Term
| What are the four subsistence strategies? |
|
Definition
1. foraging
2. horticulture
3. agriculture
4. pastoralism |
|
|
Term
| What things are consistent with foraging? |
|
Definition
-high mobility (movement)
-seasonal dispersement and aggregation
-food collectors (not food producers)
-small groups of people related through kinship and marriage |
|
|
Term
| What things are consistent with horticulture? |
|
Definition
-non intensive farming (garden plots)
-simple tools (bison scapula)
-shifting cultivation (slash and burn agriculture)
-mixed economies (still hunting and gathering from wild) |
|
|
Term
| what things are consistent with agriculture? |
|
Definition
-intensive farming (domesticated animals, irrigation, terracing)
-high labor demand!!!!
-increased sedentism
-associated with larger and more permanent communities |
|
|
Term
| what things are consistent with pastoralism? |
|
Definition
-characterized by the herding of animals (cattle, sheep, goats, llamas, camels, yaks)
-means of subsistence to get dairy products, meat, fur
-nomadism: entire group moves with herd
-transhumance: part of the group moves with the herds, while the other stays put --> allows for mobility |
|
|
Term
| Archaeological evidence of subsistence -- what forms does it take? (5) |
|
Definition
-studying coprolites, bones left behind, environment, cooking utensils
-the materials, structures, and processes that are necessary for certain subsistence strategies
-what is left behind and preserves well (faunal and botanical remains)
1. paleoethnobotany
2. zooarchaeology
3. residues (soil micromorphology, phytoliths, starch grains)
4. artifact evidence of subsistence
5. effects of diet on skeleton |
|
|
Term
| What is paleoethnobotany? |
|
Definition
-the study of past human use of plants at archaeological sites
-fruits, NUTS, wood, SEEDS, tubers, stalks, leaves
-comparative collections
-field collection techniques = bags with tags carries dirt from features
-recovery technique = water flotation (take all dirt, put it through a tank, separates light from heavy; the plant remains float, then you lay them out to dry)
-laboratory processing |
|
|
Term
| How do we quantify plant remains? What are some of the issues? |
|
Definition
-to quantify plant remains, you look at the taxa (species) that is there, compare that to the total amount found and the contribution to the diet
-50 avocado seeds vs. 50 strawberry seeds
-issue = accounting for how many seeds make up an actual usable material; finding plant residue that is adequate for analysis and comparing that data to known plants to know what plant(s) was / were on that object |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-bones, teeth, antlers, shells, feathers, eggs
-get to material remains through screening
-faunal remains are much larger (get provenience of it in situ; mapping and excavating) |
|
|
Term
| How do we quantify and talk about diet from animal bones? |
|
Definition
-NISP = number of identified specimens; MNI = minimum number of individuals
-50 right humeri from turkey; 50 right humeri from bison. Who is getting more food? The people eating the bison.
-50 bison bone fragments. How many bison is that? Account for number of specimens / individuals
-Does this stuff always have to be food? Were these things traded in from elsewhere? |
|
|
Term
| What are the three categories under residues? |
|
Definition
1. soil micromorphology
2. phytoliths
3. starch grains |
|
|
Term
| Why are residues more likely to preserve? |
|
Definition
-they have been burned (carbonized)
-really small, so less likely to be cleared away |
|
|
Term
| What is soil micromorphology? |
|
Definition
-magnified views of stratigraphy
-cut section of dirt / soil, pack it up, transport it back to the U.S., inject resin (fills spaces and cracks), slice it in half, hold it up to light, and see the stratigraphy
-Catalhoyuk, Turkey--> enter houses from the top
-animal pen sediment with dung, for example
-animal pens between houses in Catalhoyuk |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-microscopic silica particles in plants
-in Oaxaca, Mexico --> took samples from house floors, occupation surfaces, burn pits, and burial vessels
-phytoliths in all samples: maize, squash, fruits, berries
-house floors = palm; burn pits = maize, algae spores; burial vessels = maize |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-carbohydrate complexes housed in plant cells
-variation in starch grains
-identify if potato, maize, oat, rice, pea, banana, etc. |
|
|
Term
| How might artifacts tell us about subsistence? |
|
Definition
-scrapers and projectile points = hunting, processing of hides
-fish hooks = fishing
-sickle blades and sickle handle
-iconography: pictures of people's subsistence methods in past |
|
|
Term
| What are some major effects of the diet on the human skeleton? |
|
Definition
-Tooth wear. For example, eskimoes have vertical striation, which implies a protein based diet. Mayasians have horizontal and vertical striation, which implies a vegetarian diet.
