Anthro 214 Exam 2

surface survey

collecting information from the ground, like artifacts and architectural remains, to identify sites

field walking

survey done by walking in transects / finding scatters of building remains and artifacts with the naked eye

transects

straight strips of land

vehicular reconnaissance

finding conspicuous (easy to spot) sites on the landscape by vehicle

grid survey

grid drawn over the survey area, and then several units are selected for intensive ground survey

site

any discrete, bounded location where humans lived, worked, or carried out a task

off-site

places with a low density of artifacts or features

landscapes

spaces that contain the material imprints of human groups

artifact densities

ratio of number of artifacts in a given area

obtrusiveness

how much did humans impact this survey area in the (recent) past

remote sensing

survey methods using technologies that detect surface and subsurface archaeological remains from a distance

photogrammetry

the use of photography in surveying and mapping to measure distances between objects

Sarah Parcak

popularized satellite imagery in archaeology by referring to it as space archaeology

LiDAR

light detection and ranging

geophysical archaeology

collecting site information below the ground

electrical resistivity

measures variations in the resistance of the ground to an electrical current

magnotometry

measures variations in magnetic fields under the ground surface

ground-penetrating radar

measures strength and timing of radar waves sent below the surface

director

permits, funding, team selection & organization, project research design, field season logistics, public outreach, publication strategies

area supervisors

oversee excavation in the trenches, keep daily journals and records, make in-the-field decisions about excavation strategy

square supervisors

assist with the supervision and recording of excavation in the trenches, perform the more delicate and technical archaeological work

local excavators

receive wages for their work, accustomed to local conditions, extensive knowledge of soils, plant, and animal remains, supervised by trained archaeologists

ceramicists

study ceramic artifacts

archaebotanists

study plant remains

zooarchaeologists

study animal remains

bioarchaeologists

study human remains

lithicists

study worked stone artifacts

conservators

stabilize, preserve and restore artifacts

photographers

take high-quality photographs of field work and artifacts

illustrators

create high-quality drawings of artifacts for publication

epigraphers

study and translate inscriptions

registrars

document and catalog archaeological finds

museum representative

typically assigned by host country to monitor work, report on progress and findings, and inventory all discovered artifacts

specialists

regularly go on-site to consult and assist with special projects

chef

prepares all the meals

driver

provides transportation to and from the site, for supply runs and field trips

total excavation

100% excavation of a site (reserved for sites under imminent threat)

vertical excavation

used to establish stratigraphic (chronological) sequences and site boundaries

test pit

an excavation unit (or trench) used to sample or probe a site before large-scale excavation is done

coring

method of using an augur to collect stratigraphic soil samples for immediate information on archaeological deposits

horizontal excavation

method used to expose wide areas of a site

baulks

squares that provide stratigraphic profiles in horizontal excavation

stratigraphy

study of sediment layers and their sequence at an archaeological site

stratigraphic profile

drawing of stratigraphy to help discern culturally meaningful changes in soil

locus / loci

a discrete excavated unit or archaeological context

Harris Matrix (Edward Harris in 1973 for New Archaeology)

way of illustrating the sequence of deposits in a stratigraphic profile

locus sheets

standardized data sheets for each context excavated

daily journal

archaeologist’s observations and interpretations in the field

top plan (plan view)

map of where artifacts and features are located, vertically and horizontally, when looking down from above onto the trench

3D photogrammetry

extracting 3D information from photographs

sieve/sifter/screen

way to sift through excavated soil to help recover smaller artifacts

dumpy level

survey equipment to measure elevation of archeological finds during excavation

total station

GIS survey equipment used to record the horizontal and vertical location of archaeological finds

plumb bob

tool for accurate trench measurements

Maya Sacred Round

Maya Time (small wheel of 1-13 numbers, large wheel of 20 named days, integrated with 18-month solar calendar) (predicted end of world in December 12th, 2012)

BC / BCE

Before Christ / Before Common Area

AD / CE

Anno Domini (The Year of Our Lord) / Common Era

BP

Before Present (1950 CE)

ya, kya, mya, c. / ca.

years ago, thousand years ago, million years ago, circa “around” (500 years ago)

Chinchorro Culture (7000 - 1100 BCE)

Culture of Peru and Chile that practiced mummification thousands of years before Egyptians

World’s Oldest Tatto

Incorrectly dated as BC instead of BP (3830 +- 100 BP = 3830)

relative dating

determining chronological sequences without the use of fixed dates

law of superposition

underlying layers are older than layers above

Sir Flinders Petrie

British Egyptologist who developed typological seriation

typological seriation

systematic organization of artifacts with shared attributes into chronological sequences

artifact frequency

an artifact style starts low, peaks with popularity, and then declines

battleship curve

plotting of artifact frequency on a graph

typology

systematic organization of artifacts into types on the basis of shared attributes

style

attributes of shape and decoration that are distinctive to a particular time and place

absolute dating

determination of age with reference to a specific time scale

Mantheo

Egyptian priest and historian who authored the king’s lists, a record of reigns of Egyptian pharaohs in order by dynasty

cross-dating

the principle that an artifact dated at one archaeological site will be of the same approximate age when found elsewhere

dendrochronology - A.E. Douglass

study of tree-ring patterns to create an absolute chronology

radiocarbon dating

an absolute dating method that measures the decay of the radioactive carbon isotope C-14

original method

counts the beta particles released by C14 atoms

Accelerator Mass Spectometry (AMS)

counts the atoms of C14 directly

Bayesian Analysis

includes the relative age of several samplings and their groups, by stratigraphy (improves precision of dating)

environmental archaeology

the reconstruction of human use of and interaction with plants, animals and landscapes

diachronic

phenomena as they change over time

synchronic

phenomena from a single point in time

proxy data

indirect measures of climate and environment

foraminifera

single-celled organisms (forams)

geoarchaeology

study of earth formation processes

glaciers

bodies of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight

moraine deposits

contain foreign rocks carried in by the ice from glaciers

fossil ice wedges

soil features caused when the ground freezes and contracts, opening up fissures in the permafrost that fill with wedges of ice

glacial varves

layers of sediment deposited annually in lakes around the edges of glaciers

meanders

moving water in a river erodes the outer banks while the inner part of the river has less energy and builds up silt deposits

geomorphology

study of soils and sediments in order to understand the formation of landscapes

soil micromorphology

the use of microscopic techniques to study the nature and organization of the components of soil

soils

vertically weathering profiles that develop in place

sediments

particles transported by water, wind, gravity or humans

thin sections

method of obtaining a thin slice of soil or sediment to be analyzed microscopically

petrography

microscopic analysis of soils and sediments

plasticity

how well a soil’s particles bind together when wet

Munsell Soil Color Chart

standardized color profiles to describe the soil

archaeobotany

the study of archaeological plant remains

macrobotany

the study of seed remains

anthracology

the study of wood charcoal