Archeology Ch 1 - 6

Artifact

Any moveable object that has been used, modified and made by humans

Classic Archaeology

Studies “classical” civilizations of the mediterranean; Greece, Rome, Near East

Antiquarian

Somone who studied antiques for themselves, not to understand civilizations

Midden

Refuse deposit resulting from human activity; waste, food, discarded artifacts

Stratigraphy

Site’s physical structure produced by the deposition of geological or cultural sediments into layers

New Archaeology

Emphasizes understanding of underlying cultural processes and the use of the scientific method

Participant Observation

Data is gathered by questioning/observing people while the observer lives in their society

Ideational Perspective

Ideas, symbols, and mental structures as driving forces in shaping human behavior

Adaptive Perspective

Technology, ecology, demography, and economics defining human behavior

Potlatch

Ceremony involving the giving away/destruction of pottery in order to acquire prestige

Trade Language

Language that develops between people of different languages to permit economic exchanges

Inductive reasoning

Working from specific observations to more general hypothesis

Deductive reasoning

Reasoning from theory to predict specific observational or experimental results

Testability

Degree to which one’s observations and experiments can be reproduced

Low level theory

Observations and interpretations that emerge from hands-on archaeological fields and lab work.

Rockshelter

Common type of archaeological site, rock overhang deep enough to provide shelter.

Feature

Nonportable archaeological evidence, fire hearths, buildings.

Mid Level Theory

Hypothesis links archaeological observations with human behavior or natural processes that produced them

High Level Theory

Seeks to answer large WHY questions

Paradigm

Overreaching framework for understanding a research problem. The researchers “culture”

Processual Paradigm

Explains social, economic, and cultural change as the result of adaptation to material conditions

General Systems Theory

Effort to describe the properties by which all systems allegedly operate.

Postprocessual Paradigm

Focus on humanistic approaches and rejects scientific objectivity. Sees archaeology as political, more concerned with interpreting the past than testing hypothesis.

Stelae

Stone monuments erected by Maya rulers to record their history

Projectile Points

Arrowheads, dart points, spear points

Seasonal round

Hunter-gathers’ pattern of movement based on landscape, season, availability of resources.

Settlement Pattern

Distribution of archaeological sites across a region

Settlement System

Movements and activities reconstructed from a settlement pattern

Mano

Fist sized, round, flat, handheld stone used with a metate for grinding foods

Metate

Large flat stone used as a stationary surface; seeds tubers and nuts are grounded on