-There may be tooth decay from a specific diet (maize)
-Human bone: isotopes in the bone and teeth (you are what you eat) |
|
|
Term
| Isotope analysis or bone chemistry -- what might it say about subsistence? |
|
Definition
-Stable isotope analysis: Some plants "fix" 13C differently. For example, C3 plants are trees, shrubs, cereals, potatoes, quinoa. C4 plants are tropical and savannah grasses and maize. Through this you can distinguish between the particular types of diet.
-The meat ingested affects the Sr / Ca ratio: so you can distinguish between meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians
-There are oxygen isotopes in your bones and teeth that are connected to where you live because it reflects the local water supply. Distinguish between different environments (where you were born vs where you lived your final years). Teeth formed when youre a kid, bone is continuous. Trace migrations of people. |
|
|
Term
| Homo habilis: scavenging (2mya) |
|
Definition
| -come in and take stuff already killed by other animals |
|
|
Term
| Homo sapiens: foraging (160 kya) |
|
Definition
| -hunting animals, gathering plants |
|
|
Term
| Shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture: 10000 yBP |
|
Definition
-Pleistocene / Holocene Boundary
-end of glacial period
-go form small population of hunter/gatherers to large population with no hunter/gatherers |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-human creation of new forms of plants and animals
-no longer bound to natural habitat
-become more productive, more useful |
|
|
Term
| What happens to plants when they are domesticated? |
|
Definition
-increase in size / abundance of usable product (seeds, fibers)
-decrease in defense mechanisms (thorns, toxins, seed coat)
-loss of ability to propagate naturally
-development of cob size: through time, went from microcorn to megacorn
-wheat, barley, and rye --> selection of those plants that don't shatter (if brushed past) make its more difficult to process, so we have to work harder |
|
|
Term
| What happens to animals when they are domesticated? |
|
Definition
-Animal has to be a good candidate, hardy --> will breed “in captivity”
-likes humans (good relationship) and easy to tend |
|
|
Term
| What other kinds of evidence might indicate domestication? |
|
Definition
1. Selective killing (animals of particular ages and sizes; specific animals; out of season)
2. Body size reduction (wolf to dog, wild sheep/ox to domesticated sheep/ox)
3. changes in skeleton and teeth (smaller brain size; smaller teeth; smaller horns)(wild goat has fancy horns vs the domesticated goat with small horns)
4. Other evidence like plant/animal out of natural range, overrepresentation of taxa, land clearance, weeds, vermin (love stored grain), human teeth (reliance on particular foodstuffs; cavities once agriculture begins); artifacts (grinding stones) |
|
|
Term
| What were the advantages of domestication / agriculture? (4) |
|
Definition
-storage --> have foods out of season that you can hold in one place
-increased labor pool --> increased population, so more people for work
-creates a social community tied to a place --> no moving
-choice --> food that gives you the most nutrition/easiest to produce |
|
|
Term
| What were the disadvantages of agriculture?(5) |
|
Definition
-competition / aggression / violence --> root of violence is LAND
-longer hours of working for food production = HARD WORK
-exhausts resources
-overpopulation
-unhealthy because less varied diet and increased disease |
|
|
Term
| Neolithic Revolution / Oasis Hypothesis |
|
Definition
-proposed by V. Gordon Childe
-noted a warming, drying trend in the ancient past
-given climate change, people needed to settle near water --> competition
-planted foods became a NECESSITY, the underlying cause is climate change |
|
|
Term
| Natural Habitat Hypothesis |
|
Definition
-proposed by Robert Braidwood
-said the earliest domesticates should appear where wild ancestors of domesticates lived
-"settling in" --> got used to plants and animals around them
-so it was AN ACCIDENT.
