Ch. 1: Introduction to Anthropology, Archaeology and Historical Archeaology

Question 1

4 Types of Anthropology

Answer 1

1. Cultural: Direct observation of people, behaviors and interactions
2. Biological: Numerical research on health, medicine, evolution, genetics, society
3. Linguistic: Language structure and communication
4. Archaeology: Study of human behaviors and interactions in the past (artifacts)
   All study culture

Question 2

Culture (5 points)

Answer 2

1. A system of behaviors, customs, traditions, relations, practices, and materials.
2. A means of adaptation.
3. Constantly changing.
4. Transmitted and learned.
5. What sets us apart from other life forms.

Question 3

Anthropology

Answer 3

The study of human culture and society in both the present and past.

• > Challenges ethnocentrism
• > Promotes cultural relativism
• > Not about artifacts
• > Systematic excavations
• > Historical science

Question 4

Two broad types of archaeology

Answer 4

1) Prehistoric archaeology:
- > The study of “ancient” or “nonliterate” sites dating to the period before written history
- > 98.9% of modern human development
2) Historical Archaeology:
- > The archaeology of “modern” history
- > The archaeological study of people documented in recent history

Question 5

Historical Archaeology (3 points)

Answer 5

1) Historical focus:
-> The study of people in the post-Columbian era
2) Method:
Incorporates
(a) written
(b) ethnohistorical
(c) oral and
(d) material sources
-> Multidisciplinary
3) Concept:
-> Research can help us better understand the presence and challenge contemporary social ills

Question 6

Three Primary Goals of Historical Archaeology

Answer 6

1. to provide information useful for historic preservation and site interpretation
2. to document the lifeways of past peoples.
3. to study the complex process of modernization and all the cultural and social changes that accompanied it.