Archaeology and World Prehistory Final Flashcards

Question

Material culture

Answer 1

The tools, food remains, buildings, and other artifacts used by humans

Answer 2

Spindle Whorls * A piece of stone, bone, shell, or ceramic that is used as a weight on a spindle for making yarn Spinning was an essential component of female identity and domestic life in Mesoamerica prior to/after Spanish invasion The cloth given as tribute to the Aztec was of fine quality, but was not what locals used This simple act separated the identity of the Aztec subject and tribute-giver from the identity of a member of a local household

Answer 3

Look at documentary

Answer 4

Estimated depth of tissues (hair, skin, fat, muscle) of mammoth * “A Clovis point had to plunge 17 to 30 centimeters deep to kill an Asian woolly mammoth, the team calculated ”Shot a spear thirty times into a block of clay – roughly the resistance of elephant flesh Findings allow for intepretations

Answer 5

Manipulation favors some characteristics over generations populations change* get new “forms” of plants or animals through control Humans divide into two populations, making breeding decisions Net result: Populations adapted to settings created and maintained by humans Pathways * Commensal * Prey * Directed

Answer 6

Cultural resource management is the application of management skills to preserve cultural resources Management within a framework of federal, state, and local laws and guidelines surrounding cultural resources Ensure compliance with federal/local regulations Vocational archaeologists work to ensure proper guidelines are followed Enormous enterprise with not enough archaeologists to work in growing industry

Answer 7

Explains human action sin terms of how they many impact fitness

Answer 8

Early markets offered simple barter transactions, but coins and other items of monetary value were used later Movement of resources from newly acquired to imperial/city-state cores * Required persistent influx of goods to operate * More always needed! * These market economies increasingly impacted human interaction over the last millennium * Laid the foundations for extractivism

Answer 9

Site: Pultrouser Swamp Growing crops on raised platforms of soil with ditches between platforms to protect crops from flooding * Basic outlines of these fields present a thousand years later Pulltrouser Swamp is part of a Maya managed environmental mosaic

Answer 10

Enriching foods * food produced from dried maize kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization → lime (calcium hydroxide) Also adds calcium to the diet (for osteoporosis) Adding nutritional value to foods * Can add niacin, riboflavin, thiamine to grains * Enriched flour Another supplementing method is to continue gathering wild plants * Archaeology of early farming communities in the New and Old Worlds * Substantial reliance on wild foods that added proteins and other essential nutrients

Answer 11

Problems of isolation from nutritious foods Foods taken from countries more than TO Nutrients and parasites Hookworm Reliability of Food Supplies: increased risk Economy focused on a single, staple crop is very risky, even if the crop is hardy Problems of irrigation Problems of famine in situations of food/crop failure

Answer 12

“Religious, political, private, cultural, ethnic aspects of one’s life” (pg. 202) * Individual and group identities * Who you are → expression to others * Allows us to understand how individuals (groups) perceived themselves/others in wider society

Answer 13

Chica was a special type of beer that the Inca made from maize that was drank by 28 nobles at special ceremonies and after it was drank, it was torched ceremonially with the serving pitchers. Later, when the embers had cooled, six necklaces of shell and stone and a bracelet were placed atop the ashes in a final act of reverence.

Answer 14

The archaeological study of bones and other human remains for biological indicators of sex, health, lifestyle, and social status

Answer 15

the cooperation of two species for their mutual benefit by enhancing individuals' fitnesses

Answer 16

Cities must be provisioned and a lot of environmental engineering Urbanism Understanding how cities were supplied/functioned allows us to better contextualize past human-environment interactions Social differences emerge Surplus is used for many things, not just food

Answer 17

The overkill hypothesis suggests that as Clovis peoples spread, they hunted megafauna species to extinction Yes, but humans were in North America prior to Clovis peoples Evidence from Clovis sites show they ate more than just megafauna * Turkey, deer, sheep, turtles, reptiles, rodents Changing climate reduced the amount of food for megafauna Humans influenced the decline of many animals in North and South America during this period * But did they hunt them to extinction? * It’s complicated, and regionally dependent

Answer 18

Angkor (located in what is now Cambodia) was the capital of the Khmer empire * Covered much of Southeast Asian peninsula Network of highways, causeways, bridges Represents control of the landscape/access to water Ornate palaces and temples * Sculptural reliefs detail the lives of rulers, imperial court, and divinities No images of common people

Answer 19

Look at documentary

Answer 20

A zone of islands within a stretch of deep water that has separated Australia from Southeast Asia for 70 million years

Answer 21

Site: Monte Verde, Chile * 14-15 kya * Pre-Clovis tool industry * Coastal adapted group

Answer 22

the study of how ancient humans interacted with environment and used plants remains to understand past human behavior, subsistence strategies, and relationships with the environment.