-overlap in Fertile Crescent, support for hypothesis is Turkey and Syria because only zone with all wild ancestors |
|
|
Term
| Population pressure / edge hypothesis |
|
Definition
-proposed by Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery
-said no one would choose this; there was lots of food available, so there had to be a trigger
-the trigger was an INCREASED POPULATION, which created local demographic stress
-this stress was most severe at the margins (communities of edges)
-plants and animals were taken out of there natural range
-NECESSITY because of population pressure |
|
|
Term
| Social competition hypothesis |
|
Definition
-proposed by Barbara Bender
-some people acquired a surplus; this surplus was traded for luxury goods
-others got jealous because farming families were benefiting
-competition for social dominance (feasting, consumption) --> pressure to consume more luxury goods
-led to domestication
-CHOICE because of human drive to compete with each other |
|
|
Term
| Where did domestication first occur? |
|
Definition
-dog = first domesticate in Central Asia in 15,000 BC
-The Fertile Crescent showed the first plant domestication in 9,000 BC |
|
|
Term
| Tell Abu Hureyra, Syria is a good example of an early site with domesticates -- what does it show? |
|
Definition
-shows a change over time at one site
-shows that it is a gradual process
-Foraging to domesticated rye to domesticated wheat and lentils to domesticated sheep and goat to domesticated pigs and cattle |
|
|
Term
| How did domestication happen differently in the Old World (Asia, Europe, Africa) and the New World (Americas)? |
|
Definition
-Old World: sedentism before domestication
-New World: domestication before sedentism
-shows there is no firm conclusion as to why agriculture occured |
|
|
Term
| Chipped stone vs. groundstone technologies |
|
Definition
-stone tools may be made out of either chipped stone or groundstone
-chipped (flaked) stone tools are created by removing flakes from a core with very fine or no crystal structure
-groundstone technology involves removing small bits of stone from the surface by crushing or pecking at the stone with another stone --has visible crystals |
|
|
Term
| Types of stone commonly used in stone tools -- what makes a good stone? |
|
Definition
-Glass like rocks—obsidian, chert (flint)
-Can be sharpened, flaky, can be fractured concordially. THEY ARE CRYPTOCRYSTALLINE. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-Core: the objective piece; the rock being reduced by the removal of flakes
-Flake: a portion of rock removed from the core by percussion or pressure (chip, spall, debitage) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-a defining characteristic of a lithic flake
-When a flake is removed from a core or nodule by striking it with some sort of hammer, there will be a thick, convex spot on the inner surface of the flake just below the striking platform. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Appearing on both faces or flat sides of a two sided artifact. The term is applied both to purposeful flaking and to evidence of wear.
-flakes removed from both sides |
|
|
Term
| percussion flaking vs. pressure flaking |
|
Definition
-Percussion = hard hammer vs. soft hammer; primary reduction method; 4 types of flake termination (feathered, step, hinge, and overpass)
-Percussion = The removal of flakes by striking with a hammer of some sort. The hammer can be a stone or a piece of antler or bone. Can be used to produce a finished tool, such as a Clovis point or the final stages of flaking can be accomplished with pressure flaking as in Folsom points.
-Pressure = finishing and shaping, ishi sticks, antler tine, copper tipped
-Pressure = A way of shaping a chipped stone artifact using a piece of bone or antler to apply inward pressure followed by a rapid twist to remove a fairly small and thin flake |
|
|
Term
| reductive vs. additive technologies |
|
Definition
-Reductive = reducing to create the product. When you want to make an arrow head, you begin with a big rock and take away pieces of the rock until you end up with what you wanted (the arrowhead)
-Additive = add things to make the product. Like masking a basket, you continually add pieces and weave them together to create the finished product |
|
|
Term
| Temper and grog. What is it and why is it used? What kinds of materials are used for temper? |
|
Definition
| Temper = inclusions like straw, shell, sand, or crushed sherds (grog) mixed in with the clay to improve the firing of the clay |
|
|
Term
| Assemblages and toolkits -- why are these important to consider, what do they tell us? |
|
Definition
-Knapping kit = antler billets, hammer stones
-Can tell us the approximate age of the sites, the site function, activity and activity patterns, subsistence strategies, and mobility and trade of the site
-Artifacts need to be evaluated within their entire context. This includes other artifacts found in the same assemblage. Together they can tell a different story. Think about the ceramic maker's toolkit from discussion session. |
|
|
Term
| biography of an object-- why is this persepctive useful? |
|
Definition
the biography of an object can go through 7 different steps
1. procurement
2. production
3. function
4. context
5. exchange
6. consumption
7. transformation
The meaning of an object can change through time and can affect the lives of many people. |
|
|
Term
| How do we describe sociopolitical organization? (2) |
|
Definition
1. egalitarian, ranked, stratified
2. bands, tribes, chiefdoms, states |
|
|
Term
| Egalitarian, ranked, stratified |
|
Definition
-Morgan Fried
-focus on conflict / inequality |
|
|
Term
| Bands, tribes, chiefdoms, states |
|
Definition
-Elman Service
-focus on political integration |
|
|
Term
| What are major characteristics of bands? |
|
Definition
-hunter gatherer groups; mobile
-small, <100 people
-few differences in wealth status (differences are not formalized; can be easily changed)
-RECIPROCITY --> trading items one for the other (making a deal)
-integration through kinship ties and marriage ties |
|
|
Term
| What are the major characteristics of tribes? |
|
Definition
-100 to 1000 people
-horticulture; permanent settlements
-informal leadership
-tribal leader leads usually more than one village (integrated)
-integration through descent groups (clans, etc.) |
|
|
Term
| What are the major characteristics of chiefdoms? |
|
Definition
-example: Stonehenge, England
-5,000 to 20,000 people
-ranking by degree of kinship to chief
-single divine leader of noble birth
-REDISTRIBUTION (tribute collection) --> every home gives certain aount of goods to chief center. Then the chief redistributes those goods.
