Archeology Exam #2

Archaic

Cultural stage (9,000-3,000 years ago) with diverse foraging and early semi-sedentary life before full agriculture.

Agricultural state

A complex society organized around intensive farming, surplus production, and centralized political power.

Artificial selection

Human control of breeding in plants or animals to enhance desired traits.

Band societies

Small, mobile hunter-gatherer groups based on kinship and egalitarian sharing.

Broad Spectrum Collecting

Mesolithic strategy using a wide range of plant and animal resources instead of big-game focus.

Çatalhöyük

Large Neolithic village in Turkey (ca. 7,000 BCE); early farming, dense housing, wall paintings, ritual shrines.

Clovis First

Outdated theory that the first Americans were the Clovis culture (~13,000 BP) entering via Bering Land Bridge.

Civilization (characteristics of)

Urban centers, writing, monumental works, class hierarchy, trade, and state government (Childe's traits).

Co-Evolution of Agriculture

Mutual adaptation between humans and species they domesticated over generations.

Cultivation vs. Domestication

Cultivation = deliberate planting; Domestication = genetic change from human selection.

Cuneiform

Earliest known writing system from Mesopotamia, using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Diffusion

Spread of ideas, technologies, or traits between cultures through contact or trade.

Domesticates (e.g., maize, wheat, rice)

Plants and animals modified by human selection for food, labor, or other uses.

Ebla

Early urban center in Syria; evidence of bureaucracy and cuneiform archives (~2400 BCE).

Egalitarian societies

Communities where resources and status are relatively equal, typical of foragers.

Egyptian pyramids

Monumental tombs symbolizing centralized power and divine kingship in Old Kingdom Egypt.

Epipaleolithic

Late Stone Age (12,000-9,000 BP) transitional period between Paleolithic and Neolithic in the Near East.

Fertile Crescent

Region of SW Asia where wheat, barley, sheep, and goats were first domesticated (~10,000 BP).

Flotation

Archaeological method for recovering tiny plant remains (seeds, charcoal) by water separation.

Groundstone tools

Polished stone tools used for grinding grain and processing plants, typical of Neolithic.

Holocene

Current geological epoch beginning ~11,700 years ago after the last Ice Age.

Horticulture

Small-scale crop cultivation using simple tools; less intensive than agriculture.

Hunter-gatherer complexity

Increased social organization and trade among foragers before agriculture.

Jericho

One of the earliest permanent settlements (ca. 10,000 BP) with stone walls and early agriculture.

Labor specialization

Division of work into distinct roles (farmers, potters, priests) in complex societies.

Lake Mungo

Australian site (~40,000 BP) showing early human presence and ritual burial.

Levalloisian tradition

Middle Paleolithic stone-flaking technique producing uniform, prepared-core tools.

Lithics

Stone artifacts used for cutting, hunting, or scraping.

Longbarrow sites

Neolithic communal tombs built from earth and stone, used for ancestor burials.

Long-distance trade

Exchange of goods and materials over far regions, linking early communities.

Megafauna

Large Ice Age animals (mammoth, giant sloth) that became extinct around 12,000 BP.

Megaliths

Large stone monuments (e.g., Stonehenge) used for ritual, astronomical, or social purposes.

Mesolithic

Middle Stone Age (10,000-5,000 BP) featuring microlith tools and broad-spectrum subsistence.

Microliths

Small, retouched stone blades used in composite tools during the Mesolithic.

Monumental architecture

Massive public structures built for ritual, political, or social purposes.

Natufians

Late Epipaleolithic culture (12,500-9,500 BP) in the Levant; first semi-sedentary foragers.

Neolithic

"New Stone Age" (after 9000 BP) marked by agriculture, pottery, and permanent villages.

Obsidian

Volcanic glass prized for sharp tools and long-distance trade.

Paleoindian / Clovis peoples

Earliest known inhabitants of North America (~13,000 BP), expert big-game hunters.

Paleopathology

Study of ancient disease and health from human skeletal remains.

Petroglyphs

Rock carvings made by pecking or engraving surfaces for symbolic or artistic expression.

Pleistocene

Geological epoch before the Holocene, characterized by repeated glaciations.

Polished stone tools

Ground, smooth stone implements (axes, adzes) typical of Neolithic farming.

"Push" Models of Agricultural Origins

Theories arguing population or environmental pressure forced farming adoption.

Pristine vs. Secondary states

Primary states develop independently; secondary ones arise through contact or influence.

Readiness Hypothesis of Agricultural Origins

Theory that humans farmed when culturally and technologically "ready," not pressured.

Silica gloss

Shiny wear on stone tools from cutting silica-rich plants like cereals.

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Farming method of clearing fields by burning vegetation to enrich soil temporarily.

Social stratification

Division of society into ranked classes with unequal power and wealth.

Solutrean tool tradition

Upper Paleolithic blade technology in Europe (~20,000 BP) with leaf-shaped points.

Spear thrower (Atlatl)

Lever device that increases the force and range of a thrown spear.

Star Carr

Mesolithic site in England (~9000 BCE) showing early woodworking, hunting, and seasonal occupation.

Stonehenge

Megalithic monument in England (3000-1500 BCE) aligned with solstices, used for ritual gatherings.

Tell [mound] sites

Artificial settlement mounds formed by layers of habitation debris.

Oasis Theory of Agricultural Origins

Childe's idea that post-Ice Age drying forced humans and animals together in oases, leading to domestication.

Urbanization

Growth of cities and administrative centers organizing labor, trade, and religion.

Unifacial / Bifacial flaking

Stone-tool shaping on one (unifacial) or both (bifacial) sides.

Upper Paleolithic

Late Old Stone Age (50,000-10,000 BP) marked by modern humans, cave art, and blade tools.

Upper Paleolithic art

Cave paintings and figurines symbolizing ritual and identity.

"Ötzi," the Ice Man

5,300-year-old preserved mummy from the Alps; evidence of Neolithic life and tools.

Yangshao culture

Early Chinese Neolithic culture (5000-3000 BCE) known for millet farming and painted pottery.