Anthropology 105 final exam WVU Sahady 2022

What is "culture"?

Ideas and behaviors learned and transmitted

What is cultural relativism?

The belief that ones owns patterns of behavior are always natural, good or important. Strangers live in inhuman, savage, disgusting or irrational standards

What is "context" in archaeology and why is it so important?

Context is the place where an artifact is found, it is also important to note the type of soil, site type and what the artifact was found with or in relation to.

What is ethnocentrism?

to combat the problem of ethnocenterism, 20th century anthropologists developed the concept of.

What is "participant observation"?

An investigator studies the life of a group by sharing in its activities

What did The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 do?

it defines archaeological resources as any material remains of past human life or activities that are of interest and at least 100 years old, requires federal permits for their excavation or removal and sets penalties for violators.

What is the primary importance of The Antiquities Act of 1906?

-First significant federal legislation

-provides for the protection of historic, prehistoric and scientific features located on federal lands

What is a subsistence pattern?

-subsistence strategy

-a society satisfies it's basic needs for survival

What is Science?

methodical process of inquiry

What is a hypothesis?

proposed explanations for natural phenomena

To refer to something as a theory means that?

a general idea that explains a large set of factual patterns

What is a unique research strategy of anthropologists which involves learning the language and

culture of a group by participating in the groups daily activities is called?

participant observation

The systematic study of the material remains (culture) of human behavior in the past is conducted by?

cultural anthropology

The statute that makes it necessary for federal projects to ease and notify appropriate tribal

representatives if human remains are encountered during archaeological investigations is?

native american graves protection and repatriation act of 1990

The subfields of anthropology as practiced in America do not include?

geology

To achieve the basic and primary goal of archaeology, which is to understand humans in order to attempt to reconstruct their cultural past, archaeology requires?

-discovery of new information

-the reconstruction of past cultural systems

What is historical archaeology?

archaeology of a society that has written records

The term "Cultural Resource Management" (CRM) refers to?

trying to take care of what's important to people for cultural reasons

What does the term "material culture" refer to?

the physical objects, resources and spaces that people use to define their culture

What is an archaeological feature?

artifacts that can not be moved with out disturbing their natural form

Why is research design so important in archaeology, and when is it most likely to be done?

a systematic plan that ensures that archaeological research is organized, efficient and valid

What are people often called who look for artifacts as a hobby (not professionally)?

antiquarians

What was the "Moundbuilders Myth"?

Theories-

-They were ancestors of living Indians and the "race had degenerated.

-They migrated to mexico and became the Toltecs and Aztecs

-*MOST POPULAR* they were the superior race that had been wiped out by the indians

The primary reason that most scholars of the 1800s did not believe Native Americans had constructed the earthen mounds of North America was?

-There were racist and anti-american indian theories that dominated the thinking of early american scholars

-antiguity legislation in North America

-many indians do not trust them to tell the past

What is the first step of planning excavation research is to?

forming a general hypothesis

One of the three major criteria for classifying archaeology sites is based on the function of a site. Why is determining the function of a site useful?

When a site is classified by its function, it is defined by?

the activities that took place at the site

The main characteristic shared by all hunting and gathering societies past and present is?

-wild food

-diversity

plant foods are mainstay

Anthropologists use the term "pastoralists' to refer to peoples who?

people who breed and or heard animals

What is the definition of the word "midden" in archaeology?

large deep area of such debris

What is an ecofact in archaeology?

unmodified remains of biological materials

How are ecofacts different from artifacts?

artifacts are modified and not biological

A Hearth is an example of a type of feature. Other types of features are pits (probably the most common), burials, post molds, etc. Why are features important to the interpretation of an archaeological site?

can be used for radiocarbon dating

Which of the following is an example of a feature?

debitage

Compared with hunting and gathering band-level societies, tribal societies are?

-larger

-well defined territories

-very similar

A hunting and gathering or food foraging society depends on _________ for food?

wild resources

The first step in archaeological fieldwork is usually?

survey

When are Excavations undertaken?

most excavation is done only when a site is threatened with destruction

Surface collections and test level excavations are techniques archaeologists use to?

aid in deciding where to excavate

Archaeologists may use auger probes to determine the depth of historic graves, shovel test pits to identify archaeological sites, trenches to excavate across a site. What is stratigraphy useful for?

site deposits

-vertical

-horizontal

how the soil of a site is layered

What kinds of tools might you find in an archaeologist's tool kit?

-paint brush

-a clipboard

-dustpan

-rain poncho

ect.

Why is screening useful in archaeology

helps recover many materials that may be overlooked

Screening involves

sifting diet for small remains

After the excavation is finished, archaeologist go back to the lab to begin analyzing the data (artifacts, etc.). The first step in analysis is?

classification

Bifaces, blades, and cores are all types of lithic artifacts/ What does the term "lithics" mean?

stone tools

Why is it so important that archaeologists take careful, detailed notes of their excavations?

destroys data while they gather

What are some Hollywood stereotype of archaeologists?

only interested so they can put it in museums

It is essential that archaeologists take abundant, accurate, and detailed field notes during excavations because?

some records are destroyed through excavation

The federal law that states that federal agencies are responsible for identifying and evaluating all sites in areas to be developed, to determine eligibility for the National Register is?

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

What is created when the remnants of human activity are covered or buried by some natural process resulting in an accumulation of artifacts?

sites