-agriculture
-trade for luxury goods
-ceremonial centers |
|
|
Term
| What are the major characteristics of states? |
|
Definition
-large, urban populations with specialists
-centralized, formal leadership
-MARKET ECONOMY
-intensive agriculture
-stored surpluses finance trade and warfare (organized military)
-power by law, force, and religious sanctions
-institutionalized inequality (people born into lives of wealth and power, and those that are not) |
|
|
Term
| What are the major critiques of these kinds of models? |
|
Definition
-broad types critiqued because of "highest form" language because it does not mean that the state is better than everything else
-often confused with "progress"
-not predictable
-many societies don't really "fit"
-chiefdoms / states (how do you distinguish the two)
-"complex" foragers? collectors even though they can use subsistence |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
Social systems with as many valued positions as persons capable of filling them
Exceptions: age, gender, special characteristics |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Social systems with fewer valued status positions than those capable of filling them |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Minority control of strategic resources |
|
|
Term
| Why should we consider social complexity instead of sociopolitcal organization? |
|
Definition
-complexity is the degree to which societies are internally differentiated in terms of organizations or parts
-four facets |
|
|
Term
| What are the four facets of complexity? |
|
Definition
-political organization
-hierarchial organization
-regional integration
-labor mobilization |
|
|
Term
| What features are associated with "complex" societies? (6) |
|
Definition
-agriculture
-dense populations / cities
-monumental construction
-institutionalized religion
-long distance trade
-warfare and conquests |
|
|
Term
| How do you excavate complexity? What do you look for? (11) |
|
Definition
1. Settlement patterns and site structure
2. Specialized production
3. Trade
4. Infrastructure
5. Differential access to goods and services
6. Monumental architecture
7. Iconography
8. Codices
9. Use of force
10. Institutionalized religion
11. Achieved vs. Ascribed status |
|
|
Term
| Royal Cemetery of Ur and Queen Pu'abi |
|
Definition
-example of differential access to goods and services because burials are great indicators
-In the Royal Cemetery, there are over 2,000 graves, but only 16 royal tombs (which indicates an institutionalized hierachy)
-The Tomb of Pu'abi: when she died, 74 others were buried with her (guards, chariots, soldiers, musicians, dignitaries)
-elaborate offerings
-imported luxury goods, jewelry, cosmetics, instruments, weapons, elaborate headdresses
-must have been VERY important |
|
|
Term
| Teotihuacan, Mexico and complexity |
|
Definition
| -example of monumental architecture |
|
|
Term
| Inca trade infrastructure and complexity |
|
Definition
| -had roads, bridges, long distance messengers, rest stops every 12 km, storehouses, and provincial outposts |
|
|
Term
| Narmer, Palette in Egypt and complexity |
|
Definition
-example of iconography
-shows the defeat of Lower Egypt by Upper Egypt |
|
|
Term
| Maya ruler Pacal's tomb lid at Palenque, Mexico and complexity |
|
Definition
-example of iconography
-showed a Ceiba tree, which implied him going into another world |
|
|
Term
| Sumerian King lists and complexity |
|
Definition
-example of a codex
-list of kings from Sumer, length of reign |
|
|
Term
| Aztec skull rack and complexity |
|
Definition
-example of use of force
-purpose was to display the heads of sacrificed human victims |
|
|
Term
| Elite Maya politico-religious ideology and complexity |
|
Definition
-example of institutionalized religion
-Maya had urban ceenters, pyramids, and monuments; calendars and writing; elite political and religious ideology
-Maya cosmology --> bloodletting to communicate with ancestors to make important decisions (when to go to war, etc.) The blood drips on cloth and is burned, then a vision serpent emerges from the smoke from cloth. |
|
|
Term
| Where did the first state-level societies arise? Why are they called primary states? |
|
Definition
-where increasing social complexity happens first, but all happened independently
1. Shang, China
