the early 20th Century, and influenced by Franz Boas. Placed emphasis on classification based on cultural trait lists and had little regard for mechanisms of change
Processual Archeology (New Archeology)
Began in the 60’s thanks to Lewis Binford, who critiqued culture history. Believed inductive approach is unscientific and focus should be on cultural change overtime/adaptation. Emphasised deduction (inferences on general law). Etic.
Positivist Philosophy
World is concrete and knowable through science
Postprocessual Archaeology
Began in the 80’s to present day thanks to Ian Hodder, who critiqued processual archeology. Argued that culture is more than adaptation. Argued that archeology is not a hard science, and places more emphasis on interpreting the past. Emic.
Reflexivity
True objectivity is impossible and the scientist is always a part of the data
Etic
Approaching study from an outside, objective perspective
Emic
Should work to understand the past from the perspective who lived it
Herto, Ethiopia
Site of three 160,000 year old Homo sapiens skulls, the earliest in the world
Blombos Cave, South Africa
Cave site with evidence of art and Homo sapiens-style artifacts dating to as early as 75,000 years ago
Multiregional Hypothesis
An evolutionary hypothesis that modern humans originated through a process of simultaneous local transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens throughout the inhabited world
Out of Africa Hypothesis
The hypothesis that modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved in Africa and spread to other continents, replacing other Homo species without interbreeding with them
Hybridisation Hypothesis
Modern humans originated in Africa but their spread involved interbreeding and interaction with regionally distinct Archaics. There are genetic and cultural contributions from multiple regional populations
Neanderthals
Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, a European variant of Homo sapiens that died out about 25,000 years ago, who modern humans interbred with
Denisovans
A newly discovered group of archaic Homo sapiens from southern Siberia dated to between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago, who modern humans interbred with
Upper Palaeolithic
(50,000-11,000 BP) A cultural period usually associated with modern humans, distinguished by technological innovation in various stone tool industries, as well as portable art
Lion-Headed Man statue
Found in Hohenstein, Germany, that demonstrates abstract and symbolic thinking
Venus Figurines
Faceless with exaggerated female characteristics found all across Europe. Symbolic meaning is debated, but is thought to represent fertility
Bone Flutes
Found at multiple sites and are made from vulture bone
Chauvet Cave, France
(38,000-33,000 BP) Location of earliest paintings
Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art
Most depict animals including deer, rhinos, bears etc., as well as stencilled hands, and abstract forms. They have many interpretations, such as hunting magic, fertility magic, shamanic trances, and mythogram
Sahul
landmass connecting Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea
Sunda
Landmass connecting much of SE Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, & Indonesia
Wallacea
string of islands separating Sahul and Sunda
Mungo Lake
(Dated 50,000-60,000 BP) Spread to southern Australia within 10,000 years
Mungo Lady
Remains found at Lake Mungo dated to be 40,000 years old. Oldest known cremation in the world
Megafauna
Large mammals that were a stable of the cold Pleistocene Epoch
Australian Dreamtime
Aboriginal mythology that include stories about creation of sacred places, land, people, animals, plants, law and custom
Clovis
(15,200-12,900 BP) Thought to be the first people in America. An be identified by their flute spear points. Point of origin is believed to be Siberia via Bering Land Bridge and moved south through the Ice Free Corridor
Fluted Point
The characteristic artifact of the Clovis people in North America associated with large-game hunting
Bering Land Bridge
A land bridge between Siberia and Alaska that was exposed during the most recent Ice Age when the waters of the Bering Strait receded (sea levels decreased)
Ice Free Corridor
A proposed safe route that allowed the Clovis people to migrate (south) further inland
Evidence for Pre-Clovis
Several pre-Clovis sites have been uncovered with radiocarbon dating before 13,200 BP (Monte Verde, Paisley Cave etc.). Non-archeological evidence exists also (DNA, linguistics)
Solutrean Hypothesis
The proposal that the origin of the Clovis culture was in the migration of groups from Europe
Younger Dryas
a stadial, or colder stage, between roughly 13,000 and 11,500 years ago. The climate became colder and drier but did not return to full glacial conditions in higher latitudes
Dendrochronology
Tree-ring dating
Radiocarbon Dating
a chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of the radioisotope carbon-14
