Exam 2 - Archaeology

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to archaeology and the development of early civilizations.

Processual Archaeology

A scientific approach to archaeology that emphasizes hypothesis testing and the use of the scientific method.

Post Processual Archaeology

An archaeological approach that focuses on human experience, culture, and meaning rather than solely on scientific methods.

Middens

Trash or refuse deposits left by past human activities.

Stratigraphy

A method where layers of soil are analyzed, with the youngest layers on top and oldest layers at the bottom.

Artifact

Any human-made object, such as tools, pottery, or buildings.

Ecofact

Natural objects that have been used or modified by humans, such as bones or plant remains.

Radiocarbon Dating

A method of dating organic material by measuring the decay of carbon-14.

Lactase Persistence

The continued production of lactase in adulthood, allowing for the digestion of lactose in dairy products.

Sedentism

The practice of living in one place for a long time, as opposed to nomadic lifestyles.

Oasis Hypothesis

A theory proposed by V. Gordon Childe stating that early agriculture developed around water resources.

Natural Habitat Hypothesis

Robert Braidwood's theory suggesting that early domesticates arose in the natural habitats of their wild ancestors.

Population Pressure Hypothesis

Louis Binford's idea that increasing populations led to the development of agriculture as a means of food supply.

Edge Hypothesis

Louis Binford's theory suggesting that agriculture began in centrally located areas and decreased as one moved outward.

Superfoods

corn, rice, wheat, and barley.

Cuneiform

administrative

Eridu

Considered the first earliest recorded city in Mesopotamia.

Uruk

An ancient city that developed from two settlements into a major urban center.

Angkor Wat

A famous temple complex in Angkor, in Khmer Empire representing Buddhist and Hindu artistic influence.

Mohenjo-Daro

An ancient city known for its grid pattern layout and early sewage system.

Datum Point

A fixed reference point used in archaeological surveying to create a grid for excavation.

How do archaeologists determine past behaviors

distributions of sites, artifacts, and structures 

Old archeology

Picking things off the ground with no rhyme or reason

Modern archeology

The use of both processual and post processual 

Types of archeology

1. Traditional (digging)

2. Labwork 

3. Bio

4. Underwater 

5. Paleoethnobontany - how cultures use plants

Ways to survey a site

1. Remote sensing 

2. GPS / GIS

Biggest archaeology constraints

time and money

Types of sampling

1. Random 

2. Stratified 

3. Stratified random

Importance of items in situ:

“In context” so that their is meaning behind the object and its not just an object 

Screening

Swift through the dirt and finding objects → dry and wet

Flotation

Put the things in a box of water and the seeds will float

Absolute dating

specific time measure (cardon dating)

Relative dating

general non-specific way of determining age

Stratigraphic correlation

Relative dating technique / based on the relationship of other things in its layer 

Fertile crescent:

Earliest known location of agriculture

Domesticated first plants or animals?

Animals

What is domestication

Changing the wild form / animals getting smaller and plants getting bigger 

Social hypothesis

Barbra Bender / Farming is based on surplus / Certain individuals were able to accumulate surpluses of food which transformed into social powe

Why is farming advantageous evolutionary

Increases fertility

How were cities organized:

religious, markets, economic, residential, profane

How were cities different than villages

Cities have larger structures more close together with more people and they different jobs 

Development of states also brings about what

governments with different systems of power 

What are empires

A civilization the incorporates other cultures that is not their own

How does trade influence societies: 

1. Economic 

2. Biological 

3. Cultural

Purposes of early writing: Religious

Egyptian hieroglyphics

Purposes of early writing: Recording the past

Palenque

Cultural Changes with agriculture: 

Biological changes with agriculture:

• Post agricultural populations are less healthy 

• Higher occurrence of infection and parasites 

• Vitamin deficiencies 

• Reduction in adult height 

• Childhood stress 

• Increase in cavities and calculus

Timbuktu

became a center of learning , scholarship and Islam