2. Indus River Valley
3. Sumer (where we can trace our heritage)
4. Ancient Egypt
5. Ancient Peru
6. Ancient Mesoamerica |
|
|
Term
| achieved vs. ascribed status |
|
Definition
ascribed status: a status one is born into, by virtue of one's parents
achieved status: a status that one acquires through one's actions, character, luck, etc. during one's life |
|
|
Term
| Why did the first state-level societies arise? what are some of the causes or prime movers suggested by archaeolgists? (6) |
|
Definition
1. Population growth (agriculture)
2. Hydraulic hypothesis (irrigation)
3. Circumscription (population growth and warfare)
4. trade (unequal distribution of resources)
5. warfare (competition between centers)
6. religion (agriculture and power of religious leaders) |
|
|
Term
| Why are metal, writing, the wheel, and cultural / intellectual superiority NOT the primary causes of complexity? |
|
Definition
-metal: rise happened before metal was introduced
-writing: writing did not contribute to the rise of social complexity
-wheel: Ancient Mexico didn't have the wheel
-superiority: ancient states are not necessarily better than any other social structure
-IT WAS HUMAN CHOICE |
|
|
Term
| Archaeologists argue that the rise of complexity is a social phenomenon -- what does that mean? |
|
Definition
-People were prompted by the actions of individuals in a social context
-People CHOSE it |
|
|
Term
| Bottom up vs. Top down explanations of human history |
|
Definition
| Top down might be problematic, so we should argue from bottom up perspective. Top down would focus on people who had most power, then looking down, and then interpreting it. Bottom up focuses on where the resources are coming from (peasants, poor, everyday people). Why would everyday people have stuck around with political leaders that are potentially taking advantage of them? Shifting the focus to everyday contexts—looking at the households, instead of the temples and palaces. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
- co-residence
- family / kin
- shared economics
- sharing food |
|
|
Term
| What evidence might you look for to identify a household? |
|
Definition
-each house building = one household?
-family / lkin |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-those that share an identity
-shared space
-shared technology (ways of doing things)
-shared artifacts / styles
-shared political economy |
|
|
Term
| Case Study: Fort Ross, California and the Russian American Trading Company in 1799 |
|
Definition
| -there were Russians, Native Californians, and Native Alaskans at Fort Ross until 1842 |
|
|
Term
| How did household archaeology tell us about life at Fort Ross? |
|
Definition
-told us about the different feeding habits of each group
-Native Americans (Aleuts) = fished / hunted sea otters
-Native Californians (Pomo) = worked seasonally in agriculture
-implied a multi ethnic community |
|
|
Term
| was the reality different from what was described in documents? Fort Ross |
|
Definition
| Historic documents indicate that the Russians didn't treat the natives very well. But there is no archaeological evidence for violence or uprisings. |
|
|
Term
| Fort Ross -- to what degree did each group maintain their ethnic identity? |
|
Definition
-cooking techniques, food choices, and spatial layouts were preserved
-In Native Alaskan (Aleut) households, the neighborhoods were in open coastal locations, there were middens inside of houses, semi-subterranean houses, Alaskan style worked bone, ground slate tools
-In the Pomo (californian) households, houses were tucked near hills, middens were outside of houses, there was worked glass, and land animals were eaten |
|
|
Term
| Fort Ross-what kinds of changes were found in "mixed" households? Why? |
|
Definition
-beef, glass, ceramics, and metals (typical Euro-Asian materials) were used
-refuse disposal following Pomo pattern
-lived in Alaskan neighborhood
-Pomo cooking style with Pomo and Alaskan cuisine |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-a means by which relationships of power are symbolized
-"gender" refers to the social side of biological/sexual difference. "Gender" does not work to distinguish male and female sexes universally because the classification system changes depending on your temporal and geographical location.
