archeology year 1

• Stratigraphy

Study of layered sediments; older layers are deeper (Law of Superposition).

• Law of Superposition

In undisturbed contexts, lower layers = older, upper = younger.

• Archaeological Survey

Locating sites, mapping site boundaries, identifying settlement patterns.

• Typology

Classifying artifacts based on form and style to identify time periods/cultures.

• Technology (Lithic Analysis)

How stone tools are made; reduction sequences, flaking techniques.

• Radiocarbon Dating

Dating organic materials up to ~50,000 years using decay of C-14; requires calibration.

• V. Gordon Childe

Proposed Neolithic and Urban Revolutions; diffusion; economic drivers of change.

• Processual Archaeology (New Archaeology)

Scientific, hypothesis-driven, culture-as-system, objective.

• Postprocessual Archaeology

Emphasizes symbolism, ideology, human agency; interpretive, subjective.

• Cultural Resource Management (CRM)

Legal protection and documentation of archaeological resources during development.

• Hadar (Ethiopia)

Early tool use (~3.3 mya); cut-marked bones; Australopithecus involvement.

• Lokalalei (Kenya)

~2.3 mya; advanced refitting shows skilled, planned flaking.

• Oldowan

2.6–1.7 mya; simple flakes, choppers; earliest widespread stone tools.

• Acheulean

1.7 mya–200 kya; bifacial handaxes; associated with Homo erectus.

• Glynn Isaac’s Home Base Model

Early hominins shared food at central places; early cooperation and social structure.

• Homo erectus (Features)

Brain ~900cc, long legs, reduced teeth, modern-like body, endurance walking.

• Homo erectus (Age/Dispersal)

1.9 mya–150 kya; first hominin out of Africa.

• East African Rift Valley

Tectonic system exposing deep ancient deposits; rich hominin fossil area.

• DK1 (Olduvai Gorge)

Structured site; tools + bones; early evidence of camp-like behavior.

• FLK North (Olduvai)

Systematic butchery; evidence of scavenging and hunting strategies.

• Dmanisi (Georgia)

~1.8 mya; earliest out-of-Africa site; small-brained early Homo with erectus-like body.

• Jebel Irhoud (Morocco)

~315 kya; oldest Homo sapiens fossils; modern face + archaic braincase.

• Blombos Cave (South Africa)

100–70 kya; engraved ochre, beads; early symbolic behavior.

• Umm el Tlel (Syria)

Middle Paleolithic Levallois flakes; repeated occupations.

• Kebara Cave (Israel)

Neanderthal burial, preserved hyoid bone; hearths.

• Levallois Method

Prepared-core technology; produces predetermined flakes; shows planning/cognition.

• Aurignacian

First modern humans in Europe; blade tools, ornaments, figurines.

• Hohlefels

Early Venus figurine; bone flutes; symbolic modern human culture.

• Thermoluminescence Dating

Dates heated materials up to 500,000 years by measuring trapped electrons.

• Nauwalabila 1

~60–50 kya; earliest secure Australian site; stone tools, ochre.

• Lake Mungo

~45 kya; Mungo Man/Woman; early burial and ritual evidence.

• Beringia

Land bridge; human populations possibly stayed for thousands of years (standstill model).

• Ice-Free Corridor

Corridor opened around 13 kya; too late for earliest migrations.

• Coastal Route

Migration along Pacific coast by boat; supported by pre-Clovis sites.

• Clovis Industry

~13.2–12.8 kya; fluted points; rapid North American spread.

• Monte Verde (Chile)

~14.5 kya; pre-Clovis; wooden structures, seaweed, tools.

• Pedra Furada

Claims of very early occupation (~32 kya+); highly debated.

• Pedra Pintada

~13 kya; non-Clovis culture with its own tool tradition and art.

• Australia Extinction

~45–40 kya; human arrival, burning practices, climate change.

• American Extinction

~13–10 kya; mammoths/mastodons; overkill + climate warming.

• Subway Deer

Example of extinct large fauna; part of overall megafaunal collapse.

• Kharaneh (Jordan)

Large Natufian aggregation site; huts, burials; early semi-sedentism.

• Natufian Culture

14,500–11,500 BP; wild cereal harvesting; sickle blades; proto-farming.

• Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN)

Early farmers; wheat/barley/goat domestication; plastered skulls.

• Pastoralism

Mobile herding; sheep, goats, cattle; adaptive in arid areas.

• Hopewell (Newark, Ohio)

Large earthworks; lunar alignments; long-distance exchange.

• Guila Naquitz

Early squash (10k BP) and early stages of maize/beans domestication.

• Maize in Ontario

Arrives ~700–800 CE; transforms diet and village life.

• Brittle Rachis

Wild plants; seeds fall off easily for natural dispersal.

• Tough Rachis

Domesticated plants; seeds stay attached for easier harvesting.

• Flotation

Recovery of charred seeds using water separation.

• Pollen

Microscopic plant grains for climate/environment reconstruction.

• Phytoliths

Silica plant structures; helpful for grasses, maize.

• Starch Grains

Residues on tools/teeth; shows what plants were processed.