ANT 1407 Exam 3 Baylor Keene

Bioarchaeology

The study of human remains from Archaeological sites to answer archaeological questions

What can we learn from the human bodies at archaeological sites?

Osteology

The study of anatomy, structure, and function of the bones.

Forensics

Same osteological methods applied to crime scenes; Human vs. Non-Human, Demographics, Cause of Death

MNI/NISP

NISP= # of identified specimens ; MNI: Minimum number of individuals in your bone assemblage

Facial reconstruction

Facial Reconstruction involves re-creating a face from a skull; Assumes average thicknesses of muscle, fat, and skin, Newer, less biases methods use computers, But guesswork on non-osseous parts! i.e. skin tone, nose, ears, hair, etc.

Paleopathology

study of ancient pathological conditions; Evidence of life Trauma, Evidence of Disease

Osteon analysis

Compact Bone tissue that can be researched

Harris lines

horizontal lines near the ends of long bones indicating episodes of physiological stress

Dental carries

tooth decay that can show diet system for the skeleton

Squatting facets

usually burnished, extended joint surface found along the distal tibia and proximal talus, can also be seen on metacarpo-phallangeal borders. from squatting flat-footed on ground

C3/C4/CAMS plants

C3 - standard plants - wheat/rice | C4 - hot adaptation - corn, sugar, grasses | CAM - Hot Desert - cactus

Mitochondrial DNA

DNA found only in mitochondria, often used as a molecular clock

Phylogenetics

the analysis of evolutionary, or ancestral, relationships between taxa

Nuclear DNA

DNA that is present in the nucleus of a cell and that is inherited from both parents

Haplogroup

lineage or branch of a genetic tree marked by one or more specific genetic mutations; A group of genes that share a common Ancestor

aDNA

ancient DNA recovered from organic materials in archaeological sites

Culture History

Descriptive(what, when, where) model to define and categorize past societies - Boaz

Normative model of culture

Boaz idea - Culture consist of sets of rules/norms

Norms passed through generations

Imperfect learning - diachronic change

Some variation within norms, limited

Migrationist theory

Each distinct artifact complex represents a different ethnic group. Change is caused by migration

Diffusionist theory

Certain Types may arrive through diffusion(exchange).Better, but early applications were racist Great Zimbabwe and Mound Builders

Great Zimbabwe

City, now in ruins (in the modern African country of Zimbabwe), whose many stone structures were built between about 1250 and 1450, when it was a trading center and the capital of a large state.

Processual Archaeology

New archaeology, focused on using scientific method, attempting to explain culture change

The New Archaeology

Binford; An approach to archaeology that arose in the 1960s emphasizing the understanding of underlying cultural processes and the use of the scientific method; today's version of the "new archaeology" is sometimes called processual archaeology.

Lewis Binford

american archeologist known as the leader of the "new archeology" movement of being able to understand past cultures through their remains

Francois Bordes

French archeologist that was the worlds foremost expert on neandertal stone crafting

Ecological Models (Processual)

Binford; Culture and technology primary means to adapt to environmental change; Physical, Biological, Demographic

Materialist Models (Processual)

Bordes; All cultures adapt to the same biological needs, but in unique ways.

Marxist Archaeology

Marx and Fredrich Engels; Culture change is caused by conflict between production and social hierarchies that control them

Evolutionary Archaeology

A range of approaches that stress the importance of evolutionary theory as a unifying theory for archaeology.

V. Gordon Childe

Culture changes through revolution; Industrial revolution, Agricultural revolution, etc.

Richard Dawkins(UK)

Takes to an extreme - Idea of Memes(Genes) passed on through Learning(DNA Replication)

Complexity is a "Cultural Virus"

Memes/"Cultural Viruses"

Memetics is the study of information and culture based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution. Proponents describe memetics as an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer.

Robert Dunnell

Focus on heritability on culture (Darwinism) without specific Mendelian genetic analogues

Evolutionary Psychology

Human psychology evolved for Ice Age hunting and gathering, we are struck with this mindset today.Human have cognitive Flexibility to adapt to any situation

John Toobey & Leda Cosmides

Pioneered the Field of Evolutionary Psychology

Systems Approach

Based in Cybernetics Theory;

A human society is a complex series of interacting sub-systems

Inputs and Outputs of information between systems

Positive and Negative Feedback Loops

Inputs/Outputs

Things that effect societies

Positive/Negative Feedback

A positive feedback loop causes a self-amplifying cycle where a physiological change leads to even greater change in the same direction. A negative feedback loop is a process in which the body senses a change, and activates mechanisms to reverse that change.

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Simulation

Create a complex dynamic model to simulate a cultural system, then test it by feeding inputs to see if result matches real life observations.

System Collapse

Used to explain the fall of complex civilizations

Post-Processualism

A more humanistic look at changes in the context of past cultures' attitudes, beliefs, and lives(1990s)

Nomothetic approach

Human Behavior dictated by strict laws(like hard sciences)

Agency

the potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, mental maps of reality, symbols, institutions, and structures of power

Dichotomies

man/woman, inside/outside, public/private, etc.

