ant 304 final

Antiquarianism

the collection and study of historical

objects, artifacts, and ancient texts. Mostly wealthy landowners, travelers

cultural evolutionism

A belief in uniform, progressive cultural evolution, Identified by technology: all human societies progress through the same stages of development, from "primitive" to "advanced" — used by early archaeologists to rank and compare ancient cultures.

Historical Particularism

The idea that every culture develops in its own unique way due to its own specific history and environment, rather than following a universal path — a rejection of cultural evolutionism.

C. J. Thomsen

Developed a chronological sequence

of artifacts: The Stone Age, the

Bronze Age, and the Iron Age

Focused on the "find circumstances"

and didn't assume age based on

material

Thomas Jefferson

An early American pioneer of archaeological excavation who systematically dug into a Native American burial mound in Virginia, recording soil layers and artifacts — considered one of the first scientific excavations in North America.

Franz Boas

German Anthropologist, "Father of American Anthropology", Supported four-field approach, Proponent of fieldwork (Worked with

Inuit of Baffin Island, First Nations

of Pacific Northwest, hugely influential in shifting archaeology away from cultural evolutionism.

Culture-history

What happened? Where? When?

An archaeological approach that focuses on identifying and mapping distinct cultures through their artifacts and traditions, and tracing how those cultures changed and spread over time. identify prehistoric cultures and describe them

Processualism

Why did societies change? How?

An approach to archaeology that treats culture as a system and uses scientific methods to explain why cultures changed, rather than just describing what changed.

Post-processualism

How did people experience and shape change?

understand the meaning, symbols, power relations, and lived

experiences embedded in material culture

Context

the complete surroundings of an artifact or feature, The precise location and circumstances in which an artifact or feature is found — critical for interpreting its meaning and age.

Provenience

exact location, The exact three-dimensional position of an object within an archaeological site — its specific spot in the ground.

Matrix

the surrounding dirt (sediment), The material surrounding an artifact — such as soil, sand, or gravel — in which it is embedded.

Artifact

A portable object made or modified by humans, such as a tool, pot, or weapon.

Feature

A non-portable element of an archaeological site that cannot be removed, such as a hearth, pit, or wall.

Organic materials

Remains derived from living things — such as bone, wood, seeds, or leather — that can decay over time.

Inorganic materials

Non-living materials such as stone, ceramic, or metal — generally more durable and better preserved than organic materials.

Good preservation environments

Conditions that slow decay, such as extreme cold, extreme dryness, waterlogging, or absence of oxygen.

Bad preservation environments

Conditions that accelerate decay, such as warm, wet, and acidic soils that break down organic materials quickly.

Swartkrans Cave Complex, South Africa

• Deep caves in which rocks, dirt, and

animal bones accumulated

• Remains of Australopithecus/Hominina

• Stone tools, evidence of regular burning

Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

A landmark archaeological site where Louis and Mary Leakey discovered key hominin fossils and some of the earliest known stone tools, central to understanding human evolution.

Natural formation processes

Erosion

Deposition

Bioturbation

Ways that nature — such as erosion, flooding, or animal activity — affects how archaeological sites are created, altered, or destroyed over time.

Cultural formation processes

Artifacts Going Into the Ground

Features Being Created

Sites Being Occupied

Ways that human behavior — such as discarding, burying, or reusing objects — shapes how archaeological sites are formed and what gets left behind.

Primary context

When an artifact or feature is found exactly where it was originally deposited or used, undisturbed.

Secondary context

When an artifact has been moved from its original location by natural or human processes, making interpretation more difficult.

Reconnaissance

The preliminary exploration of a region to locate and identify potential archaeological sites before detailed investigation begins.

Field/ground survey

A systematic on-the-ground search of an area by archaeologists walking across the landscape to identify and record surface artifacts and site locations.

Aerial/remote survey

Using aerial photography, satellite imagery, or technology like LiDAR to detect archaeological sites and features from above that may not be visible on the ground.

Systematic Survey

follows a planned, structured pattern to ensure full coverage of an area.

Unsystematic Survey

that is informal and random, often missing sites.

Extensive Survey

that covers a large area with less detail.

Intensive Survey

that focuses on a smaller area in much greater depth and detail.

Probabilistic Survey

that uses random or statistically representative sampling to draw broader conclusions about a region.

Non-probabilistic Survey

that selects areas based on judgment or convenience, making it harder to generalize findings.

Paleolithic

• Aka "the stone age" (means

'ancient' 'stone')

• From 3.3 million years ago to

the end of the Pleistocene

(the Ice Age) about 11,700

years ago

• Characterized by use of stone

tools

• Humans (& Hominina

ancestors) living in small

groups

• Hunting, fishing, gathering

(Hunter-gatherers)

Jebel Irhoud, Morocco

Earliest Homo sapiens identified so far, dating to around 300,000 years ago, Challenges earlier

assumptions about human origins in East Africa

Bizmoune Cave, Morocco

Inhabited as early as 150,000 years ago, Occupied exclusively by Homo sapiens, World's oldest known personal adornment items, Shell beads from 142,000 - 150,000 years old

Law of superposition

the oldest layers are at the bottom, and the youngest layers are at the top.

