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A theory that emphasizes the interaction between the agency of individuals and social structure |
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Linguistics
Cultural- living people
Biological- physical differences
Archaeology |
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That to some people (relatives usually) the ground they are digging up is extremely sacred and it is offensive and extremely saddening to them how scientists treat it so scientifically. So archaeologists need to have respect for it |
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Archaeology Resources Protection Act |
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prohibits excavation of sites or removal of artifacts from federal lands without a permit; prohibits sale, etc. of artifacts acquired illegally from federal land; provides penalties for violations |
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the scientific study of historic or prehistoric peoples andtheir cultures by analysis of their artifacts, inscriptions,monuments, and other such remains, especially those thathave been excavated. |
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Objcects that show traces of human manufacture |
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Evolution man
natural selection |
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A big scientist in the geology field. He saw an association between tools produced by humans and remains of animals. Proved that humans lived a long time ago |
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Cultural Resource Management (CRM) |
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Public archaeology carried out with the goal of mitigating the effects of development on archaeological resources
1. Determine if will disturb ground
2. Inventory
3. Assessment
4. Mitigation |
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learned, non-biological mechanism of adaptation/(physical entity) a human group whose members share common behavioral and material traits |
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Dating methods (absolute and relative) |
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Absolute (a chronology stated in terms of calendar years)
Relative (a chronology that places assemblages in a temporal sequence not directly linked to calendar dates) |
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A chipped flint nodule that were once thought to have been artifacts...but are now thought to be naturally maded |
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published a study of archaeology that spohe of the discontent with the culture history approach, wished for a scientific method |
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Studies of living societies to see how behavior is translated into the archaeological record; more difficult to grounf in the Principle of Uniforitarianism than is the case for Taphonomy and experimental archaeology |
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1. Controlling horizontal and vertical space
a. Essential to modern archaeological excavation
b. Horizontal control achieved by using a grid system
c. Vertcal control achieved through use of the datum point
2. Recovery Methods
a. Screening of soil detects smaller artifacts
b. Wet screening detects evem finer pieces
c. Flotation used to recover botanical material
3. Recording Methods
a. Allow archaeologists to reconstruct the context of archaeological objects after excavation
b. Essential because archaeology is destructive |
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Feminist or gender archaeology |
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An approach that focuses on the way archaeologists study and represent gender and brings attention to gender inequities in the practice of archaeology |
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non-portable evidence of technology; functionally related, conjoined artifacts (e.g., hearths, architectural elements, artifact clusters, pits, burials, sediment stains) |
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Geographic Information Systems
1. Software applications that enable archaeologists to bring together different types of spatial data and examine them together
2. Software "layers" information allowing users to look at as few or as many types of information as needed at one time |
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Location on the earth via satellite |
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Flustered by ostensibly week analogy-based , inferential arguments about: presence of humans, hunting strategy, group size, butchering practices
Questioned by middle-range research (answering how and especially why) that showed, in the context of uniformitarianism, how natural taphonic process could possibly account for site |
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Archaeological material is considered to be in situ when it is found in the place where it was originally deposited |
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Infrastructure/structure/superstructure |
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Infrastructure: basic elements of human needs: food, shelter, reproduction, and health (How solves MAIN problems)
Structure: behavior that supports choices at the infrastructural level, including family, divison of labor, political organization, factions, education, heirarchies, police and warfare (Hoe decides who does what- main study)
Superstructure: society's value, rules, beliefs, symbols, etc., manifested as religion, art, sports, hobbies, or science, etc. (Foundation) |
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Intrasite vs. intersite comparison |
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Definition
Intersite (Comparisons between two or more sites - for example, an analysis comparing the number of houses between sites in a region)
Intrasite (Having to do with contexts within a single site - for example, an analysis comparing the sizes and contents of different houses to try to determine the social structure of a society) |
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physician, chemist, and naturalist. Known as the father of modern geology. father of uniformitarianism |
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Placed creation at 4004 BC based on biblical passeges |
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reported on the discovery of an elephant with stone tools (weapons of war). He concluded that the situation in which these weapons were found may tempt us to refer to them to a very remote period indeed, even beyond that of the modern world. It was ignored for 50+ years |
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He was the catalyst in the New archeaology movement. He thought it should be a science. He emphasized the importance of the middle-range research. Fed bones to hyenas to compare marks on bones |
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the system of economic and political thought developed by Karl Marx, along with Friedrich Engels, especially the doctrine that thes
tate throughout history has been a device for the exploitation of
the masses by a dominant class, that class struggle has been themain agency of historical change, and that the capitalist system,containing from the first the seeds of its own decay, willinevitably, after the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat,be superseded by a socialist order and a classless society. |
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Middle range theory/research |
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Research investigating processes that can be observed in the present and that can serve as a point of reference to test hypothesis about the past |
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The branch of biology tht deals with how something grows and develops as a whole |
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National Historic Preservation |