Answer 23

A sub discipline of archaeology that studies past human engagements with animals, usually through the remains of animals at archaeological sites

Answer 24

An ordering of events * Soil layers/artifacts lower in the ground are generally older than those above them

Answer 25

Pueblo I (700-900 CE) Year-round occupation in pueblos * Above-ground rooms, some pit houses, pit structures have ritual features Living rooms areas with storage areas attached, with temperature regulation Abandonment of Mesa Verde Region (drought) Marks the Beginning of Pueblo II Period (900 CE-1100 CE) Dominated by Chaco Canyon * First large-scale stone ruins in the Pueblo II Architecture Chaco Canyon center for the regional system These populations utilized Chaco Canyon sites for gatherings (few lived there) * Roads * Low number of residences indicate visitors came from outlying area.

Answer 26

Monument building in Ancient Egypt Archaeological evidence provides good evidence that the pyramids were monuments built by citizens of Egypt at the time that were symbols of unity Egyptian Unification Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt * Upper and Lower united by 2,700 BCE Monuments came to represent the unification of Egypt as a state Supporting staff operated around the Pyramids, making offerings to the deceased Pharaohs Both symbolically and practically, the building of Pyramids ensured the preservation of Egyptian society

Answer 27

Structural violence: Harm done to individuals because of their position in society Bioarchaeological studies of structural violence rely on markers of health, injuries, diet Chimor (native population in Northern Peru) were forced to work in mines under cruel conditions because of negativitiy on indigenous groups by elites Colonial elite viewed indigenous peoples as ”savage” & inferior because of who they were * Enforced lowly identities and normalized violence against them Human health is a good indicator of power and structure in a society

Answer 28

Changes in style over time * Provides a general date * Principle: new styles catch on slowly, become popular, then fall out of use * Popularity Curves * arranging proportions of temporal types in curves, can determine sequence of style popularity

Answer 29

Burning Tree Golf Course Mastodon remains recovered in 1989 * Well-preserved in peat * No Clovis points/tools were found * But it did exist alongside Clovis hunters dating to 11,798 and 11,191 years ago

Answer 30

Can be used to date 300 – 50,000 BP * Organic materials (bone, plant remains, etc.) * Does NOT measure time in calendar years, but in radiocarbon years Death stops ingestion of CO2 * 14C begins to decay * Ratio of 14C (unstable) to 12C (stable) can be used to get a date at which decay started

Answer 31

Typology: Classification of objects according to particular traits, such as color, size or style Creating Typologies: Initial means of imposing order after excavation * Classification of artifact assemblages according to physical characteristics * e.g., bone, ceramic, lithic, botanic * Creating Typologies * Noting different characteristics of artifact types * Different ways to group artifacts * Function, time, morphology…

Answer 32

An ancient pile of domestic waste that may contain bone, shell, and pieces of pottery

Answer 33

The arrangement of ideas, conventions, and institutions that relate individuals to each other, and make up a society

Answer 34

Peopling of the Western Hemisphere * Low sea levels * Siberia and Alaska connected by the land bridge “Beringia” * Ice “closed ” the Land Bridge 24-14kya Central and North Asia - Mal’ta Boy Central and North Asia * Yana River: Archaeological site ~30 kya Archaeological evidence for humans in Siberia and Japan ~50 kya Trend continues until after the LGM (last glacial maximum~21kya) * Climate stabilizes * Population densities increase * Tech and symbolic media use increases

Answer 35

The dating of a piece of wood based on an examination of its rings; often involves comparing the ring pattern to those in a larger database

