Exam 1

Question 1

Anthropology

Answer 1

the study of all aspects of humans (biology, culture, language) past or present, using a holistic, comparative approach and the concept of culture.

Question 2

Anthropology (compared to Sociology)

Answer 2

culture & community; non-Western; immerse oneself in culture.

Question 3

Sociology (compared to Anthropology)

Answer 3

social problems & institutions; modern Western society; surveys & quantitative data.

Question 4

Ethnocentrism

Answer 4

belief that your culture is superior to all others; a tendency to view other cultures from a perspective of your own.

Question 5

Cultural relativity

Answer 5

all cultures are equal, none are superior; regarding the beliefs, values, & practices of one culture from that culture’s perspective.

Question 6

Archaeology, biollogy, culture, linguistic.

Answer 6

Sub-fields of anthropology

Question 7

Archaeology

Answer 7

the study of past humans based on investigation of their material remains.

Question 8

When/where/how did humans live in the past?
Why did changes take place in past societies?
How did a site come to be?
Why are some sites/artifacts preserved & not others?
Preserve the past for the present.

Answer 8

Goals of archaeology

Question 9

Classical, prehistoric, historic, public.

Answer 9

Types of archaeology

Question 10

Classical archaeology

Answer 10

Western Asia, Egypt, Europe.

Question 11

Prehistoric archaeology

Answer 11

no written records; New World - before arrival of Europeans (preColombian); Old World - Paleolithic to Bronze Age; small scale, nomadic, chieftain-level societies.

Question 12

Historic archaeology

Answer 12

written history; New World - European expansion.

Question 13

Contact period archaeology

Answer 13

Europeans arriving/interacting with natives; domesticating animals.

Question 14

Public archaeology

Answer 14

applied anthropology; managing sites, preservation, education, politics.

Question 15

Present (BP)

Answer 15

1950

Question 16

stewardship; accountability; commercialization; public education; intellectual property; pubic reporting; records & preservation; training & resources.

Answer 16

SAA’s principles of archaeological ethics

Question 17

Society of Professional Archaeologists (SOPA) 1976

Answer 17

first to define professionalism in archaeology; baseline to evaluate archaeological research & recommendations; ability to challenge other archaeologists

Question 18

Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) 1998

Answer 18

membership by qualification; directory of certified archaeologists; voluntary but require by many; goal - establish universal standards of professional archaeological standards; code of conduct; created by SOPA

Question 19

Speculative Period (1492-1840)

Answer 19

Pe: origins of Native Americans; moundbuilders

Question 20

Classificatory-Descriptive Period (1840-1914)

Answer 20

Pe: qualitative data; description of materials, architecture, monuments; basic classification; no dating techniques.

Question 21

Classificatory-Historical Period (1914-1960)

Answer 21

Pe: concern with chronology; stratigraphic excavations; seriation; classifying temporally & spatially, not just descriptively; stratigraphic revolution; radiocarbon dating

Question 22

Modern Period (1960-Present)

Answer 22

Pe: quantitative data; scientific explanation

Question 23

C. B. Moore

Answer 23

self-trained; first to excavate Indian Knoll - shell midden in W Kentucky along the Green River.

Question 24

Nels Nelson

Answer 24

stratigraphic method (1913); SW U.S.

Question 25

"Ted" Kidder

Answer 25

founder of anthropological archaeology; SW potsherds; cultural chronology

Question 26

James A. Ford

Answer 26

seriation techniques in SW U.S.; chronology of cultures along Mississippi

Question 27

Hannah Wormington

Answer 27

wrote "Ancient Man" for the general public; 1st female president of SAA; paleoindian archaeology

Question 28

Squier & Davis

Answer 28

mapped mounds in E U.S.; supported the moundbuilders myth

Question 29

Thomas Jefferson

Answer 29

1st controlled excavations in VA

Question 30

Cyrus Thomas

Answer 30

declared mound builders theory false; Bureau of American Ethnology

Question 31

data

Answer 31

observations made on objects that serve as the basis for study & discussion

Question 32

archaeological site

Answer 32

a spatial cluster of artifacts, ecofacts, and features

Question 33

artifact

Answer 33

any object made, modified, or used by humans in the course of their activities

Question 34

ecofact

Answer 34

animal & plant based

Question 35

feature

Answer 35

cluster of artifacts & ecofacts; can't be removed without damaging original context

Question 36

theory

Answer 36

an explanation for observed empirical phenomena

Question 37

low-level theory

Answer 37

T: observations resulting from hands-on archaeological field & lab work

Question 38

mid-level theory

Answer 38

T: link archaeological observations with human behaviors/natural processes that created them

Question 39

experimental archaeology

Answer 39

study of how/which ancient behaviors created the archaeological record

Question 40

ethnoarchaeology

Answer 40

studying modern people to determine how human behavior fits in the archaeological record

Question 41

taphonomy

Answer 41

study of how the processes or preservation affect information; what happens to artifacts once discarded

Question 42

high-level theory

Answer 42

T: answer "why" questions

Question 43

Paradigm

Answer 43

a researcher's culture; learned/shared; influences how you view the world and humanity

Question 44

Processual

Answer 44

Pa: explains social, economic, and cultural change as a result of adaptation to material conditions; scientific explanation; "New Archaeology"; backlash against pure description; emphasizes universal law of human nature;

Question 45

Post Processual

Answer 45

Pa: explains change as arising from interaction between individuals in the same society; each culture is unique; rejects objectivity & explicitly scientific methods

Question 46

Processual Plus

Answer 46

Pa: addresses post-processual questions with processual methods; scientific inquiry; symbolism, ideology, agency, gender.

Question 47

Myth of the Moundbuilders

Answer 47

wanted America to have a heroic past - Native Americans were too savage & primitive; Ohio; disproved by Cyrus Thomas