-gender is ideology, performance, practice, and symbols
-a process "in production" |
|
|
Term
| Why is a consideration of gender important in archaeology? |
|
Definition
-to show how differences of identity were constructed
-to show how gender works
-to document the variety of gender systems |
|
|
Term
| What did the critique in 1984 say about early archaeology and its discussions of gender? |
|
Definition
-said archaeology is saturated with gender, but major events are said to be due to males (hunting, tools, agriculture, trade, etc.)
-language of archaeology is corrupt (ex: early man)
-images and reconstruction of archaeological events leave out or misrepresent women |
|
|
Term
| Native California -- acorn mortars |
|
Definition
-gender
-women are always associated with the production of acorns as food. used mortar and pestle to produce. |
|
|
Term
| Tribute and cloth production in Aztec Empire (Mexico) |
|
Definition
-gender
-as Aztec empire grew, the tribute obligations increased
-who was affected the most? ...those living closest and the producers of cloth (women)
-pictures showed women producing cloth; therefore, increased tribute fell on women
-women had a unique role in complying and resisting tribute obligations |
|
|
Term
| maize beer consumption in Inca Peru |
|
Definition
-gender
-maize, potato, and llamas
-men have higher consumption than women
-maize was consumed the most in the highlands (not where it was grown)
-men drink maize beer |
|
|
Term
| How has feminism influenced scientific and archaeological practice? |
|
Definition
-critique of knowledge production
-multiple interpreations
-more "peopled" past (bottom up vs. top down--from everyday people to the bigger questions)
-**think crticically** |
|
|
Term
| Why does feminist archaeology say we should be careful when it comes to interpreting images of people, labeling artifacts as male or female, or doing mortuary analysis? |
|
Definition
-images of people: representation, ideology
-labeling artifacts as male or female: assumes strict division of labor in a society (a grinding stone is a "female" artifact)
-mortuary analysis: equating gender and sex |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| using skeletal information to address archaeological questions |
|
|
Term
| Why are bodies and burial important? |
|
Definition
-most direct way to examine individual people
-burial rites are episodes of unfolding stories (communicates something about who people WERE and ARE; embodied performances) |
|
|
Term
| What are the four functions of the skeleton |
|
Definition
1. structural support
2. protection of vital organs
3. movement
4. metabolic supply |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
osteoblasts
osteoclasts
osteocytes |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| bone resorbers (eat away bone) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-2 sets of dentition (deciduous / baby teeth and adult / permanent teeth)
-dental eruption
-epiphyseal fusion (long bone)
-dental wear
-cranial suture closure (closures will fuse through time)
-degenerative bone disease (fluid filled sacs are gradually losing fluid, so bones rubbing together; osteoarthritis) |
|
|
Term
| Sexual dimorphism and problems with "sexing" a skeleton |
|
Definition
-cranial differences (males tend to be larger than females; more robust)
-pelvic differences (women give birth to babies, so they have a wider pelvis and a different front angle)
-problems: differences are developmental (happen at puberty); the range of 'females' and 'males' overlap |
|
|
Term
| Geographic variation (race) -- genetic history |
|
Definition
-differences we label as "race" related to proximity (clinal variation)
-gene pools
-environment
-Race is cultural, not biological because it is arbitrary, can change over time, and is constructed by each culture. Human racial classification have no basis in human biology |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
1. Skeletal afflictions
2. degenerative disease (normal wear and tear)
3. nutritional stress / growth disruptions |
|
|
Term
| Pathology and Health (continued) |
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Definition
4. Diet (dental wear, tooth decay, bone chemistry)
5. Traumatic injury
6. Cause of death
7. Cultural Practices
8. affiliation / relatedness (ancient DNA analysis, mtDNA, genetic variation) |
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Term
| What cultural practices contribute to differences in human skeletons? |
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Definition
-cranial or dental modification
-body modification (squatters facets)
-teeth as tools
-trephination
-habitual actions and carrying heavy loads have an effect on muscularity
-tumplines (carrying heavy loads via rope on head) |
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Term
| what kinds of diseases (pathologies) can we identify on human skeletons? |
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Definition
-infections: cribra orbitalia, a period of iron deficiency
-porotic hyperostosis
-gum disease
-abcess
-diseaes: syphillis (makes skeleton look cottage cheesey); tuberculosis (affects vertebral column); osteosarcoma (makes bone look like it was blown up)
-osteoarthritis
-caries (cavities) and AMTL
-enamel hypoplasia
-Harris lines in bones |
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Term
| What does it mean to say there is a biological component to poverty? |
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Definition
-good nutrition during childhood results in healthier adult bones and teeth
-cultural practices can accentuate differences (i.e., daughter neglect in India)
-weaning is a difficult time
- there are certain biological and genetic differences that may make someone more susceptible to poverty, if someone is unhealthy they may not be able to work as hard or if culturally some biological aspect is looked down upon (ex. sex) than it can affect pove |
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Term
| Why is cause of death difficult to determine archaeologically? |
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Definition
-is wound before or after death?
