Archeology expanded card deck

Acheulean tool tradition

Stone tool industry associated with Homo erectus; large bifacial handaxes and cleavers, ~1.6 million-200,000 years ago.

Aerial photography

Locating sites from the air; crop marks, soil differences, and shadows reveal buried features.

Antiquarianism

Early collection of artifacts for curiosity or treasure, without scientific methods or context.

Archaeological excavation

Systematic digging to recover artifacts, features, and ecofacts, recording their context.

Archaeological site

Any place with material evidence of past human activity.

Archaeological survey

Systematic search for sites across landscapes; includes walking, shovel tests, and remote sensing.

Artifacts

Portable objects made, used, or modified by humans.

Bipedalism

Walking on two legs; key feature of hominins.

Chronology

The sequence and dating of past events or cultures.

Clovis/Pre-Clovis

Clovis: first widespread N. American culture (~13,000 BP, fluted points). Pre-Clovis: earlier evidence (e.g., Monte Verde, Chile).

Context

The position and association of artifacts, features, and ecofacts; critical for interpretation.

Coprolite

Fossilized feces; shows diet and environment.

Cranial capacity

Brain size measured by skull volume in hominins.

Dendrochronology

Tree-ring dating; counts growth rings for precise ages.

Ecofacts

Natural remains (bones, seeds, pollen) that show human activity but are not made objects.

Experimental archaeology

Recreating past techniques (like stone knapping) to study how artifacts were made/used.

Faunal succession & correlation

Fossil species appear in predictable order, helping date and link rock layers.

Features

Non-portable remains of human activity (hearths, pits, walls).

Fossils/Fossil localities

Preserved remains of ancient life; fossil localities are places where they are found.

"FUN Trio" dating methods

Relative dating of bones using fluorine, uranium, and nitrogen levels.

Genus/species

Taxonomic ranks: genus is broader (e.g., Homo), species is specific (e.g., Homo sapiens).

Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

Radar waves detect buried features without digging.

Handaxe

Bifacial stone tool typical of Acheulean tradition.

Hominins (Hominids)

Humans and their direct ancestors after the split from chimpanzees.

Australopithecines

Early African hominins (4-1 mya); bipedal but small-brained.

Homo erectus

Lived 1.9 mya-150,000 ya; larger brains, controlled fire, used Acheulean tools, first out of Africa.

Homo neanderthalensis

Neanderthals (200,000-40,000 ya); Europe/Asia, cold-adapted, Mousterian tools, burials.

Homo sapiens

Modern humans (~300,000 ya-present); advanced tools, art, symbolic thought, global spread.

Law of Superposition

Oldest layers are at the bottom, youngest at the top (if undisturbed).

Lithics

Study of stone tools and stone artifacts

Magnetometer

Detects magnetic changes in soil caused by buried structures.

Material culture

Physical objects made or used by people (tools, pottery, structures).

Mousterian tool tradition

Stone tool industry of Neanderthals; flake tools using Levallois technique.

Numerical (absolute) dating

Dating methods giving actual calendar ages (radiocarbon, dendrochronology, etc.).

Obsidian Hydration

Dating method measuring water absorption in volcanic glass tools.

Oldowan tool tradition

Earliest known stone tool tradition, around 2.6 mya, simple choppers and flakes, linked to homo habalis 

Olduvai Gorge

Located in Tanzania and has rich evidence of early hominins and stone tools 

Paleoanthropology

Study of human evolution using fossils, artifacts, and genetics.

Phylogeny/Phylogenetic trees

Evolutionary relationships among species shown as branching diagrams.

Piltdown Man

Famous fossil hoax (UK, 1912-1953); fake human ancestor combining ape jaw with human skull.

Post-depositional processes

Natural or cultural changes to a site after initial deposition (erosion, animal burrows, plowing).

Potassium Argon dating

Absolute dating of volcanic rocks; used for early hominins (millions of years).

Pseudoscience

Claims presented as science without real evidence or method (e.g., ancient aliens).

Radiocarbon dating (Carbon 14)

Absolute dating method for organic remains up to ~50,000 years old.

Relative dating

Establishes sequence (older vs. younger) without exact dates.

Remote sensing

Non-invasive site detection methods (aerial photography, GPR, magnetometry, LiDAR).

Research design

Plan outlining archaeological questions, methods, and goals.

Sagittal crest

Ridge of bone along skull top in some hominins; anchors chewing muscles.

Seriation

Relative dating based on stylistic changes in artifacts over time.

Shovel testing

Digging small test holes during survey to check for buried remains.

Site formation processes

Natural and cultural processes that create, change, or preserve sites.

Stratigraphy

Study of layered deposits; helps determine sequence of human activity.

Subsistence

How people get food/resources (hunting, gathering, farming, herding).

Terra Amata Site

Site in France (~400,000 ya); evidence of huts, hearths, and early hominin life.

Thermoluminescence

Absolute dating method for fired artifacts (ceramics, burnt stone).

Upper/Middle/Lower Paleolithic

Divisions of the Old Stone Age: Lower = earliest tools (Homo habilis, H. erectus). Middle = Neanderthals, Mousterian tools. Upper = modern humans, advanced blades, art.

Use-wear

Microscopic wear patterns on tools showing how they were used.

Venus figurines

Small Paleolithic female statuettes; likely symbolic or ritual objects.