Grid system

A method of dividing an excavation site into uniform squares to help record the precise location of artifacts and features.

Datum

A fixed reference point, Origin point for grid, Everything is measured from this

point! Or points, Arbitrary, but should be

something permanent

Types of excavation records

The various ways archaeologists document a dig, including field notes, drawings, photographs, and artifact logs.

Map

A top-down, horizontal view of an excavation showing the layout of features and artifacts across the site.

Profile

A vertical cross-section view of an excavation showing the different soil layers and their relationships over time.

Screening

The process of sifting excavated soil through a mesh screen to recover small artifacts and materials that might otherwise be missed.

Relative dating

Dating by comparison and establishment of a

sequence, A method of determining whether something is older or younger than something else, without assigning a specific calendar date.

Absolute dating

A method that assigns a specific date or age — in years — to an artifact, site, or event.

Stratigraphy

The study of stratification

● The deposition (laying down) of

strata (layers/deposits)

● One above the other

What caused this layer? What

makes it different from the ones

above it and below it?

Stratigraphic sequence

The ordered arrangement of soil layers at a site, used to establish the relative age of artifacts and features found within them.

Typology

• Classification system

• Based on shape, decoration, material,

function...

• Used to create timeline, Which kind of stuff was

used when?

Radiocarbon dating

• Used to determine the age of organic materials (wood, bone, shell, plant)

• Up to about 60,000 years old

Correlation

The process of matching and comparing soil layers or artifact sequences from different sites to establish their relative ages and relationships.

Homo sapiens

The species name for modern humans, first appearing in Africa around 300,000 years ago.

Hominini/hominins

The group that includes modern humans, extinct human species, and our closest evolutionary ancestors after splitting from chimpanzees.

Trends in hominin evolution

The general physical and behavioral changes seen over time in hominins, including increasing brain size, bipedalism, reduced jaw size, and more complex tool use.

Out-of-Africa

The theory that modern humans originated in Africa and migrated outward to populate the rest of the world, supported by fossil and genetic evidence.

Qafzeh Cave, Israel

• Rock shelter/Cave site

• 28 skeletons (up to 92,000 years old)

• Dated using thermoluminescence

• Middle-Paleolitihic / Mousterian tools

Oldest known intentional burials of

modern humans

28 individuals

Majority children

Symbolic items:

Red Ochre

Red, black, yellow ochre-painted shells

Glycimeris shell beads

Care for sick, injured, disabled

Double burial of young adult and child

Band

• Smallest unit of human

social organization

• Small, kin-based group

• 20 to 50 individuals

• Primary social

organization for most of

human history

• Associated with nomadic

or semi-nomadic hunter-

gatherers

Hunter-gatherer

• Societies which forage

for wild food

• Hunting, fishing,

gathering plants

• Primary means of

subsistence for most of

human history

• Associated with nomadic

"bands"

Ethnic group

• shared territory or land

• common descent, or "blood"

• common language

• community of customs

• community of beliefs or religion

• self-awareness, self-identity

Culture

Shared set of beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and

materials that define a group Often intangible,

but some tangible

Archaeological culture

Recurring set of material traits, Found grouped by

region and/or time

Sunghir, Russia

elaborately buried individuals were found covered in thousands of mammoth ivory beads, suggesting social complexity and ascribed status.

People experienced life differently

based on...

Sex and Gender

Age

Social Status/Rank

Occupation

Health/Bodily Difference

And more...

This resulted in different...

Labor roles

Access to Knowledge

Vulnerability to violence

Nutritional stress

Mobility

And more...

Achieved status

Social standing earned through an individual's own actions or abilities.

Ascribed status

Social standing assigned at birth based on factors like family, gender, or age, regardless of individual effort.

Beringia

The ancient land bridge that connected Asia and North America during the last Ice Age, believed to be a major migration route for the first humans to enter the Americas.

Kelp Highway hypothesis

People arrive to the Americas 16-17 (or more?) thousand years ago via the Pacific Ocean

The theory that early humans migrated into the Americas by traveling along the Pacific coastline by boat, following rich marine food resources like kelp forests.

Clovis-First hypothesis

People arrive to the Americas 13-14

thousand years ago via Beringia

The once-dominant theory that the first humans to enter the Americas were the Clovis people, who crossed Beringia around 13,000 years ago — now challenged by older sites.

Page-Ladson, USA

• Underwater site

• Human-altered mammoth remains

• Dated to 14,500

• Challenged Clovis-First Hypothesis

An underwater archaeological site in Florida with evidence of human presence dating to around 14,500 years ago, predating Clovis and challenging the Clovis-First hypothesis.

Palynology

The study of ancient pollen preserved in soil or sediment to reconstruct past environments, vegetation, and climates.

Phytolith

silica structures from plants

A microscopic silica particle produced by plants that survives in the soil long after the plant has decayed, used to identify what plants were present at a site.