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established a process to protect significant archaeological and historical sites from "development" and it created the National Register of Historic Places as a of significant sites |
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New archaeology/processual archaeology |
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An approach to archaeology based firmly on scientific method and supported by a concerted effort aimed at the development of theory |
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An archaeological site produced by a series of distinct brief occupations
a. frequent re-occupation of the same space for the same of different purposes lessens the probability that artifacts and ecofacts are "behaviorally" related |
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Pedoturbation and its variants |
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Rates of sediment deposition and post-depositional disturbance ("natural" and "cultural"), including various types of pedoturbation
1. Floralturbation- soil moves around by plants
2. Faunalturbation- animals move stuff around
3. Cryoturbation- soil freezes then infreezes
4. Agrilliturbation- wet/dry cycles with clay that push artifacts up
5. Graviturbation- due to gravity artifacts sink |
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L. Binford
refers to a usually futile tendency by many archaeologists to search for well preserved site and forego studying the more typical sites |
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Post-processual archaeology |
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A movement, led by British archaeologist Ian Hodder, which argues that archaeologists should emulate historians in interpreting the past |
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Processual-plus archaeology |
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Michelle Hegmon
1. Plenty of processual approach/scientific method
2. Coupled with a good dose of postprocessual/humanistic approaches
3. Quick to work with a diversity of stakeholders, including descendents of the people being studied
(you involve everyone who was involved) |
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The precise context in which an object is recovered in an excavation |
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Qualitative vs. quantitative |
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Physical appearance vs. numbers |
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Getting information about an object without making physical contact, usually reffering to an aerial sensor technology through ex. electromagnetic sensation |
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1. Logistical preperationd geared to the kinds of sites being sought or identified problems to be studied or hypotheses to be examined/assessed (i.e., pre-field planning); including "Gumshoe" work or gathering background information by talking to knowledable locals
2. Finding/Recording the sites and cultural materials therein (i.e. field survey)
3. Generating data from observations (i.e., processing and analysis)
4. Explaining the data (i.e., "interpretation")
Disseminating the results (aka "presentations" and "publications") |
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Refers to the accumulation of strata from geological and anthropogenic deposits
Archaeological layers, or strata, only emerge through stratigraphic analysis
Strata- discrete layers in a stratigraphic research
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refers to the patterns of procuring and processing food |
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An archaeological survey maps the physical remains of human activity |
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Synchronic vs. diachronic |
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Synchronic: studies make comparisons within a single period of time; the goal of synchronic studies is to understand the workings of a society at a given point in time
Diachronic: studies make comparisons between different time periods; the goal of diachronic studies is to understand processes that change through time |
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The study of the processes that affect organic remains after death |
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In an undisturbed depositional sequence, each layer is younger than the layer beneath |
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The Stone Age (Neolithic-polished stone tools) and Paleolothic- humans lived with now extinct animals)
Bronze Age
Iron Age |
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One of the first archaeologists and led the first digs and sites in America |
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Types of deposition (alluvial, colluvial, etc) |
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Alluvial- loose soil or sediments that get eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form and non-marine setting
Colluvial- sediments that are transported and reshaped by gravity
Fluvial- river sediments
Lacustrine- lake sediments
Glacial Till- glacier sediments
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A list used to draw up an inventory of types of artifacts found by archaeologists in a particular archeaological context |
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James Hutton
The processes now operating to modify the Earth's surface are the same processes that operate long ago in the geologic past |
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had a near photgraphic memory.
Saw that their were 2 main revolutions. The Neolithic revolution (led to emergence of villages practicing agriculture) the second was the urban revolution (appearance of cities and governments)
active Marxist
sure that we needed to focus on the changes in society |
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views society as an interconnected network of interacting elements |
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prehistoric rock shelter in Nevada where people camped for over 7,000 years. Discovered by David Thomas
vertical excavation |
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The site located near San Antonio, Texas
10,000 years of human occupation |
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plank houses that were covered by a massive landslide
in the Olympia Peninsula |
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major categories of artifacts- usually based on material of manufacture
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particular characteristics of artifacts; statistical analyses of attributes can be used to learn more about a site |
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seeds, roots, nuts, leaves, microfossils, the purview of archaeobotany and ethnobotany |
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Last known American Indian to be raised largely separated from Western culture |
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First professor to head the department of anthropolgy of UC Berkley. And served a big role in the Museam of Anthropology where he was a director |
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does ethnoarchaeology in Madascar to learn about some of the kinds of discard behavior represented in arcaeological context and generating data and identifying patterns by scrutinizing these accounts |
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The linchpin for the control of excavation. It serves as a reference point for all depth measurements on a site |
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Theoretical approach to the analysis of archaeological material based on structuralism, stressing the idea that human actions are guided by beliefs and symbolic concepts that are themselves underpinned by ways of thinking about the world. The basis of such studies is therefore to uncover the structures of thought and to see how these influenced the codes and rules that find expression in material culture. Structural codes denote particular meanings to members of a society—meanings that can change according to the context and associations of their visibility.
