World Prehistory review 1 Flashcards
Louis & Mary Leakey
Law of Superposition
A basic law of geochronology states that in a sequence of rock deposited in layers, the “youngest” layers are on the top and older layers are beneath them
Law of Association
Associated finds or objects refers to a close relationship between 2+ objects. Can be proven to have been deposited in the same layer at the same time. If they’re near each other, then they’re likely to have been deposited at the same time.
3 Age System
Created by Christian Thomsen;
Organized collections by materials: stone, bronze, and iron. Then organized them by function. It’s the foundation for the 3 age system; still in use today.
Extinction
Theory developed by George Cuvier; Research on the Fossil Bones of Quadrupeds. He believed that extinction events were caused by floods & believed that Noah’s biblical flood was the most recent.
Boucher de Perthes
French archaeologist that found the 1st fossil hominid skull in 1857 (before Darwin)
Archaeological Site
Feature
constructed and immobile object
Culture History:
Developed by R. Braidwood; descriptive sequence of societies
nuts & bolts of archaeology and time-space patterns
Artifact
mobile object
Culture History:
Developed by R. Braidwood; descriptive sequence of societies
nuts & bolts of archaeology and time-space patterns
Seriation
theory developed by Christian Thomsen; essentially states that styles go in and out of fashion
Relative Chronology
a measure of time—time in relation to position of space
William Smith
Relative Chronology: Law of Association
James Hutton
Relative Chronology: Law of Superposition
Christian Thomsen
Relative Chronology: Seriation
Absolute Chronology
a list/timeline of time specified by dating
Historic Records
Absolute Chronology; the most accurate
Tree-ring dating
Absolute Chronology; 2nd most accurate
Radiometric Dating
Absolute Chronology; the most common form
Radiocarbon Dating
radiocarbon decays quickly; C14 is unstable and half of it decays into N14 every 573 years. This form of dating measures the rate at which C14 decays into N14.
Faster rate = high rate of decay
slow rate = low rate of decay
Decay is measured by a Geiger counter
BP
a method of noting the year; radiocarbon dates are presented in BP (“before present” years before AD = 1950)
Artifact Style: James Sackett
tools may be functionally similar but style and differentiation identified in patterns and differences in manufacturing through time & between societies
Artifact Style: Polly Wiessner
using the research of social psychologists, she identified the expressive nature of style. Emblematic (us) reflects group identification and Assertive (me) style reflects individual qualities.
