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Archaeology 1000 > Chapter 4 > Flashcards

Chapter 4 Flashcards

1
Q

the Thera Eruption

A

The eruption buried the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri

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2
Q

why was the Thera Eruption the prehistoric Pompeii

A

b. It had well-preserved streets and houses
c. Wall paintings
All buried under meters of volcanic ash

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3
Q

What was problematic about the date of the Thera Eruption

A

most recent pottery style relevant to the Minoan palaces was absolutely dated around 1450 BCE but the Akrotiri had no such pottery style

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4
Q

Conclusions that were drawn from the Thera eruption

A

Some were drawn that the Thera eruption had nothing to do with the destruction of Minoan palaces

  • Others believed the eruption would have been widely felt
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5
Q

Why could the Thera Eruption have been widely felt

A

Ash samples from the Thera eruption were identified in samples from the Minoan Crete sites

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6
Q

what did tree rings show about the Thera Eruption

A

Was not able to convincingly associate the date from the tree rings (1628-1626 BCE) to the Thera eruption

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7
Q

what was studied by the tree rings at the Thera Eruption

A

Tree-ring would have narrow rings from the reduced solar radiation reaching the earth caused by the dust

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8
Q

what did ice cores show about the Thera Eruption

A

Revealed a short peak of high acidity for major eruptions on a scale for global effects

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9
Q

what did radiocarbon dating show about the Thera Eruption

A
  • Concluded the eruption was between 1663 and 1599 BCE until an olive tree placed the eruption between 1627 and 1600 BCE
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10
Q

what is the problem with the Dating of the Thera Eruption?

A

The radiocarbon dating dates go against the date set by cross-referencing with Egyptian historical chronology (1520 BCE)

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11
Q

Most obvious ways of measuring time:

A
  1. Alternating light and dark of night and day
    Annual cycle of the seasons
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12
Q

The main source of error in dating methods

A

Archaeologist

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13
Q

To date something in a meaningful way

A

The timescale has to relate to a fixed point in time

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14
Q

BCE

A

Before Common Era

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15
Q

CE

A

In the Common Era

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16
Q

In Paleolithic uses the terms “BP” and “years ago”

A

interchangeably

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17
Q

Relative dating

A

First (maybe most important) step archaeological research for ordering things

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18
Q

Relative dating include

A

Stratigraphy
Topology
seriation
Linguistic Dating
Changes in earth’s climate

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19
Q

Stratigraphy

A

Laying down or depositing of strata or layers (deposits) one above the other

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20
Q

principle of superposition

A

a. Provides a relative chronological sequence
b. Oldest and earliest layer is at the bottom
c. Newest and latest layer is at the top

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21
Q

why is association important in stratigraphy

A

When artifacts were found in association, they were buried at the same time

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22
Q

The most reliable dating of archaeological sites

A

The combination of the stratigraphic sequences and absolute dating

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23
Q

Sometimes the deposit itself is important because

A

it also shows human behavior

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24
Q

Typology

A

One can make a chronological order of artifacts sometimes by looking at them

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25
Q

non-archaeologist way of using typology

A

a. One artifact looks older than another
b. One artifact’s clothing looks more “old-fashioned”

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26
Q

Archaeologists define the form of an artifact as an attribute of

A

a. Material
b. Shape
Decoration

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27
Q

how does typology group things together

A

into types

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28
Q

Two ideas underlying the notion of typology in dating

A

Products of a given period and place have a recognizable style
Changes in style (shape and decoration) of artifacts is often gradual or evolutionary

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29
Q

how can artifacts often be identified

A

by their style and place in the correct typological sequence

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30
Q

Particular artifacts produced at about the same time

A

are often alike

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31
Q

the backbone of the chronological system

A

pottery typologies

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32
Q

why is pottery the best chronological system

A

a. Every area usually has its own well-established ceramic sequence
b. Pottery surface decorations change rapidly