Microbotanicals

Tiny plant remains — such as pollen, phytoliths, and starch grains — studied by archaeologists to reconstruct ancient diets and environments.

Subsistence method

The way a society obtains its food, such as hunting, gathering, farming, or herding.

Diet

The range of foods consumed by people at a particular time and place, reconstructed by archaeologists from food remains at a site.

Macrobotanicals

Large, visible plant remains — such as seeds, nuts, charred wood, or fruit — recovered from archaeological sites to study past plant use and diet.

Flotation

A technique where excavated soil is placed in water so that light plant remains like seeds and charcoal float to the surface and can be collected and studied.

Hearth

evidence of cooking/processing

A fireplace or area of burning found at an archaeological site, used as evidence of fire use, cooking, and settlement.

Coprolite

evidence of consumption

Fossilized or preserved feces, studied by archaeologists to directly reconstruct the diet and health of past people and animals.

Zooarchaeology

the study of human-animal interactions through animal remains

The study of animal remains from archaeological sites to understand past diets, hunting practices, domestication, and environments.

Faunal remains/assemblage

The collection of animal bones, teeth, shells, and other animal materials recovered from an archaeological site.

Fa-Hien Lena, Sri Lanka

•Dating using radiocarbon and uranium-thorium methods

•Evidence of small mammal hunting (monkeys, squirrels)

At Fa-Hien Lena, they found hearths and coprolites with

● Wild breadfruit (Artocarpus sp.)

● Kekuna nuts (Canarium sp.)

● Both of these plants provide a rich source of starch,

fats, and protein, and require little processing.

A cave site in Sri Lanka with some of the earliest evidence of sophisticated hunting of small, fast

animals like monkeys and squirrels, dating back around 45,000 years.

Neolithic Revolution

Shift to reliance on domesticated plants and animals

Neolithic Revolution is the older term suggesting a rapid, dramatic shift to farming

Neolithic Transition

Neolithic Transition is the preferred modern term recognizing it was a slow, gradual process that varied by region.

Domestication

Adapting wild plants and animals for human use

The process by which humans selectively bred wild plants and animals over generations, making them dependent on human care and more useful for food or labor.

Agriculture

The intensive production of crops and livestock

The deliberate cultivation of plants and raising of animals for food, forming the basis of settled societies.

Sedentism

The practice of living in permanent or semi-permanent settlements rather than moving around as nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Hierarchy

a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.

Abu Hureyra, Syria

- Earliest known farmers

- poineers of flotation

- agriculture as risk management for already sedentary community

- Tell / Tel: an artificial mound, often with a flat top and steep sides, formed by the accumulated debris of thousands of years of human habitation

A key archaeological site showing one of the earliest transitions from hunting and gathering to farming, with evidence of early plant domestication dating to around 13,000 years ago.

Sannai-Maruyama, Japan

- earliest pottery in the world

- Settled, large hierarchical society without agriculture

- above ground storage

- large long houses

A large and complex Jomon period site in Japan showing that sedentism and social complexity can develop without full agriculture, challenging the idea that farming is required for settled life.

Çatalhöyük, Turkey

- layers of houses, no distinctive features

- Female figurines found within grain storage bins

- Sheep domesticated, cattle possibly domesticated and central in ritual spaces

- Agriculture but very little hierarchy

A large Neolithic settlement in Turkey dating to around 9,000 years ago, notable for its densely packed mud-brick houses, lack of streets, and evidence of early urban-like communal living.

Stone tools

- rock deliberattly shapes by humans

Objects shaped from stone by humans for cutting, scraping, hunting, or other tasks, representing the earliest and most durable form of human technology.

Reductive technology

- Desired form is created by removal of material

Requires planning!

A tool-making process where material is removed — or reduced — from a larger piece of stone to create a desired shape.

Percussion flaking

A technique of striking stone with another stone or hard object to remove flakes and shape a tool.

Ground stone Tools

made by grinding and smoothing stone rather than flaking it, commonly used for processing plant foods like seeds and grains.

Clay

- fine grained sediment, moldable when wet, hard

when fired or dried

A naturally occurring fine-grained material that becomes moldable when wet and hardens when dried or fired, used to make pottery and other objects.

Temper

- non-plastic material added to clay

Material such as sand, shell, or grit added to clay before firing to prevent cracking and strengthen the finished pot.

Pottery

- Vessels and containers made from clay

hardened by firing, used for storing, cooking, and transporting food and liquids.

Ceramics

- pottery, figurines, bricks...

The broader category of objects made from fired clay, including pottery, figurines, and building materials.

Pyrotechnology

- the control of fire..

The controlled use of fire by humans for technological purposes, such as firing pottery, smelting metal, or hardening tools.

Smelting

extracting metal from ore by heating it to high temperatures, separating the pure metal from the surrounding rock.

Metallurgy

- The production and working of metals

The knowledge and practice of extracting, processing, and working with metals to create tools, weapons, and other objects.

Characterization

- sourcing

The process of identifying the physical and chemical properties of an artifact to determine where its raw materials came from originally.