Archaeology Midterm

The material immediately surrounding an artifact, usually a sediment such as gravel, sand, or clay, is known as the

MATRIX

Non-artifactual organic and environmental remains, or ecofacts, include items such as

SOILS, SEDIMENTS, ANIMAL BONES, PLANT REMAINS

An artifact's context includes its

MATRIX PROVENIENCE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH OTHER FINDS

Inorganic materials that frequently survive well archaeologically are

STONE TOOLS

Typically, the most destructive type of climate for organic materials tends to be

TROPICAL

Temperate climates are not usually conducive to organic preservation at archaeological sites because of

VARIABLE TEMPERATURES AND VARYING PRECIPITATION

At Ozette, the extraordinary preservation of organic materials such as wooden containers, baskets, weaving equipment, and fishing and hunting equipment, was the result of

A MUDSLIDE COVERING THE SETTLEMENT

Excellent preservation of organic materials at wetland sites occurs because of the anaerobic, or __________ environment, which inhibits the activities of micro-organisms that need oxygen

ANOXIC

The mummies of the Andes are a good example of exceptional preservation of organic material resulting from its location in a

COLD CLIMATE

The scientific technique of placing a metal object in a chemical solution and passing a weak current through it to clean it is called

ELECTROLYSIS

What types of aerial photograph can be used by archaeologists?

BOTH VERTICAL AND OBLIQUE IMAGES

Protected from outside climactic effects ca es ay act as natural conser atories creating local climates that can promote the preservation of organic remains.

TRUE

The long-term study of an earthwork constructed at Overton Down, England, as experimental archaeology indicates that

A PRESERVATION IS BETTER IN THE CHALK BANK, AND PRESERVATION OF LEATHER AND POTTERY WAS UNCHANGED AFTER FOUR YEARS.

Objects used, modified or made by people are known as ___________ to archaeologists.

ARTIFACTS

Archaeological sites may be defined quite simply as

PLACES WHERE SIGNIFICANT TRACES OF HUMAN ACTIVITY ARE IDENTIFIED.

Survival of organic materials is typically limited to cases of extreme presence or lack of moisture, such as very arid or waterlogged conditions.

TRUE

Isotopes in the hair of the child mummies found on the peak of Llullaillaco, Peru suggest that before they died they

CHEWED COCA LEAVES

Features, essentially non-portable artifacts, include such things as

POSTHOLES, HEARTHS, FLOORS, AND DITCHES.

Although not true humanly created mummies as in Egypt, the arid environment in the American Southwest promoted exceptional preservation when the pueblo dwellers buried their dead

IN DRY CAVES.

Natural formation processes include such activities as plowing, building structures, or making tools.

FALSE

Satellite imagery from such resources as ________ are cheap or free and it has now become standard archaeological practice to access such images and use them in archaeological survey

GOOGLE EARTH

When left
artifacts or features are described as in situ, archaeologists mean that they ar

WHERE ORIGINALLY USED OR DISCARDED

Open-area excavations typically involve

OPENING LARGE AREAS WITH FEW BAULKS OF EARTH

A disadvantage of some geophysical techniques based on magnetism is that their use in urban areas may be subject to distortion resulting from power lines and metals in the immediate vicinity. One method that can be used in such areas relies on soil moisture and is known as

LECTRICAL RESISTIVITY

One form of geochemical analysis allows detection of the _________ content of soil, which has been demonstrated to correlate with ancient settlements not visible from the surface or even those with no apparent architectural features

PHOSPHATE

Sending short pulses of electromagnetic waves into the ground and then receiving reflections of these waves to detect underground changes in soil or archaeological features is known as

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR

GIS, which stands for ______________, is a significant new development in archaeological mapping

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Investigations led by Mandy Mottram at the site of Tell Halula revealed the site was originally composed of two tells; the techniques used included

GIS AND SURFACE SURVEY

Using attributes such as slope and distance, GIS can map catchment areas and site to understand the energy expenditures for moving across a landscape. This is

COST SURFACE ANALYSIS

To an archaeologist, examples of relative dating methods include

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Although ancient historical chronologies are of substantial importance in archaeological dating, archaeologists must bear in mind that king- or ruler-lists often re ain a floating c ronology. T is ter eans t at

THE LIST IS NOT LINKED TO OUR CALENDAR

Although generally less precise than radiocarbon, thermoluminescence (TL) dating has two advantages over radiocarbon dating. First, in principle, it can date materials beyond 50,000 years ago and second, it can date

POTTERY

Pollen is a useful tool for archaeologists because

ONLY A and C

One of the most useful techniques for dating early human (hominin) sites in Africa (which can be up to 5 million years old) is thermoluminescence (TL) dating.

FALSE

Although a subject of debate for many years, carbon dating performed in 1988 by laboratories in Tucson, Oxford, and Zurich all agreed that the Shroud of Turin dated to the time for Christ: the 1st century AD.