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33
Q

what is not useful for typological sequences

A

stone tools are very slow to change

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34
Q

Seriation

A

The idea of “like goes with like”

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35
Q

what does seriation allow

A

a. Assemblages of artifacts to be arranged in a serial order
b. Used to indicate their ordering in time or relative chronology

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36
Q

who was the first to develop a technique for arranging graves in a cemetery in relative order

A

William Flinders Petrie

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37
Q

Battleship curve

A

a. The idea that an artifact (ex. Ceramic style) will usually start small
b. Rises to a peak as the style gains popularity
c. Declines again after

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38
Q

Linguistic Dating

A

study of languages

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39
Q

The basic principle of linguistic dating

A

If two groups of the same speaking language are separated with no contact, they will continue speaking the same tongue
YET
In each population, with the passage of time, there will be changes.
AS A RESULT
After a few centuries, the groups will no longer be speaking the same language until the languages will be unintelligible to the other

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40
Q

Lexicostatistics

A

study changes of vocabulary

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41
Q

Glottochronology

A

uses a formula to pronounce how many years ago the languages diverged

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42
Q

Phylogenetic analysis

A

the development of tree diagrams from the vocabulary data then systematically comparing unknown dates with points of divergence between languages.

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43
Q

Climate and Chronology techniques

A
  1. ice cores
  2. deep-sea cores
  3. pollen dating
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44
Q

Deep-sea cores

A

Most coherent record of climatic changes on a world-wide scale

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45
Q

what do deep-sea cores have

A

organisms known as FORMANINIFERA

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46
Q

what do the organisms know as FORMANINIFERA show in deep-sea cores

A

A good indicator of the sea temp when the organisms were alive in the variations of the chemical structure of these shells

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47
Q

Cold episodes in the deep-sea cores

A

glacial periods of ice advance

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48
Q

Warm episodes in deep-sea cores

A

interglacial periods of ice retreat

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49
Q

ice cores

A

Annual deposits are represented through the layers of compacted ice

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50
Q

what is the max ice cores can date

A

the last 2000 to 3000 years

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51
Q

why do ice cores have a limit to how far back they can date

A

Earlier time periods are at greater depths
stratification is no longer visible

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52
Q

ice cores is a useful tool for the discovery of

A

preserved volcanic eruption evidence

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53
Q

Pollen dating (palynology)

A

Studying pollen samples from a site, it can often be fitted into a broader pollen-zone sequence and assigned a relative date

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54
Q

why is pollen used for dating

A

Pollen is almost indestructible and survives for many thousand years in all kinds of conditions

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55
Q

what is important to note about pollen zones

A

not uniform across large areas

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56
Q

what cannot be used for early periods of dating, such as the interglacial period

A

radiocarbon dating

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57
Q

3 most important and commonly used absolute dating methods

A
  1. Calendars and historical chronologies
  2. Tree-ring dating
  3. Radiocarbon dating
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58
Q

To date population events

A
  1. Genetic dating is used
59
Q

During the Paleolithic period

A

Uranium-series dating and potassium-argon dating are used

60
Q

Dating almost entirely relies on

A

connections with chronologies and calendars that people in ancient times established

61
Q

Three points to remember when working with early historical chronologies

A

a. List of rulers or kings needs to be complete
b. The list shows the number of years in each reign but it still has to be linked with our calendar
c. Artifacts, features or structures to be dated at a site have to be related to the historical chronology

62
Q

Maya Calendar

A

the most elaborate calendar

63
Q

what is unique about the Mayan calendar

A

Does not depend on a record of dynasties and rulers like Europe and the Near East

64
Q

what must be understood to understand the Mayan calendar

A

a. Necessary to comprehend the Maya numerical system
b. Recognize the various glyphs or signs by the various days
c. Follow how the calendar itself was constructed

