ANT003 Final

Bioturbation

activities of plants and animals on the earth, causing disturbance of archaeological materials

Artifact Classifications

Lithics and Ceramics

Temper

non-clay items within ceramics for binding

Ceramics

Made from clay, second most commonly studied artifact class

Green Pottery

Formed but unfired pot

Venus Figurines

Upper Paleolithic statues of women with exaggerated sexual features. Fertility Cult?

Cut Stone

Building Stone cut, mostly pecked/chiseled, then dressed

Pecking

using a hammerstone to strike a softer stone

Millingstones

Grinding Stones for seeds, nuts, etc.

Stone Pulverization

Used worldwide, most common example: Millingstones

Life-History of an Artifact

procurement, manufacture, use, recycle, loss/discard

Preservation

Material, Climate, Deposition, Sediments, Time

Functional Types

Based on attributes thought to reflect use/function

Morphological Types

reflects the overall appearance of the artifact

Temporal Types

By time, context

Geochemical Types

Based on chemical composition

Traditions

persistence of types over a long time

Horizons

Wide geographic spread in a short time: migrations, diffusion, cults

Blade (lithic)

Special kind of flake, with parallel edges: Length = 2 * Width

Osteological Paradox

Skeletal populations with high incidences of lesions do not necessarily mean the population was unhealthy, but that they were healthy enough to survive

Human Behavioral Ecology

Makes a prediction on human behavior

Optimal Foraging Theory

Maximize calories earned versus expended

Patch Choice

Evaluates how productive a given environment would have been and predicts how long a group would have stayed in one area before moving on.

Niche Construction

human impacts on the environment, trade-off between management and overexploitation

Subsistence/Settlement

Hunting & Gathering / Urbanizing

Systems

Hunting & Gathering: Foragers, Collectors, Pastoralists

Agriculturalists

Pottery Forming Methods

Handforming (pinching, addle and anvil, coiling, around a mold)

Wheel-thrown pots

Cook Pots

Must withstand heating and cooling

Open Rim

Fairly Large

Thin + Non-organic temper

Storage Pots

Thicker, large, stronger

Constricted opening

Light and Strong

Serving Pots

Smaller, Decorated, Easy to access contents

Transportation Pots

Larger, Constricted Opening, Light and Strong

Domestication

genotypic & phenotypic modification from human behavior

plants dependent on humans ie maize

Over-exploitation

excessive use that led to extinction

Bioarchaeology

Study of human skeletal remains from sites to understand lives, health diet and behaviors

Paleogenomics

Study of ancient DNA, genetic material of infectious agents

Humor Theory of Disease

Incorrect balancing of humors led to disease

Environmental Arch.

reconstruction of how ancient socities adapted to altered and interacted with their environments

Zooarchaeology

study of animal remains

Bipedalism

walking on two feet

States

1. Cities (40k+)

2. Food Surplus

3. Full time specialists

4. Stratification

5. Decline of kin based authority

6. Standing Armies

7. Long Distance trade

8. Achievements

9. Monumental Architecture

10. Distinctive Art Style

Quipus

Knotted strings to record info by Mayans

Pictographic Writing

Symbols represents word/idea, elements portray meaning

Syllabic Writing

Syllables represent signs, used to phonetically spell words

Alphabetic Writing

each sign represents distinctive sounds

Cuneiform

Used by Sumerican States (5100 BP - 2000 BP)

Deciphered by Henry Warlinson

Pseudo-archaeology

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

Model of Technological Investment

Optimal tech for XYZ purpose and scale

Hunter and Gatherers (Foragers)

Travelers, seasonal rounds, mobile, time minimizers

Hunter and Gatherers (Collectors)

Sedentary, space/land minimizers

Pastoralists

Mobile, stock in animals ie Shepherds

Agriculturalists

Values land & Space

discount time & labor

Specialized Tools

Large family sizes

Waterlogged Environment

Acidic & Anaerobic water

naturallity mummifies bodies

but bones not well preseved

NW Europe Bog People

Dry Caves

no water, stable climates

Dead Sea Scrolls - Isreal

Silk Textile w/ Chinese Writings

Arid Environment

Dry region, leads to natural mummifcation ie Peru

Frozen Environment

Frozen region, leads to mummification

1845 Franklin Expedition

Rapid Burial

"Pompeii" Conditions

Artifact

Portable

Ethnoarchaeology

Archaeological analysis of the past
waste to gain insight into people of the past

Archaeology is always scientific

false

Anthropology

study of humans

Archaeology

The study of ancient peoples

Ecofacts

non-artifactual organic remains

Sites

places where people did activities. fixed on a landscape

Features

non-portable artifacts

sites

not movable as a whole. ie pyramids

CRM

Cultural Resource Management
Origins: 1996 National Historic Preservation Act

Looting

taking artifacts from sites

Archaeological Data

Information from what is preserved within context

Scientific Archaeology

Starts with a theory and rejects ideas by falsification (hypothesis). Self-correcting

Non-scientific Archaeology

nationalist, archaeotourism, religous

Context

Circumstances where data is found

Stratigraphy

study of rock layers. oldest bottom

Survey

locate/map archaeological sites with non-destructive means
pedestrian

Excavation

destructive method to learn more about sites and preserve infos

Seriation

organizes by time. assumes unit of analysis is a short amount of time

Battleship Curve

Shape on a seriation graph formed by plotted points representing inception

Screening

uses a screen mesh to sort dirt for smaller artifacts

Flotation

use of fluid density (typically water) to capture tiny artifacts & /or ecofacts

Trinomial System

Three-part naming system for sites (US)
State Code (Number)

Complete Sampling

100% recovery of material within areas

Random Sampling

divide area into chunks

Stratified Random Sampling

divide areas into categorical chunks

Grid Sampling

Divides the sites into grids

Linear Sampling

sample the grids along a line

Uniformatarianism

Natural

Experimental Archaeology

reconstructing past technologies

Relative

Older/Younger than X

Absolute

Calendar Date

Arch. Dating

determine the ages of sites/artifacts using relative &/ absolute dating methods

Direct Date

dates the object itself

Indirect Date

dates the object by association

Accuracy

How close to the absolute age

Precision

How much variation in age estimates

Arch. Theories

frameworks used to understand past human behavior

probablistic

Findings are not expected to explain all cases all of the time

Datum

Fixed reference point for measurements (2D/3D)

Emeryville Shellmound

Mound created by seashells and other remains from Ohlone native americans. Stratigraphed by Max Uhle

Monticello

T. Jefferson's estate. Arch. reveals diets of slave workers and James Heming's Kitchen > TJ's Chef (European Style by a slave)

Trench

long narrow ditch for stratigraphy

Law of Superposition

generally each layer of rock is older the deeper it is