Anth 2050 LSU Chicoine final

Cultigen

domesticated plants

domestication process

a genetic selection emphasizing special features of continuing use to the domesticator.

farming

Part of the Neolithic Revolution, led to increases in populations and the ability to settle permanently in one place.

Phenomenon of people becoming completely dependent on farming once they begin. Causes more food per unit of land to be available but costs more hours of work.

human plant entanglements

social complexity

permanent settlements caused by agriculture leads to rituals, religions, specializations, etc.. Accompanied by a higher populations and more sophisticated tools and and methods.

storage

preservation of surplus food using drying, smoking, curing, or fermentation in addition to storage pits and pots.

wealth

consequence of agriculture, sedentism, and increased social complexity. Involves accumulation of goods beyond subsistence.

abu hureura site (syria)

A Village site by the Euphrates River occupied first by foraging groups before 10,5500 BC, then by very early farmers. Famous for its excellent botanical evidence for agricultural origins.

catalhoyuk site (turkey)

Early farming town that prospered on the obsidian trade between 6000 and 5000 BC.

=Fertile Crescent

the crescent of territory from the Nile Valley through the Iranian highlands to Mesopotamia, where agriculture and civilization began.

Jericho site (palestine)

Biblical city and famous archaeological site with evidence of an early fortified town in the eighth millennium BC and of farming settlements as early as 7800 BC.

megalithic architecture

from the Greek for "large stone." A term applied to stone-built graves widespread during early farming times in western Europe, generally in the fifth millennium BC.

natufian

the name given to the sedentary Late Epi-Paleolithic hunter-gatherers living in the Levant region of the near east between about 12,500 and 10,200 years ago.

neolithic period

the final division of the stone age that began around 12,000 years ago and when the first development of farming appeared in the Fertile Crescent.

plastered skulls

Reconstructed human skulls that were made in the ancient Levant between 7000 and 6000 BCE. Some of the oldest forms of art in the Middle East.

Stonehenge site (England)

a stone circle complex dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, which flourished as early as 2950 BC and reached its apogee in about 1600 BC.

LSU mound sites (Louisiana)

Ca. 3000 BCE, not used as burial grounds, possibly gathering points, rounded tops, soils are different from one to the other.

maize/corn (zea mays)

one of the "three sisters", Native American domesticate still a staple of diets today. Transformed through human selection.

poverty point site (Louisiana)

Site in Northeast Louisiana from the Late Archaic period. Consists of five mounds, wooden structures, hearths, and six concentric ridges.

teosinte

long branches with tassels. Found in Mesoamerica from Mexico to Honduras. A grass.

three sisters

Squash, bean, and maize. Grow together well and found together in the wild. Staple of Mesoamerican diets.

city states

a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state. Examples include Ur, Nippur, Kish, and Eridu.

cuneiforms

From the Greek word for "wedge". Mesopotamian script made by stamping clay tablets with a wedge-shaped stylus. Long used as an international diplomatic script in the ancient eastern Mediterranean world.

mesopotamia

land between two rivers, arid, poor in resources and as a result culture developed advanced agricultural techniques and irrigation.

royal tombs at ur (Iraq)

burial site in Ur that included the remains of the Lady Puabi and multiple anthropomorphized objects.

tigris and Euphrates rivers

Rivers that surrounded Mesopotamia

site of Uruk (Iraq)

the world's first city, flourishing from 4500 BC for more than 2000 years.

uruk period

period from 4,000-3,000 BCE. Saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization.

ziggurat

Monumental buildings that required large-scale mobilization of resources and labor to complete.

cepheren

Fourth Dynasty Egyptian King who may be the face the Great Sphinx is based on. Built a Pyramid at Giza that was smaller than the one built by Cheops.

Cheops

Fourth Dynasty Egyptian king who constructed the first and largest pyramid ever built at Giza.

Giza

Major pyramid site of Old Kingdom Egypt dating to ca. 2600 BC.

Hierakonpolis

The religious and political capital of Upper Egypt during the Early Dynastic Period

Lower Egypt

The Northern Part of Egypt in the area of the Nile River Delta. Referred to as lower because the Nile River uniquely flows north while most other rivers flow south.