Answer 36

Older or Younger? – Not tied into real time, but relatively if something is older/younger than another * Historical Documentation * Stratigraphy & Superposition * Temporal Types * Seriation

Answer 37

Human action is decided through a system of opposition “the arrangement of ideas, conventions, and institutions, that relate individuals to each other, and make up a society Agency “the power of an individual to act within a social structure” (pg. 202)

Answer 38

Sumeranian civilization 3200-2500 BCE Earliest cities in the world - Urban Revolution Wheat and barely domestication, canal irrigation, surplus, writing, manual labor Downfall of these cities attributed to failure to increase production in the face of environmental degradation

Answer 39

* Protects all Native American graves and objects of cultural patrimony found on tribal and government land Anyone digging in archaeological sites on ancestral tribal or federal land must get permission and consult with tribal entities about preservation All museums and and institutions receiving federal funding must inventory their holds of Native American artifacts for reparation and reburial

Answer 40

Queen Pu’abi’s Burial * Dressed elaborately * Buried with 1600 beads, wreaths of lapis lazuli, agate, and gold * Enormous power and wealth * Excavation of “Death Pit“ revealed the remains of dozens bodies * Sacrificed servants * Staggering consumption of wealth in death

Answer 41

Alcohol is costly to make and takes awhile to make, possibly because of fermentation Feasting is a reflection of prestige, especially for host Using large amounts of staple foods (grains, fruits) Politically and socially important * Basis for power differences

Answer 42

The practice of buying expensive goods and services to publicly display one's wealth and impress others Conspicuous consumption in the past has bearing on understanding present-day consumption practices and the Anthropocene * Allowed societies to communicate social hierarchy * Status differences

Answer 43

Reciprocity in the context of the Anthropocene refers to the interconnectedness and mutual relationships between humans and the Earth, particularly in a time of significant human impact on the environment.

Answer 44

the process by which value is taken from the Earth to be sold on the world marketplace * The world market is linked together through mutual interest in various commodities Human extraction has made the oceans/lakes/rivers poorer, not richer Extracting Minerals Around the World Example: Spanish silver mines of Potosí Extracting People: Slave Trade Extractivism is an essential component of modern economies AND an engine of the Anthropocene Oil (drilling and hydraulic fracking) a modern example of extractivism

Answer 45

Landscape: Defined: “A structure, the meaning and purpose of which are shared across a social collective The organization and views of a culture concerning the environmentA Monument's purpose Shaped by cultural perceptions and relationships with the environment Ex. Dutch windmills Monuments create a sense of unity

Answer 46

Cities depend on surplus production Surplus is often controlled and distributed by the elite * Large networks of agricultural production in the radius surrounding the cities Connection between cities and elites Not universal! * Intensive agriculture results in sometimes severe anthropogenic changes to the landscape problems

Answer 47

A societal configuration that results in the oppression of segments of the society Violence related to social inequalities * Differences in health/violence within societies based on identity(ies) * Some members prevented from reaching social, economic, and biological potential

Answer 48

First Empire of Peru (ended ~300 years before Inca) Ayacucho Spread throughout coastal and highland Peru * Cerro Baúl * Furthest southern extent of Wari culture * Moquegua Valley, Peru Impressive monumental architecture Planned, orderly evacuation why structures have no artifacts left behind, compared to ritual closures that had artifacts indicative of status and nature of structures

Answer 49

Maya relied heavily on agriculture * Resulted in clearing of large sections of rainforest --> managed environment because not native to it Maize was main resource, had surplus Centers of exchange, trade, markets, social hierarchy

Answer 50

Aerial Photography * Access to government photos * Google Earth * Drones * Remote Sensing (Geophysical)

Answer 51

Techniques allowing archaeologists to see what is under the ground without disturbing the ground

Answer 52

Identifies variations of the Earth's geomagnetic field

Answer 53

Electrical current is passed through the ground * Electrical resistance in the soil varies, and is affected by the presence of archaeological features. * The patterns of resistance in the soil are recorded, plotted

Answer 54

Transmits tiny pulses of high-frequency radio waves into the ground The longer it takes the signal to bounce back, the deeper the item or feature is

Archaeology and World Prehistory Final Flashcards

(78 cards)