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Definition
| The study of humankind in all times and places; objective & systematic study of humankind |
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Term
| Biological anthropology (physical anthropology) |
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Definition
| The systematic study of humans as biological organisms; looks at biology in relation to behaviour, human biological evolution, genetics, primate biological evolution, forensics, and paleoarchaeology |
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| Sociocultural anthropology |
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Definition
| Looks at the social & cultural life of mankind; and looks at relationships of individuals to individuals, individuals to groups, and groups to groups; focuses on humans as a culture-making species |
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| Applying the knowledge & methods of anthropology to solve practical problems |
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| The study of fossil remains with the goal of reconstructing human biological evolution |
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| Recover & study fossil evidence for human evolution |
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Definition
| The study of nonhuman primates, their biology, adaptation, and social behaviour |
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| A field of biological anthropology & archaeology that specializes in identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes |
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Definition
| The study of material remains, usually from the past, to describe & explain human behaviour |
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Definition
| Study what people have left behind in context; formulate hypotheses; look at culture change over time; review archives & written records; and reconstruct past events |
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Prehistoric/Pre-Contact archaeology |
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Definition
| The study of ancient cultures that did not posses writing systems to record their history |
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Definition
| The study of past cultures that possessed written records of their history (in order to supplement material remains people left behind) |
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Cultural resource management (CRM or contract archaeology) |
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Definition
| The assessment & possible excavation of archaeological sites threatened by human activity |
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Definition
| The branch of anthropology that studies human language; involved in 3 major concepts – looking at grammar, vocabulary and meaning; studying evolution of language (cultural and biological); and looking at comparative linguistics (comparing languages) |
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Definition
| Studies patterns & structure in language |
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Definition
| Studies language origins, language change, and relationships between languages |
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Definition
| 1) The totality of learned & shared pattern of beliefs and behaviours of a human group; includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities or habits acquired by mankind as a member of society; 2) The often unconscious standards by which societies operate |
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Definition
| A thought or idea that is based on assumptions & values of one’s own culture |
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Definition
| An anthropologist who studies cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts |
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Definition
| The systematic description of a particular culture based on firsthand observation |
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| Study of cultures of recent past through oral histories & written accounts left by explorers, missionaries, and traders |
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Definition
| Technique of learning a people’s culture through direct participation in their everyday life for extended period of time |
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Definition
| Fundamental principle of anthropology, that various parts of culture must be viewed in broadest possible context to understand their interconnections & interdependence |
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Definition
| Members of a society in which ethnographer works who help interpret what she/he sees taking place |
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Definition
| Period of time before appearance of written records; does not deny existence of history |
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Definition
| Period before European arrival in the Americas; prior to contact with Native/indigenous peoples |
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Definition
| Any object fashioned or altered by humans; tangible remains of the past that are a patterned reflection of the culture that produced them |
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Definition
| Identifiable properties that combine to give the object its distinct form |
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Definition
| Remains of once-living organism, generally having lived more than 10 000 years ago |
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Definition
| Special clusters of artefacts, features, and/or ecofacts; places containing remains of previous human activity |
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Definition
| A place within a site that is treated separately from other places within the site; non-portable artefact that cannot be removed from place of discovery without altering/destroying its original form |
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Definition
| Stains that show up on surface of recently plowed fields that reveal an archaeological site |
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Definition
| Largest & most flexible special clusters of archaeological data; definable area bounded by topographic features such as mountains & bodies of water |
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Definition
| A bounded research area (bounded in both time & geographical space) |
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Non-arbitrary sample units |
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Definition
| Sample units that correspond either to natural areas (i.e. microenviroment) or cultural entities (i.e. rooms, houses, or sites) |
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Definition
| Sample units with no inherent natural or cultural relevance (i.e. sample units defined by a grid system) |
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| The aggregate (entire sum) of all sample units |
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Definition
| Investigation of all units in the population |
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Definition
| Situations in which only a portion or sample of data can be collected from a given archaeological data pool |
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Archaeological research design |
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Definition
| Sequence of stages that guides conduct of archaeological investigation to ensure validity of results & makes efficient use time, money, and effort |
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Definition
| Starting or reference point for a grid system |
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Definition
| Physical medium that surrounds, holds, and supports other archaeological data |
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Definition
| 3D location of any kind of archaeological data on or within the matrix |
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Definition