-what weapon caused this trauma? |
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Term
| How does diet affect the skeleton? |
|
Definition
-dental wear
-tooth decay
-bone chemistry |
|
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Term
| Ancient DNA and mtDNA -- when used, why, and issues / problems |
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Definition
-Ancient DNA analysis: works on organic component, samples are difficult to take however
-mtDNA is only inherited through mother. It varies by mutation and mutates at a steady rate. It is used to study population movements.
-issues: biological "relatedness" doesn't have to correspond to kinship and primacy of "blood" (or DNA) is a Western idea |
|
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Term
| Burial practices -- why are they important?? What do mortuary rituals say about the living and the dead? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| burial positions and orienation |
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Definition
-flexed vs. extended
-supine (facing upwards) vs. prone (on your belly) |
|
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Term
| Burial treatments and offerings -- what do they tell us? How do archaeologists interpret them? |
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Definition
-wrapping, pigment, plaster
-primary burial = buried and stays there
-secondary burial = buried and left until skeletonized and then retreated
-burial offerings show social status, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and cultural identity |
|
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Term
| What kinds of interpretations can you make based on mortuary remains? Rio Viejo Case Study |
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Definition
-Late Classic (500-800) vs. Early Postclassic (975-1220)
-mortuary practices (patterns) --> people buried beneath house floors in similar positions (head to south) with similar offerings. No graves overlapped, meaning that they remembered where others were buried. There were no marked differenes in status or gender, but there was a differentiation in age because children were not found.
-Conclusions: household membership at adulthood, children may have been part of multiple houses. Separate households. Shared community identity (all buried in the same way). IDENTITY at multiple scales (individual, community) |
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Term
|
Definition
| A thing that represents or stands for something else, esp. a material object representing something abstract. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| rock art, mural painting, murals on Egyptian tombs, sculpture, statues, portable art, pottery, clothing |
|
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Term
| How do we go about interpreting the meaning of ancient art? |
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Definition
-meaning is inevitably subjective
-how do you interpret meaning?
1. focus on form in context (meaningless if don't know context)
2. composition (how are things put together)
3. patterns (are there different places where it comes together) |
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Term
| Why is composition important? |
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Definition
-composition = how the symbols are put together
-want to understand the reasons why all the elements are found in one place
We must evaluate the how the symbols work together as a composition and not focus on one symbol. Really, with art we are looking for patterns or recurring motifs. |
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Term
| How is art connected to economy, politics, social relations, and religion? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| What is the connection between symbol sets and early writing? |
|
Definition
| -cuneiform was pictographs then changed into language |
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Term
| Archaeological evidence of ritual / religion -- what do we look for? What don't we have evidence for? |
|
Definition
-mortuary ritual (Canopic jars, Egypt)
-trance, visions, "entopic" images (pushing body to limits to move to the other world --> repeated symbols things you'd see IN TRANCE)
-however, rituals do not preserve (drinking, eating, dancing, music)
-but, arts and symbols can and do preserve
-evidence: architecture, redundancy of symbols / images, iconography, ritual items (incense burners, rattles, etc.), offerings (burials in buildings to mark different construction phases) |
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Term
| Looting -- what is it and why is it a problem? |
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Definition
-the stealing of archaeological artifacts (looting vs. collecting)
-looting takes artifacts out of context, so the artifact means nothing
-things taken out of public context and put into private context |
|
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Term
| What is severely affected by looting? |
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Definition
-mimbres pottery (90% of sites looted)
-graves in Peru
-historic battlefields
-shipwrecks (Sir Francis Drake's body and Pat Croce) |
|
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Term
| Who is at fault for looting? When did it begin? |
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Definition
| -long history of looting (not just a 20th century problem) --> Egyptian tombs built in a way to avoid looting; reuse of materials |
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Term
| What is subsistence looting and why is it a problem? |
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Definition
| In poorer regions where finding an ancient pot or statue would mean immediate government control, the peasant farmer who unearths such an artifact might instead quickly sell it to a dealer to bring money so an impoverished family will to be able to eat. |