Mycerinus

Pharaoh who built the smallest of the three pyramids at Giza.

Narmer Palette

Egyptian ceremonial engraving shaped like a shield depicting the First Dynasty king Narmer uniting Upper and Lower Egypt.

Nile Valley

Fertile floodplain that Egyptian civilization is built around. Regular seasonal flooding means that agriculture could be planned out by the season

Saqqara

Ceremonial complex on the west bank of the Nile in Lower Egypt, where many Old Kingdom pharaohs were buried. Site of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, ca. 2600 BC. Also a center of the important Apis bull cult, which flourished during the Late Period.

Upper Egypt

Southern Egyptian Nile River valley extending down towards modern day Sudan.

Harappa Site (Pakistan)

Major city of the Indus civilization, ca. 2500 BC.

Harappan Script

symbols not a writing system, that has not been deciphered

Indus Valley

valley in what is now Pakistan which had incredibly rich water and a regular flood season.

Mohenjo-Daro (Pakistan)

Major city of the Indus Civilization and largest city of Harappa

Copan site (Honduras)

major maya center during mid first millennium ad

La Venta site (Mexico)

-olmec ceremonial center dating to after 900bc

Maya hieroglyphs

complex combination of pictographic and syllabic script that initially developed to record major events in the lives of the rulers.

Olmec Culture

Ca. 1200-400 BCE, found in the gulf coast region of Veracruz who established what was probably the first Mesoamerican civilization.Known for creating large stone sculptures in the shape of heads and depictions of human transformations into animals or mythical creatures.

Pyramid of the moon at Teotihuacan

second largest, buried important items like jaguars and jewelry as it was built

Pyramid of the sun at teotihuacan

same as moon pyramid but larger

avenue of the dead at Teotihuacan

the road that the great city Teotihuacan was built along. It is 5 km long and ends at the temple of the moon

Palenque site (Mexico)

maya city and ceremonial center ruled by the palenque dynasty for many centuries , and powerful in the 17th century ad

Temple of the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcoatl) at teotihuacan

was built near large compound called Ciudadela (palace) buried sacrificial victims found on all sides of the temple buried with carved serpent jewelry and military power

San Lorenzo site (Mexico)

-major olmec center dated to 1250 bc

symbolism of caves in Mesoamerica (cenotes)

made offerings to the rain god and god of the underworld as well as source of water

Teotihuacan site (Mexico)

major city in the valley of mexico that flourished from about 200 bc to 750 ad

Tikal (Guatemala)

classic maya city which reached the height of its power in 200-600 ad

Ritual bloodletting

sacrifice within Mayan religion, mostly rulers would do this to appease/feed the gods

Chavin de Huantar site (Peru)

ceremonial center in peru's andes foothills dating to between 900 and 200 bc source of much andean art and ideology

Huaca de la luna site (peru)

part of Moche culture large complex consisting of three main platforms, one destroyed by looters, one for burials and one for sacrifice, made of mud bricks

Human sacrifice at huac de la luna

1st discovered sacrificial site, dead hypothesized to be warriors, used sea lion bodies to build body racks, occurred during el Nino to appease rains

Inca Empire

starts early 15th century, expansionist and territorial state incorporated and subjugated into a larger empire

Khipu

system of knotted strings to record information by the Incas

Lanzon Sculpture

engraved monolith at the core of the temple at Chavin depicted a large fanged deity

Machu Picchu site

inca settlement high in the andes occupied during and after spanish conquest

Moche culture

coastal Peruvian civilization on the chicama and Moche valleys dating from 100-800ad. great ceremonial centers and huge irrigation works, warriors went to war to capture and sacrifice their enemies, collapsed due to natural disasters

Shamanism

Within South American ritual specialists said to be able to turn into a jaguar, also religion practiced by indigenous peoples of far Northern Europe and Siberia that is characterized by belief in unseen worlds of gods, demons, and ancestral spirits

sipan royal burials (Peru)

buried with lots of grave goods, necklaces etc most stolen, The Lord of Sipans grave was intact

Tawantinsuyu

inca name for their empire "the land of the four quarters"

Urubamba Valley

location of Machu Picchu, the most famous of the Incan royal estates, known as the sacred valley