| In archaeology, the is exact location of an archaeological find in latitude, longitude, and depth, which together identify any point in space absolutely & uniquely |
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Definition
| 2 or more artefacts (or any other kind of data) occurring together in same matrix |
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Definition
| Geographical area over which assemblages (collection of artefacts) that makeup a unique culture are defined in time & space |
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Definition
| Conditions in which both provenience & matrix have been undisturbed since original deposition |
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Definition
| Condition in which provenience, association, and matrix have been wholly or partially altered by processes of transformation |
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Definition
| A cast of the inside of a skull, which helps determine size & shape of brain |
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Definition
| An archaeological technique used to recover very tiny objects (i.e. seeds, pollen, etc.) by immersion of soil samples in water to separate heavy from light particles |
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Definition
| The microscopic analysis of pollen |
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Definition
| Analysis & interpretation of archaeological plant remains |
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Definition
| Analysis & interpretation of archaeological animal remains |
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Definition
| The knowledge that people employ to make & use objects |
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Definition
| The study of human skeletal remains |
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Definition
| Consists of finding out if an event, object, or fossil is older or younger than another (consists of seriation & stratigraphy techniques) |
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Term
| Absolute/Chronometric dating |
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Definition
| Archaeological material dates are based on solar years, centuries, or others units of absolute time (radiocarbon dating, potassium argon dating, and dendrochronology) |
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Definition
| Most reliable method of relative dating by means of strata |
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Definition
| Method used to place artefacts in approximate chronological order based on recognition of small-scale incremental changes in form or style |
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Definition
| Objects showing greatest similarities in style, design, and manufacturing are closest together in time |
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Definition
| Technique for chronometric dating based on measuring amount of radioactive carbon (C-14) left in organic materials found in archaeological sites |
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Definition
| Method of chronometric dating based on number of rings of growth found in a tree trunk |
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Definition
| Technique for chronometric dating that measures ratio of radioactive potassium to argon in volcanic debris associated with human remains (used to date inorganic substances) |
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Definition
| Structures that look similar & may serve the same purpose (i.e. wings of birds & butterflies) but are built from different parts & do not pass through similar stages in embryonic development |
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Definition
| Structures possessed by 2 different organisms that arise in similar fashion & pass through similar stages during embryonic development (i.e. hand of a human & front paw of a dog) |
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Definition
| Descent with modification |
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Definition
| Population or group of populations that is capable of interbreeding but that is reproductively isolated from other such populations |
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Definition
| The evolutionary process through which factors in environment exert pressure that favours some individuals over others to produce next generation |
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Definition
| A group of similar individuals that can & do interbreed |
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Definition
| States that percentage of individuals that are homozygous for dominant allele, homozygous for recessive allele, and heterozygous should remain constant from 1 generation to the next, provided certain specified conditions are met |
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Definition
| Chance alteration of a gene that produces a new allele; ultimate source of change |
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Definition
| Refers to chance fluctuations of allele frequencies in gene pool of a population |
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Definition
| Introduction of alleles from gene pool of 1 population into that of another |
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Term
Interspecies gene transfer |
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Definition
| The transfer of DNA, as when retroviruses insert DNA into cells of 1 species from another |
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Definition
| Process by which organisms achieve a beneficial adjustment to an available environment |
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Definition
| Natural selection as it acts to promote stability, rather than change, in a population’s gene pool |
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Definition
| Characteristics that are shared widely (i.e. mammary glands in mammals) & are considered to have been shared by a common ancestor |
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Definition
| Primate suborder that includes tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans |
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Definition
| Characteristics that are shared narrowly among organisms & shows that organisms have a close evolutionary relationship |
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Definition
| The time of sexual receptivity in female primates during which ovulation takes place |
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Definition
| The presence of marked anatomical differences between males & females of a single species |
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Definition
| The area within which a group of primates usually moves |
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Definition
| Objects used to facilitate some task or activity; |
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Definition
| A population of a species that differs in allele frequencies from other such populations |
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Definition
| Factors that separate breeding populations, thereby preventing gene flow & creating divergent subspecies & ultimately (if maintained) divergent species |
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Divergent or branching evolution |
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Definition
| An evolutionary process in which ancestral population gives rise to 2 or more descendant populations that differ from one another |
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Definition
| The process by which unrelated populations develop similarities to one another |
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Definition
| A sustained directional shift in a population’s average characteristics |
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Definition
| The rapid diversification of an evolving population as it adapts to a variety of available niches |
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