Archaelogy Test 1

Question 1

Define Culture

Answer 1

The complex that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, customs and other habits. -Tyler 1871

Question 2

Holistic

Answer 2

Humans are more than sums of their part

Question 3

Define Ethnocentrism

Answer 3

A form of racism
“One culture is superior than another one.”

Question 4

Define Archaeology

Answer 4

The study of human history through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts or other physical remains.

Question 5

Define Cultural Relativism

Answer 5

Different cultures need to be understood on their own terms.

Question 6

Define Extreme Relativism

Answer 6

The saying “anything goes.”
Judging the moral or ethical of a group or person has no meaning at all.

Question 7

Define Synchronic and Dachronic

Answer 7

Synchronic- one point in time
Dachronic- two or more points in time

Question 8

Define Ecofacts

Answer 8

Not made by people but contributes to an understanding of a site. For example animal carcasses.

Question 9

Define Assemblage

Answer 9

A group of artifacts found together.

Question 10

Define Conceptual

Answer 10

Abstract questions or questions that are harder to grapple. For example measuring community.

Question 11

Define Artifacts

Answer 11

Anything that was made or used by humans and is portable.

Question 12

Define Taphonomy

Answer 12

What happens to the remains after something dies.

Question 13

Define Copolite

Answer 13

Fossilized feces

Question 14

Define Features and Regions and Sites

Answer 14

Features: a non portable artifact
Regions: archaeological regions
Sites: Spatial clusters of artifacts and features

Question 15

Stenos laws/ principals of stratigraphy

Answer 15

Stratigraphy: look at layers of rocks and how they form.
Law of superposition
L of original horizontality
L of Cross- cutting
L of lateral continuity

Question 16

Define Uniformitarianism

Answer 16

Natural laws have always operated and apply everywhere.

Question 17

Unilinear Evolutionary Model

Answer 17

C.J. Thomsens age system
Stone-bronze-Iron
Savagery-Barbarism-civilization

Question 18

Define Historical Particularism

Answer 18

Approach to understanding culture and cultural changes of a specific populations of people.

Question 19

What is Direct historical approach?

Answer 19

Extrapolating backwards into the past from a known historical period by studying a site with known historical occupations and then excavating it to establish prehistoric activity.

Question 20

What is the scientific method?

Answer 20

Empiracle method of acquiring knowledge, involves careful observation, skepticism, and the use of testing and experimentation.

Question 21

Define EthnoArchaeology

Answer 21

The use of sociocultural and archaeological research methods to determine how archaeological sites are created by people.

Question 22

Define Behavioral archaelogy

Answer 22

Expands upon the archaeology in regards to human behavior.

Question 23

How are Sites formed?

Answer 23

Humans leave traces and alter the environment
Humans abandon or discard tools
Reconstructing past past environments
Primarily based on modern environments

Question 24

Define Site catchment analysis

Answer 24

Look at the environment
Study the animals and vegetation.

Question 25

Paleoecological Data

Answer 25

Soils, sediments and ice cores Ecofacts. Pack rat middens. Different data sources, different limitations , small animals are more susceptible to environmental change.

Question 26

Define Sampling

Answer 26

A way to explicitly take a portion of the whole available data for study. Unethical to take everything as well as other economic reasons. Only need about 10-15 mg

Question 27

What is the conservation method?

Answer 27

Don’t dig if you don’t have to. Very small scale 1cm

Question 28

Define Reconnaissance

Answer 28

The scouting of an area.

Question 29

What is Pedestrian Survey?

Answer 29

Walking on foot and looking for sites or areas.

Question 30

What is site mapping? Surface collection?

Answer 30

Mapping a site so that you can find it again. Surface collection-collecting sample of artifacts from the surface

Question 31

Define Excavation

Answer 31

Means by which archaeologists collect data. Many arguments against excavation. Context and Association are important! Crappy data = crappy interpretations

Question 32

Differentiate Context and Association

Answer 32

Context is the broader environment. Association is how the items are connected.

Question 33

Describe the scientific method and identify the ways that it differs from pseudoscience. How have racism and ethnocentrism influenced archaeological research and interpretations?

Question 34

How is sampling important to archaeology? Why don’t archaeologists collect and analyze everything?

Question 35

Explain what context and association are and why they are so important to archaeology. How do archaeologists preserve information related to the context and association of artifacts/ecofacts and features?

Question 36

Past cultures must be understood within the context of their wider environments. How do archaeologists reconstruct these aspects of the past?