FISIION TRACK DATING

__________ are major periods of glacial advance during the Ice Age.

GLACIALS

First emerging in East Africa, Homo erectus were hominids with larger brains than H. habilis, and manufactured bifacial teardrop-shaped stones tools (Acheulian hand axes). H. erectus is known as early as _________ in East Africa.

1.6

_____________ is a method that measures a thin layer that accumulates due to absorption of water on the surface of obsidian when it is first exposed to air. By comparing the thickness of this layer to a graph that predicts how long it takes for water to accumulate on such material a chronometric date can be calculated.

OBSIDIAN HYDRATION

The most coherent record of climate change on a global scale is obtained through

DEEP SEA CORES

By exposing a sample of fired clay to radiation (energy) in the laboratory, so-called electron traps are opened and the energy that is emitted in the form of light can be accurately measured. This radiation dose can be combined with an estimate for the annual dose the sample received prior to testing and the susceptibility of the sample to radiation in order to determine the precise age of the fired clay. This dating technique is called

THERMOLUMINSECENCE

Dating the eruption of Thera (Santorini) has proved difficult, and a host of methods have been applied to determine the date, including

ALL

Although interesting historically, the Maya calendar was not very precise.

F

Applicable beyond the time range of radiocarbon dating, amino-acid racemization is used primarily to date samples of

BONE

Archaeomagnetic (or, "paleomagnetic") dating is based on the constantly changing (in both direction and intensity) magnetic field of the earth.

T

Uranium-series dating is based on the radioactive decay of uranium isotopes, and is very useful for the period of 500,000-50,000 years ago, which is outside the limits of radiocarbon dating. This method is used to date

TEETH

Although a subject of debate for many years, carbon dating performed in 1988 by laboratories in Tucson, Oxford, and Zurich all agreed that the Shroud of Turin dated to the time of Christ.

F

Radiocarbon dates obtained from __________ showed that before about 1000 BC dates expressed in radiocarbon years are increasingly "too young." thus radiocarbon dates must be calibrated

TREE RINGS

The technique of potassium-argon (and argon-argon) dating requires what kind of sample?

VOLCANIC ROCK

Before radioactive methods were developed after World War II, the two most accurate means of absolute dating, ______ and ________ were limited to Scandinavia and the American Southwest.

VARVES TREE RINGS

By measuring the hydration layer on obsidian tools, known to increase over time, an estimate of age may be established. Such a technique, known as obsidian hydration, is considered a(n) ___________ method for dating

CALIBRATED RELATIVE

The most successful application of electron spin resonance so far has been for the dating of

TOOTH ENAMEL

By matching the pattern of sediment deposition obtained from the floors of lakes adjacent to glaciers with known climatic patterns, archaeologists can calculate very precise dates. Such research is called

VARVE ANALYSIS

Tephrachronology is based on the idea that the products of individual ____________ are significantly different and thus distinguishable from one another

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

Which dating technique would yield a result that might read 2.25 million years before present, plus or minus 50,000 years?

POTASSIUM ARGON DATING

Frequency seriation relies upon measuring

CHANGES IN THE PROPORTIONAL ABUNDANCE

The abbreviation BP, when talking about the past, means Before Present, however "Before Present" in this sense is taken to mean "before the year 1950."

T

________________ cannot be used to date individual samples, rather it is applied to "population events" which cause the emergence of either new mitochondrial DNA or Y-chromosome haplotypes

GENETIC DATING

A lock of hair found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen is thought to belong to

QUEEN TIYE

The long-term study of an earthwork constructed at Overton Down, England, as experimental archaeology indicates that

BETTER CHALK

Bog bodies, primarily individuals who met a violent death (such as Tollund Man, from Denmark), are best known from northwest Europe and typically date to the

IRON AGE

The Pazyryk bodies, found in the Altai of ________________, were burials placed inside log coffins about 400 BC and so well preserved by their constant frozen state that archaeologists recovered not only linen shirts, aprons, and stockings but could also see tattoos.

SOUTHERN SINAI

Palynologists study _________ which, when found preserved in lake or bog sediments, allows them to understand both ancient environments and to use them as a method of ___________ dating.

POLLEN RELATIVE

____________ are complex sequences of cold periods that occurred during the Ice Age and are visible in ice cores.

INTERSTADIALS

__________ is another term for tree-ring dating which is based on the counting, measurement, and patterning of annual growth rings in known species of trees.

DENDROCHRONOLOGY

There are various indicators useful for the identification of domesticated animals in archaeological contexts, such as

ALL

Isotopic analysis of human tooth enamel or bone collagen relies on reading the ___________ in the body left by _____________.

CHEMICAL SIGNATURE DIFFERENT FOODS

Commonly found preserved in ash layers, pottery, and on stone tools and even teeth, minute particles of silica derived from plant cells that survive after the rest of the organism is decomposed are known as..