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Term
| SAA Principles of Archaeological Ethics |
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Definition
1. Stewardship
2. Accountability
3. Commercialization
4. Public Education and Outreach
5. Intellectual Property
6. Public Reporting and Publication
7. Records and Preservation
8. Training and resources |
|
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Term
| What is the role of public education and outreach? |
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Definition
| -aim of improving the preservation, protection, and interpretation of the archaeological record |
|
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Term
| Early preservation efforts (3) |
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Definition
1. Prehistoric resources (Casa Grande) -- made a law to protet a specific sites from looters
2. National Parks -- hunting community pushing for environmental protection
3. "Environments" -- historically important places (Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Charleston, South Carolina) |
|
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Term
|
Definition
-gave President the authority to designate National Monuments
-protected named sites from looting and vandalism
-need a permit to do excavation on federal land |
|
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Term
| Works Project Administration (1930s to 1950s) |
|
Definition
-depression era welfare program that allowed cities and states to develop projects for public good to employ citizens
-projects included dams and resevoirs, salvage archaeology, and public works and reconstruction
-issue: generated TONS of data, but little analysis |
|
|
Term
| National Trust for Historic Preservation (1930s) |
|
Definition
| -an organization that advocated protection of historic buildings |
|
|
Term
| National Historical Preservation Act (1966) |
|
Definition
-put in place the National Register of Historic Places (properties that can't be altered or destroyed)
-established State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPO)
-Section 106: applies to places on federal property or are part of federal projects (tax dollars) |
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Term
| National Environmental Policy Act (1969) |
|
Definition
-an act meant to protect environmental, cultural, and historical resources (includes archaeological sites)
-states that any federal property must be checked over by a specialist, who writes an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
-gives rise to many Cultural Resource Mangagement (CRM) firms |
|
|
Term
| Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990) |
|
Definition
-mandates the return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, and sacred artifacts to Native American tribes
-applies to: institutions receiving federal money, federally recognized tribes, culturally identifiable artifacts found on federal / tribal lands, and culturally unidentifiable remains returned to "a tribe from whose tribal or aboriginal lands the remains were excavated or removed" regardless of a genetic link |
|
|
Term
| Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990) |
|
Definition
-mandates the return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, and sacred artifacts to Native American tribes
-applies to: institutions receiving federal money, federally recognized tribes, culturally identifiable artifacts found on federal / tribal lands, and culturally unidentifiable remains returned to "a tribe from whose tribal or aboriginal lands the remains were excavated or removed" regardless of a genetic link |
|
|
Term
| Protection of Cultural Property during times of war -- Hague Convention |
|
Definition
-safeguard, protect, and respect movable and immovable property during times of war
-museums, sites
-not ratified by U.S. until Novemeber 2008 |
|
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Term
|
Definition
-prohibits the illicit import and export of unprovenienced antiquities and art--before 1970, the looted material is legal. after 1970 the looting and transportation of materials out of international borders is illegal. Mandates the return to the country of origin.
-auction houses cannot sell artifacts without provenience EXCEPT if collected before ratification
-museums cannot purchase collections with unprovenienced materials collected after 1970
-maintains World Heritage List (places around the world that are sites with 'outstanding universal value') |
|
|
Term
| the way people are prosecuted under the UNESCO convention |
|
Definition
| National Stolen Property Act of 1934 |
|
|
Term
| CRM Archaeology -- what laws made it happen? |
|
Definition
| -National Environmental Policy Act gave rise to CRM firms |
|
|
Term
| CRM archaeology -- how does it work? |
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Definition
steps in the process
1. the developer invites bids for contract and chooses a client (CRM firm)
2. the client identifies resources that might be impacted by development
3. CRM prepares assessment (EIS)
4. consults and makes formal agreement on how to proceed
5. conduct mitigation work, if necessary
6. file report with SHPO |
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Term
| CRM archaeology -- what does it apply to? |
|
Definition
-significant historial events or persons associated with the place
-high artistic value, true to time period
-will yield "important historic information" / has research potential |
|
|
Term
| Problems in CRM archaeology |
|
Definition
-does not apply to private land
-no obligation to publish results
-conflict of interest (being paid by developer to see if development can continue)
BUT: 1) well-funded and 2) largest employer of archaeologists in the U.S. |
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