65
Q

the Calendar Round in Mayan is

A

for most everyday purposes

66
Q

the Long Count in Mayan is

A

used for historical dates

67
Q

according to the Mayan calendar, when was the present world going to end

A

December 23, 2012

68
Q

Terminus post quem

A

Date after which

69
Q

Terminus post quem means what about the artifact

A

Means the deposit can be no earlier than the date of the artifact but it can be later than that date

70
Q

Terminus ante quem

A

Dater before which

71
Q

Terminus ante quem means what for artifacts

A

The artifact that is buried cannot be more recent than the artifact

72
Q

rivals radiocarbon as the main method of dating the last few thousand years

A

Dendrochronology

73
Q

Basics of the method (tree-ring dating)

A
  1. The yearly rings of growth can be seen in the cross-section of the trunk
  2. Rings are not uniform in thickness
  3. A diagram of these rings is developed regarding the thickness of successive rings in a tree
  4. Growth can be matched between successively older timbers for the chronology of the area
  5. Sequences of living trees matched to old timber produces a long, continuous sequence from the present day
74
Q

Rings become narrower with

A

increasing age of the tree

75
Q

The amount of tree growth each year is affected

A

by climate fluctuations

76
Q

Varves

A

The melting ice sheets each year when the temp rises leads to the formation of annual deposits of sediments in lake beds

77
Q

Radioactive Clocks

A

Based on the widespread and regular feature of radioactive decay

78
Q

Principle of radioactive decay

A

Carbon has three isotopes with C14 being unstable with its eight neutrons in the nucleus and not the normal six

79
Q

what is the rate of radioactive decay

A

a constant rate independent of all enviromental conditions

80
Q

Half-life

A

The time is taken for the atoms of the radioactive isotope to decay

81
Q

After one half-life there will be

A

half of the atoms left

82
Q

Radiocarbon’s half life is

A

5,730 years

83
Q

Radiocarbon dating helped

A

the first time to establish a chronology of world cultures

84
Q

Calibration

A

comparing radiocarbon dates to known dates

85
Q

what was the problem with Libby’s assumption of radiocarbon dating

A

14C was assumed to be constant in the atmosphere, but it is in fact varying depending on changes in the earth’s magnetic field and the sun

86
Q

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)

A

· Requires smaller samples and controls the amount of C14 directly

87
Q

C-14 contamination

A

organic material can be contaminated by touch

88
Q

Geiger counters were an older way of radiocarbon dating that

A

had errors by counting daiation

89
Q

what does it mean that in about 50 000 years and all the C-14 will have vanished

A

can only sample up to 50 000 years because anything after this means there is no meaningful amount left

90
Q

C-14 dating can only be done

A

on things that are alive because c-14 is only ingested by living things

91
Q

what happens when an organism dies

A

the C-14 starts to decay

92
Q

how do archaeologists do radiocarbon dating

A

count the C-14 that’s left in the sample

93
Q

Potassium-Argon dating dates from

A

5 mya to 100 000 years ago

94
Q

what is the standard deviation of potassium-argon dating

A

30 000 years

95
Q

potassium-argon dating focuses on

A

potassium 40 and how it decays slowly but consitently

96
Q

Potassium-argon dating is used to date

A

lava and any lava remains

97
Q

Uranium series dating is used to date

A

remains with calcium carbonate and teeth

98
Q

Uranium series dating dates from

A

500 000 to 50 000 ya

99
Q

what dating method is used for cave paintings

A

uranium-series dating

100
Q

uranium series dating is done through the dating of

A

radioactive decay of isotopes of uranium

101
Q

fission track dating dates from

A

usually over 300 000 years ago

102
Q

fission track dating is used to date

A

minerals and natural glasses that have small amounts of uranium

103
Q

how does fission track dating work

A
  1. find the tracks left in the mineral or glass
  2. the tracks are left by decay process
  3. counting the fission tracks tells how old it is
104
Q

thermoluminescence dating dates from

A

500 000 ya to 50 ya (or the present)

