archeology

  • Archaeology = the study of the human past through material remains.

  • Prehistoric Archaeology = archaeology before written records.

  • Historical Archaeology = archaeology using artifacts and written records.

  • CRM = archaeology that protects sites from construction.

  • Pseudoarchaeology = claims about the past that lack scientific evidence.

  • Thunderstones = tools once thought to be fossilized lightning.

  • Antiquarianism = early, unsystematic artifact collecting.

  • Steno’s Principles = rules for understanding layers and their ages.

  • Three Age System = Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages.

  • Catastrophism = Earth changed through major disasters.

  • Uniformitarianism = processes today also happened in the past.

  • Archaeological Record = evidence left by past people.

  • Artifact = portable object made or changed by humans.

  • Ecofact = natural material found at a site.

  • Feature = non-portable evidence of human activity.

  • Site = place where archaeological remains are found.

  • Context = an object's relationship to its surroundings.

  • Matrix = soil surrounding an object.

  • Provenience = exact location of an object.

  • Association = objects found in relation to each other.

  • Assemblage = group of artifacts found together.

  • Activity Area = place where a specific activity happened.

  • Region = physical area.

  • Landscape = area shaped by human use and meaning.

  • Antiquities Act = protects artifacts on federal land.

  • NHPA = law protecting historic places.

  • SHPO/THPO = state/tribal historic preservation offices.

  • National Register = list of important historic places.

  • Section 106 = requires review of effects on historic sites.

  • ACHP = advises the government on historic preservation.

  • ARPA = protects archaeological resources on federal/tribal land.

  • NAGPRA = protects Native American remains and cultural items.

  • Scientific Method = question → hypothesis → test → evidence.

  • Theory = well-supported explanation.

  • Hypothesis = testable explanation.

  • Processualism = archaeology focused on science and environment.

  • Post-Processualism = archaeology focused on people, ideas, and meaning.

  • Hyperdiffusionism = ideas spread from one main culture.

  • Archaeological Survey = searching for archaeological sites.

  • Ground Reconnaissance = searching from the ground.

  • Aerial Reconnaissance = searching from the air.

  • Pedestrian Survey = walking to find surface artifacts.

  • Shovel Test Pits = small holes used to find buried remains.

  • Random Sampling = samples chosen randomly.

  • Stratified Random = random samples from different sections.

  • Systematic Sampling = samples taken at regular intervals.

  • Transect = line used for systematic sampling.

  • Crop Marks = plant changes showing buried features.

  • LiDAR = lasers used to see the ground through vegetation.

  • GPR = radar used to find things underground.

  • Site Testing = determines what is at a site and if more study is needed.

  • Excavation = carefully digging to find remains.

  • Vertical Excavation = digs down through time layers.

  • Horizontal Excavation = digs across an area to study activities.

  • Screening = sifting dirt to find artifacts.

  • Phase 1 CRM = find sites.

  • Phase 2 CRM = test sites.

  • Phase 3 CRM = fully excavate important sites.

Important Figures

  • James Ussher = said Earth was created in 4004 BCE.

  • Nicolas Steno = developed principles of stratigraphy.

  • Thomas Jefferson = early American archaeologist.

  • C. J. Thomsen = created the Three Age System.

  • Boucher de Perthes = connected stone tools with ancient animals.

  • Charles Lyell = popularized uniformitarianism.

  • Lewis Henry Morgan = proposed stages of human development.

  • Heinrich Schliemann = excavated Troy and Mycenae.

  • Pitt-Rivers = promoted systematic archaeology.

  • Franz Boas = promoted cultural relativism.

  • Vere Gordon Childe = coined “Neolithic Revolution.”

  • Dorothy Garrod = first female Cambridge archaeology professor.

  • Lewis Binford = father of processualism.

  • Ian Hodder = father of post-processualism.

Case Studies

  • Piltdown Man = fake human fossils that fooled scientists.

  • Science vs. Pseudoscience = science uses evidence and testing; pseudoscience does not.

  • National Register Criteria = events, people, design, or research potential.

  • Slack Farm = Native American site badly damaged by looters.

  • Kennewick Man = ancient remains involved in a dispute over Native American ownership.

  • Contour Map = shows elevation and artifact patterns.