Test 1 Flashcards
Takes the form of test pits or trenches placed across a site to expose the stratigraphy and artifact contents of a site; can identify stratified layers of soil
Vertical excavation
What does stratigraphy tell us?
How the site was formed and how materials accumulated
Expose large areas of the ground; recover information about site arrangement and structure
Horizontal excavation
Dating based on relations between materials; sequencing things
Relative dating
Method of assigning archaeological dates in calendar years so that an age in actual number of years is known or can be estimated
Absolute dating
Using tree rings to find out the date when the tree was alive
Dendrochronology
Finding carbon 14 and potassium argon to date things
Radioactive isotopes
Tracks magnetism in materials for magnetic orientation of the planet
Paleomagnetic
Deal with the period of humans on the planet
Archaeological chronology (-lithic periods)
Deal with the entire history of earth and distinguish a series of eras and epochs
Geological chronology (-cene periods)
What is the evidence for bipedalism?
Upright posture, s-curve, lack of opposable toe, special legs
Where did Australopithecus Afarensis originate from?
East Africa, Laetoli, Hadar
Fully bipedal, ape/human like, long arms and curved fingers, still adapted for climbing, most famous specimen was Lucy
Australopithecus Afarensis
How long did Australopithecus Afarensis last?
Pliocene, 4.2-2.8 may
Why is Laetoli important?
Proves that A. Afarensis was fully bipedal, had preserved footprints in volcanic ash
How long did Homo Habilis last?
Pleistocene, 2.5-1.6 mya
What is significant about the lower paleolithic?
First stone tool traditions, evidence for control of fire, cold weather adaptations
What tool traditions are associated with the Lower Paleolithic?
Oldowan, Archeulean
Oldest direct ancestor, flatter face and larger brain, known for the first stone tool adaptation(Oldowan), first genus of Homo
Homo habilis
Very crude flake and core technology
Oldowan
Used the Archeulean tool tradition, modern looking below the neck, potential for first controlled use of fire, widespread species
Homo Erectus
Generally a flake and core tradition, use of bone and antler, known for handaxes
Archeulean tool tradition
Where was Homo erectus found?
Asia, Africa (widespread)
What is significant about the Middle Paleolithic?
Mousterian tool tradition, first intentional burials, last time more than 1 species of hominid lived at the same time
What tool tradition is associated with the Middle Paleolithic?
Mousterian
When was Homo neandertalensis discovered?
Middle Paleolithic
Where was Homo neandertalensis?
All over
Large brained human, short and stocky, occipital bun, brow ridges, robust
Homo neandethalensis
What kind of culture did neanderthals have?
Mousterian tool tradition, intentional burials, hunting, lived in caves
When did Homo sapiens appear?
Upper Paleolithic
Cave site in Iraq that had evidence of intentional burials
Shanidar Cave
Gracile structure, no occipital bun, less defined brow ridge, large brained
Homo sapien
Where were homo sapiens located?
Africa
What is the culture of Homo sapiens?
Advanced art and tools, migrated with animals, first domestication
Last multiple hominins, first intentional burials, arts, dogs domesticated
Paleolithic
Shift to sedentism, marine resources, use/reliance on nuts and wild grains, intentional changes to landscape
Mesolithic
Agriculture, widespread sedentism, hierarchy
Neolithic
What was the significance of Vedbaek?
Evidence of use of marine resources, large burial
What 2 periods had a sedentary lifestyle?
Mesolithic and Neolithic
What period had a mobility lifestyle?
Paleolithic
Why did agriculture begin?
Have a surplus of food, more resources for food
What affects did agriculture have on culture?
Stratification levels, change in diet, disease, humans lived close to animals, rapid population growth
What was significant about Monte Verde?
Best example of human occupation, wooden artifacts, old tools, early inhabitants of the New World
What was the significance of Catallhoyuk?
Massive mound of houses, garbage, and burials, large number of structures, obsidian trade
The best examples of human occupation prior to 10,000 B.C. in North America are usually attributed to which area?
South America
Which of the following tools have been discovered at the Lindenmeier site? (check all that apply)
bone beads, bone needles
How did ancestors of modern Inuit (Eskimo) populations first arrive in the arctic regions of North America?
Boating across the Bering strait
During the last glacial maximun, around 18,000 years ago, what were the sea levels like compared to today?
400 ft lower
The Black Earth site at Carrier Mills have revealed what?
Uninterrupted occupation for a long time