105
Q

thermoluminescence dating is used to date

A

minerals within pottery

106
Q

how does thermoluminescence dating work

A
  1. minerals in pottery store energy by trapping electrons
  2. when the pottery is fired, it releases that energy
107
Q

over time, in TL dating the energy in pottery

A

will build back up again

108
Q

what is TL dating specifically looking for

A

the date the pottery was fired

109
Q

what is significant about 500 000 ya in TL dating

A

its the max amount of energy the pottery can have

110
Q

obsidian hydration is used to date

A

obsidian objects

111
Q

obsidian hydration dates

A

1 mya to present

112
Q

how does obsidian hydration work

A
  1. when fractured, obsidian absorbs water
  2. forms a measurable hydration layer
113
Q

what is important to note in obsidian hydration

A

the absorption is not uniform so it needs to be calibrated

114
Q

what do TL and obsidian hydration dating have in common

A

counting what has built up again in the artifacts

115
Q

Archaeomagnetic dating dates up to

A

2000 ya

116
Q

what is archaeomagnetic dating used for

A

dating clay

117
Q

how does archaeomagnetic dating work

A
  1. clay is heated and it records the direction, intensity of earth’s magnetic field
  2. compare known earth magnetic history with the clay’s history
118
Q

Egyptian calendars

A
  1. solar
  2. lunar
  3. religious
  4. civic
  5. regnal
119
Q

what is confusing about the regnal calendar in Egypt

A

with a calendar year based on king’s reign, kings don’t always rule for a full year so we can’t count how many reigns of king

120
Q

Julian reforms

A

turns the 10 lunar month calendar into 12 months

121
Q

Gregorian reforms

A

adds a leap year to the calendar

122
Q

ante meridiem

A

AM - before middle of day

123
Q

post meridiem

A

PM - after middle of day

124
Q

what is a fundamental linguistic rule

A

Words are suddenly flipped and have the opposite meaning

125
Q

two types of seriation

A

Contextual
Frequency

126
Q

Contextual seriation

A

You are looking and dating a bunch of things by showing how types of things are related to similar things of that same period

127
Q

with contextual seriation, what can be proved

A

the object could be dated to a couple different periods, while a series could only be dated to ONE period

128
Q

what is a flaw in contextual seriation

A

can’t tell what is older without contextual evidence

129
Q

Frequency seriation

A

Something is introduced and gains in popularity and reaches its peak
Then it declines in popularity and becomes less and less popular

130
Q

frequency battleship curves are based on

A

percentage

131
Q

____ change over time and ______ changes much more quickly than _____ changes

A

styles and fashion and technology

132
Q

dating bone deposits

A

measures nitrogen, fluorine and uranium content of bones

133
Q

what are bone deposits used to figure out

A

whether or not bones found together date to the same time

134
Q

index fossils

A

Early ways to date artifacts, fossils that appear over again in the same layers would appear again and again in the same order.

135
Q

index fossils are used to

A

identify or date the rock or rock later in which it is found

136
Q

Optical dating

A

Uses data minerals that have been exposed to light rather than hea

137
Q

how does optical dating work

A
  1. Start point = some trapped energy that will be released by exposure to sunlight
  2. As the minerals are buried = accumulate electrons again from the radiation in the soil
138
Q

Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating

A
  • Used for material that decomposes when heated
139
Q

what is ESR most successful with

A

tooth enamel

140
Q

Useful for cross-checking other dating methods

A

Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) dating

141
Q

Genetic Dating

A

Estimate timespans for human generations that can make inferences about calendar years

142
Q

Global events

A

Building a relationship between sequences based on the occurrence of the same significance even with widespread geographical repercussions

143
Q

Tephra

A

volcanic ash

144
Q

Tephrochronology

A

Distinguish unequivocally in the tephra resulting from different volcanic eruptions present in terrestrial deposits or deep-sea core

Archaeology 1000 (11 decks)

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