Week 3 Part 1

Question 1

Does the stratigraphy indicate the order of artefact production? Why?

Answer 1

No
Because…
1/ residual (reworked remains) from earlier times can find its way into younger remains
2/ Infiltrated remains can move down strata through cultural or non-cultural processes
-> Imagine digging a trench, the remains will be upside down

Question 2

Who divided the stone ages?

Answer 2

Sir John Lubbock

Question 3

What were the stone ages divided into? What characterised them?

Answer 3

Palaeolithic
- Europe still contained Woolly Mammoth, Cave Bear
Neolithic:
- Beautiful weapons and instruments

Question 4

Who proposed the Mesolithic? What is it?

Answer 4

Edouard Lartet

- Middle period between Palaeolithic and Neolithic

Question 5

What was Gabriel de Mortillet’s contribution?

Answer 5

Divided the Upper Palaeolithic into 5 periods

• Magdalenian
• Solutrean
• Gravettian
• Aurignacian
• Chatelperonian

Question 6

How does cross dating work in general?

Answer 6

Comparing of aesthetics of one artefact at an undated site to a similar artefact aesthetically which is dated to date the artefact

Question 7

What is seriation? Who proliferated the idea?

Answer 7

The arrangement of archaeological material in a presumed chronological order based on morphological characteristics

Pitt Rivers

Question 8

Why does proliferation not work? 2 points

Answer 8

1/ Peak popularity might occur at different times for different sites. Battleship curve Doppler effect

2/ Does not account for how styles can become popular again

Question 9

What two ways can the chemical composition of artefacts change

Answer 9

1/ Loss of materials originally in the specimen

2/ Uptake of elements from the environment

Question 10

How does nitrogen, fluorine and uranium dating work?

Answer 10

Nitrogen: Naturally found in animal bones and degrades after death

Uranium: Acquired over time when buried

Fluorine: Accumulates over time from contact with groundwater