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Archaeology > What Is Archaeology? > Flashcards

What Is Archaeology? Flashcards

1
Q

Archaeology

A

Study of cultures of the past through material remains (artifacts, ecofacts, and features). The goal is the preserve the artifacts, conserve the site, and explain cultural changes

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2
Q

Culture

A

The social structure created and learned by humans. It consists of burial customs, languages, gender roles, social stratification, oral traditions, human behavior and outcomes, etc.

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3
Q

Diffusion

A

Transfer of ideas, ideologies, and practices by word of our of example

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4
Q

Invention

A

Creation of something new or improvement upon an older technology

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5
Q

Migration

A

Movement of people as a peaceful choice or as the result of a stimuli.

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6
Q

Artifacts

A

Man made material goods (ex. stone tools, cups, jewelry, pottery, cave paintings)

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7
Q

Ecofacts

A

Objects from nature that are not modified but are placed in a particular manner (ex. seeds, animal bones)

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8
Q

Features

A

Man made, nonportable artifacts (ex. burial sites, homes)

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9
Q

Prehistory

A

History before civilizations became literate. The focus of the study of the past is on human origins

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10
Q

World history

A

Prehistory with a global perspective (ex. how agriculture was developed independently in many regions of the world)

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11
Q

Grotte de Chauvet

A

One of the earliest painted caves from the ice age that was painted repeatedly over the years. Images of animals and lifestyle from during the ice age.

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12
Q

Tollund Man

A

Found preserved in a bog so a lot of information about him could be learned

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13
Q

Otzi

A

Found preserved by ice in the mountains. He was a hunter (carried bags made of hide and hunting tools), had ritualistic tattoos, had the spearhead that caused his death lodged in his shoulder, and had the blood of 4 different people on him.

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14
Q

Context

A

Position of an object in time and space. Gives relationship to other artifacts, use of object, and site formation process. Factors to consider are the matrix, provenience, and association

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15
Q

Excavations

A

Digging to expose what is underground, recording and analyzing artifacts

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16
Q

Scientific Method

A

Excavations are destructive so a precise plan is necessary before digging. Need hypothesis, initial survey, data collection, and conclusions/publishing results

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17
Q

Hypothesis

A

Preparing questions about goals based on initial research. How did the people live? Why did their lifestyles change? How did societies develop or collapse?

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18
Q

Data Collection

A

Looking through previous documents, history and excavation data

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19
Q

Conclusions

A

Support hypothesis with results and ask further questions. Public results to create a permanent record of data

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20
Q

Dating Methods

A

Relative and absolute ways to place recovered artifacts in a time frame

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21
Q

Carbon 14

A

Getting half life from organic objects. Though on a large scale, good for determination of time period, there is a significant margin of error on the smaller time scale

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22
Q

Thermal Luminescence

A

Used for objects that were exposed to fire. Crystals accumulate electrons at known rate. Heating liberates electrons and creates light. Measuring the light can determine when the crystal was last exposed to heat

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23
Q

Writing

A

Analyzing written documents

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24
Q

Dendrochronology

A

Counting tree rings and comparing ring patterns because the ring states vary based on environmental conditions

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25
Q

Potassium Argon Dating

A

Used to date volcanic ash. Doesn’t use the actual artifacts so their dating is done using the law of association

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26
Q

Stratigraphy

A

Layers of soil and rocks

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27
Q

Survey

A

Looking at the site to see if it is possible to dig there. Researching the history to determine how far to dig. Initial look at land before digging

28
Q

Walk over

A

Looking for things on the surface visually

29
Q

Aerial Photography

A

Taking pictures from the sky of the landscape to observe topography and crop growth patterns

30
Q

Oblique

A

Photograph at an angle

31
Q

Vertical

A

Photograph from directly above

32
Q

LIDAR

A

Satellite imagery that can cut through forestry and recreate structures that are above the surface

33
Q

Positive Crop Marks

A

Trench below that may be hard to see but vegetation is raised as a result

34
Q

Negative Crop Marks

A

Something prevents the growth of crops

35
Q

Soil Marks

A

Underlying deposit shows on the surface

36
Q

Remote Sensing

A

Nondestructive way of examining below the surface to determine whether or not to dig

37
Q

Electric Resistivity

A

Measures resistivity of the soil. If there is no resistivity, the area is entirely natural. If there is resistivity, no definite conclusions can be made because there may or may not be something unnatural

38
Q

Ground Penetrating

A

Finding underground features based on density of deposits

39
Q

Random Sampling

A

Placing excavation sites randomly

40
Q

Systematic Sampling

A

Evenly spreading out excavation sites to get equal coverage of the location

41
Q

Targeted Sampling

A

Sites placed to maximize artifact recovery. Sites determined based on research and prior knowledge

42
Q

Vertical Excavation

A

Digging down over a small region in order to exam the stratigraphy. Not about finding artifacts as much. Intended to penetrate to the lowest layer

43
Q

Horizontal Excavation

A

Large scale excavation to expose house plans and settlement layouts

44
Q

Lascaux Caves

A

Cave paintings found by accident by boys when their dog got trapped in an underground chamber.

45
Q

Plan View

A

Aerial view of layout of features

46
Q

Topographic Mapping

A

Image of the geography of the land and locations of features. Topography

47
Q

Profiles

A

Side view of a site that can describe the stratigraphy and the location of artifacts in the layers

48
Q

Photodocumenting

A

Photographs of how the archaeology was done (the weather at the time, the way the site looked)

49
Q

Provenience Sheets

A

Records of each layer that preserve the context and track the artifacts that were found. Provides a permanent record for future interpretations of the site

50
Q

Natural Formation

A

Unmodified landscape, naturally occurring

51
Q

Cultural Formation

A

Environment has been modified with features (burial sites, house formations)

52
Q

Matrix

A

Natural material surroundings of the object (soil, gravel, sand)

53
Q

Provenience

A

Vertical and horizontal position of the artifact within the matrix

54
Q

Association

A

Relationship of artifact to other artifacts

55
Q

Neolithic

A

Transformation from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to agriculture

56
Q

Subsistence

A

How people made a living and survived

57
Q

Middens

A

Unfiltered, accumulated discard of cultural materials (garbage)

58
Q

Single Deposits

A

Small, shallow deposit, one time discard

59
Q

Long Term Deposits

A

Over an indeterminate period of time, law of superposition important. Profiles allow for the layers to be viewed

60
Q

Disturbances

A

Something that intrudes upon cultural formation and causes reverse stratigraphy

61
Q

Deflations

A

Natural moving of soil that results in reverse stratigraphy

62
Q

Reverse Stratigraphy

A

Oldest artifacts end up on top and the newer ones end up on the bottom

63
Q

Typology

A

The systematic classification of objects by stylistic and technological attributes. Reflect a culture through design. Can help relate different objects

64
Q

Law of Superposition

A

Layers that are higher up are newer than layers that are lower down

65
Q

Law of Association

A

Artifacts in the same layer are from the same time period

66
Q

Seriation

A

Ordering artifact groups in a relative dating sequence by typologies

67
Q

Three Age System

A

Weapons were always made from the most durable materials of the time. Therefore based on weapons, the time periods could be divided into stone, bronze, and iron ages

Archaeology (4 decks)

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