PHYTOLITHS

Assume that you receive a radiocarbon date that reads 500 years before present and has a standard deviation of 25 years. Which of the following statements is true?

A AND B

Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad used medieval Viking sagas to locate and excavate an ancient Viking settlement in

NOVASCOTIA

Some survey techniques use squares when conducting regional surveys, but ________ are easier to locate and walk along, in order to record artifact densities across the landscape

TRANSECTS

Systematic surface survey tends to be preferred to unsystematic for a number of reasons, primarily because in unsystematic surveys there is a tendency for

SURVEY MEMBERS TO CONCENTRATE ON WHERE THE ARTIFACTS ARE CONCENTRATED

Visible differences in vegetation growth resulting from a sub-surface wall or ditch affecting the available moisture, nutrients, or soil depth, appear in aerial photographs as

CROP MARKS

Although GIS as been referred to as t e biggest ste for ard ... since t e in ention of t e a G S a lications a e also been critici ed as being en ironmentally deterministic. This accusation means that

ENVRIONMENTAL DATA ARE GIVEN PRIORITY

The process by which certain human bones fuse together, a process indicative of age, is known as

synostosis

Skeletal pathology from different regions suggests that the adoption of agriculture commonly led to increased rates of chronic stress, including infection and malnutrition.

T

Humans are the only mammals with a preferential use of one hand.

T

A field of research that is concerned with estimates of various aspects of populations, such as size, density, and growth rates, based on archaeological data, is known as

demo archaeology

The Spitalfields burials from East London provided a rare opportunity to test the accuracy of different methods used to age skeletal material. Results from a range of techniques for establishing age estimates were compared to the true ages known from the coffin plates. The results suggested that

all but a

DNA studies of modern European populations by Brian Sykes, Martin Richards, and colleagues have led them to suggest that about 20 percent of the modern European gene pool was contributed by _________________

Phoenicians

Rebecca Cann and her colleagues claim that the ancestor of everyone on earth today, a woman nicknamed Eve, lived in Africa about _________ years ago.

200,000

X-ray analysis of human bones reveals various forms of deformity and disease. When growth is interrupted in childhood because of illness or malnutrition, opaque calcified formations a few millimeters thick form in bones. These are known as

Harris Lines

Scientific analysis of DNA sequences may indicate the relationships between members of royal families and determine whether or not members of a dynasty practiced

incest

By testing the tissue from Tutankhamun's mummy and another unknown mummy (from Tomb 55), researchers were able to establish that they were almost certainly related, based on matching blood groups.

T

A process of reasoning by which more specific consequences are inferred by rigorous argument from more general propositions is known as

deduction

The _________ of a system is a series of successive states through which a system proceeds over time.

trajectory

In systems thinking, when a change in the output stimulates further growth and change, this is known as

positive

In archaeology, a form of explanation in which a society is examined through the interaction and interdependence of its parts, including such factors as population size, settlement pattern, crop production, and technology, is known as

systems

In systems thinking, (the) ____________ is the process by which changes in one part of human activity act to promote changes in another field; some consider this one of the primary mechanisms of societal change.

multiplier

Robert Carneiro's explanation of the origins of the state in Peru is considered an example of a multivariate explanation.

F

DNA studies of modern European populations by Brian Sykes, Martin Richards, and colleagues have led them to suggest that about 20 percent of the modern European gene pool was contributed by _________________

hypothetico deductive

Interpretations which stress that human actions are guided by beliefs and symbolic concepts and that underlying these are structure of thought which find expression in various forms are known as ___________

structuralist

The Classic Maya kings kings portrayed themselves as great guarantors of prosperity and stability, but during the critical 8th and 9th centuries leading up to the Maya collapse they were unable to deliver on these promises because of

degredation

From a single leg bone, one can reasonably estimate the sex, age, height and general size of an individual.

T

Clues to ancient human preference for right-handedness have been found in

all

Stencils of human hands found in the caves at Gargas, France, dating from the late Ice Age, seem to have severe damage, in some cases suggesting all four fingers were missing. These stencils of humans hands have been interpreted as

all

The recognition of a depression running across the top of the cranium, associated with signs of markedly increased attachment of neck muscles to the back of the skull, has been interpreted as resulting from

carrying

Geneticist Alan Templeton argued that flaws in the Eve Hypothesis include

all

Lead poisoning in antiquity generally occurred only among the poorer classes; the wealthy were better protected.

F

Based on the size, shape, and muscle-attachment marks on a 60,000 year old hyoid bone, discovered at Kebara Cave, Israel, many researchers have suggested that

neanderthals capability

The footprints discovered at Laetoli, Tanzania, by Mary Leakey and dated to about 3.6-3.75 million years ago suggest that the early hominins who made them could walk upright, but generally were tree dwellers and climbers.

F