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Classificatory - historical period |
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older...based more on pottery |
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Classificatory descriptive period |
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newer based more on the human experience |
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A theory of interpretation that stresses the interaction between the presuppositions we bring to a problem and the independent emperical reality of our observations and experiences |
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efers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery. Heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution, where an exhaustive search is impractical. Examples of this method include using a "rule of thumb", an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, orcommon sense. |
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Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) |
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A grid system whereby and east coordinates provide a location anywhere in the world , precise to 1m |
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A statistical population is a set of entities concerning which statistical inferences are to be drawn, often based on a random sample taken from the population. For example, if we were interested in generalizations about crows, then we would describe the set of crows that is of interest. Notice that if we choose a population like all crows, we will be limited to observing crows that exist now or will exist in the future. Probably, geography will also constitute a limitation in that our resources for studying crows are also limited. |
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Ideational vs. adadptive views of culture |
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Creating a new idea as opposed to adjusting an old one |
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NISP
Number of Identifiable Specimens |
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Determined by making a chart illustrating the relative frequency of different animal bones found in an area |
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MNI
Minimum number of Individuals |
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Calculated by taking the number of examples of a given bone and dividing by the number of bones of that type which occur in an individual skeleton |
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the method of comparing the relative frequency of artifact types between contexts - used to create regional relative chronologies |
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100,000 to 5 billion years baed on the rate at which potassium decays in argon (volcanic eruptions) |
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Hundreds to millions of years (When a rock is red hot then the iron particles rearrange themselves to point towards the N. Pole) |
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thousands of years
(Quartz- when sun shines it absorbs light so see how long it has been buried) |
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14C decays at a steady rate |
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Obsidian Hydration dating |
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obsidian absorbs water forming a bond that can be measured |
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Searching for a particular site (e.g., Gatecliff rockshelter) or type of site (remains of rock/dry-laid masonry houses) |
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"spot checking" areas and parts thereof as a means of gathering baseline data on site types and distribution thereof
(look for sites that look similar) |
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random, systemic, etc. to obtain reliable/"representative" samples of areas too large to cover thoroughly |
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thorough coverage of given tracks from a few to thousands of hectares (2.49 acres) |
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Aerial/satellite photographs and thermal (TIMS) |
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as was done a Chaco Canyon, search for large features-roads, canals, walls, house remains
(finding large mounds) |
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magnetic anomalies - is useful for finding burned buildings, hearths, ditches and pits with different magnetic signature
(good for finding buurial sites and graves) |
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sediment's resistance to electrical current - works best where sediements retain different amounts of water due to variation in compaction (e.g., trodden floors and in-filled pits) |
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Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) |
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Definition
strength and speed of radar pulses directed |
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especially deep ones - in stratified deposits can yield informative, long-term snap-shots - stills of material culture - from which archaeologists infer cultural change passing time at a given place |
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especially expansive one - in well preserved deposits can yield informative short-term snap-shots - stills of material culture - from which archaeologists infer basic behavior at a given time in a given place |
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Definition
1. In doing so, they search for holistic synthesis of past cultural patterns
2. Their focus is on the role of the individual and the feelings and thoughts of the long dead (i.e., and individual's lived experience) |
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involves the observations that emerge from archeaological fieldwork; it is how archeaologists get their data/fatcs |
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High-level (aka general) theory |
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Provides "answers" to larger/broader "why" questions |
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Overarching framework for understanding a research problem or guiding a researcher's path, just as out "culture" tells us what is acceptable and what is not
guidlines for high-level theory and research questions
guidlines for constructing and testing hypotheses |
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Post-depostional processes |
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Definition
1. can be caused by climate and biological agents
2. can move material around the site and distort stratigraphy |
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documentation of artifacts and other remains, along with their contexts recovered from archaeological sites |
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Shovel Tests, power augers, and backhoes
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if significant, protect it by avoidence, preservation in place, or excavate a representative sample of the site before it is destroyed by construction |
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Documentation of provenience |
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Unit- location in horizontal space
Lot- location in vertical space
Item/Sack- 3-point provenience within a given lot |
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analogies justified by similarities in the formal attributes of archaeological and ethnographic objects and features |
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Analogies justified on the basis of close cultural continuity between the archeaological and ethnographic cases or similarity in general cultural form |
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religious structure and pit inside kiva |
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Controlled experiments to replicte the past under different conditions to look for links between human behavior and its archaeological consequences |
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a la Don Crabtree's and others' Folsom-point fluting based on the uniformitarianism of tool stone's response to force indicated several ways to flute a point |
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