Claude Levi-Strauss

French philosopher and structural anthropologist, developed theory of binary opposites, said culture was a system of communication, interpreted human culture on linguistics, information theory, and cybernetics

Noam Chomsky

theorist who believed that humans have an inborn or "native" propensity to develop language

Critical Theory (Post-Processual)

Critiques society and archaeology by challenging all norms

Processual interpretations are "positivistic" and reflect just one possible interpretation

Ian Hodder

Post-Processual Archaeology; Contextual Archaeology; originally a Processualist but not satisfied with the limitations of it and was interested in cultures role in shaping human behavior

Frankfurt School

Group of neo-Marxist scholars who worked together in the 1930s at the University of Frankfurt

Extreme Relativism

argues that cultures should be judged solely by their own standards; there's no truth

Feminist Archaeology

a research approach that explores why women's contributions have been systematically written out of the archaeological record and suggests new approaches to the human past that include such contributions

Margaret Conkey

gender archaeology; famous archaeology

Neo-Marxism

Like Marxism, but with more emphasis on ideology than economics; Mark Leone

Mark Leone

Neo-Marxism

Cognitive Archaeology

Cognitive Processualism

Attempts to describe and interpret symbols and cognition agency, conflict, ideology, and historical perspectives more than Processualism

Colin Renfrew

cognitive archaeology

Clovis

The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleoamerican culture, named for distinct stone tools

Clovis First Model

The Clovis culture, dated to 13,500 to 12,500 years ago, is the first human occupation in the Americas

Ice Free Corridor

A potential migration route for populations expanding out of Beringia, running between the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets

Coastal route

the hypothesis that humans migrated from Asia into the Americas by sea, following the coast and taking advantage of lobes of dry, vegetated land which were present during the Wisconsin glaciation.

Monte Verde site

A Pre-Clovis site located in southern Chile; dates back to 18,500 years ago; contradicts the previously accepted "Clovis first" model which holds that settlement of the Americas began after 13,500 BP

Debra L. Friedkin site

Texas, was thought to have been a pre-clovis site found under a clovis site. 15000 artifacts found including; bifaces, cores, flake tools, stone tool-making debris, dated 15.5 to 13.2 kya

Western Stem tradition

Type of Projectile Point different from Clovis

Solutrean Hypothesis

proposes that ancestors of native americans came to North America from Europe in boats or over the ice

Trans-Pacific Migration Hypothesis

The first humans to migrate from Asia to the Americas crossed over a land bridge (Beringia) in what is now the Bering Sea during the last ice age, and their descendents then migrated into North America through a gap between the Laurentian and Cordilleran glacial ice sheets.

Hall's Cave site

The archaeological record reveals the human response to changing climate over the last 10,500 years.

Edwards Plateau

Located between dry western plains and most prairies and woods .Erosion has left shallow soils. Sudden rain causes flooding. Edwards Aquifer supplies most water for area. Sub Region of Great Plains Region

Cordage

Netting(antelope, rabbit, birds, fish, insects), lacing, snares, clothing, jewelry

Spin or twist direction in cordage

Can show genetic growth or passed down in the direction that they create the cordage

Work direction in basketry

Can show genetic growth or passed down in the direction that they create the cordage

Enculturation

The social process by which culture is learned and transmitted across generations

CRM

Cultural Resource Management; Archaeology conducted as part of the environmental clearance process for development

Cultural Heritage

made up of learned behaviors, beliefs, and languages that are passed from generation to generation

Descendant Communities

Hold historical, cultural, and symbolic associations to places that they consider ancestral, and these values and beliefs must be considered in addition to the biological heritage of the individual people

Looting

robbing

Bamiyan Buddhas

-200-500 AD

-Afghanistan (central asia)

-huge images

-destroyed by taliban bc they were icons (2001)

-details= stacco

-caves w paintings inside

Curation Crisis

running out of space for artifacts.

A) Curation of Archaeological Materials

B) Little Curation with Stakeholders, Emphasize Native Past (As if Extinct)

C) Museum Exhibits and Programs

D) New Developments: More Consultation (cultural centers)

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

strengthens protection of sites via the National Register; integrates state and local agencies into the national program for site preservation

Section 106

The government must consider the effects of its actions on Historic Properties; if you want to build something on federal property, then you must determine whether the project will affect any site included in the National Register

UNESCO World Heritage Convention

The World Heritage Convention aims to promote cooperation among nations to protect heritage around the world that is of such outstanding universal value that its conservation is important for current and future generations.

NAGPRA

Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act; Native American have rights to the remains of ancestors and sacred objects.

Contract archaeology

The application of archaeology to assess the potential impact of construction on archaeological sites and to salvage archaeological evidence.

Academic archaeology

focused on research, traditionally practiced in universities and museums, until recently the major share

Rescue archaeology

When archaeologists excavate an area before construction takes place to rescue any artefacts that may have been left in the ground

Pseudoarchaeology

the use of selective archaeological evidence to put forward nonscientific, fictional accounts of the past

Shinichi Fujimora

Japanese Arch. Fraudster who planted artifacts

In bioarchaeology, know the different types of information that are discerned from human remains.

Primary vs. Secondary burials

What are some ways to determine sex of human remains?

What are some ways to determine age at death? With bone? With teeth?

How to determine height?

How are stable carbon isotopic studies used to recreate past diets?

What do DNA/aDNA studies tell us about origins of human migration into the Americas?

What bioarchaeological data can be used to study hierarchy/inequality?

For each theoretical framework, know generally what it contributes to interpretation, its strength and weaknesses, and major archaeologist(s) involved.

What is the "Great Zimbabwe" and why is it a failing of early migrationist perspectives?

What is the nature of the Bordes-Binford debate?

How is the collapse of Mayan civilization explained by Systems theory?

What problems do Post-Processual archaeologists have with the "New Archaeology"?