Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Archaeology > Final > Flashcards

Final Flashcards

(110 cards)

Start Studying
1
Q

Probabilistic Excavation

A

Stratified, Random, Random Interval

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Judgmental/Haphazard Excavation

A 
Areas of Interest 
Visible Features
Remote Sensing 
Land Forms
Soil Types
Judgmental- knowledge and assumption
Haphazard- random chance.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Datum Plane

A

An arbitrary horizontal plane across the surface of site, where vertical is measured from

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Arbitrary Levels

A

Vertical units of equal length
Pro- fast and easy, ubiquitous sold
Con- Can mix stratigraphic units together.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Natural Level

A

Collecting all material within individual strata.
Pro- Don’t mix different depositions.
Con- Harder to follow, and stick with strata

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Profile

A

Culture historians dig deep to get stratigraphy

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Planview

A

Culture Recontructionists and processualists want horizontal space.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Problem with Profile vs Planview

A

Difficult to see both dimensions at once

Methods to maximize one over other

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Excavation Blocks

A

Good horizontal coverage, lose all internal profile

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Trenches

A

Exposes vertical strata, can’t see horizontal space distribution

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Rice-Chex/ ice cube tray

A

Leave spaces between all square units

both vertical and horizontal views are discontinuous

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Checker Board

A

Divide into grid, excavate every other unit
Pro- saves 50% of arch. Record, move less earth, repeatable
Con- Horizontal is discontinuous. Hard to stick to assigned units

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Trench Block

A

4 trenches around a block to expose stratigraphy.
Pro- ultimate control of profile and planview of inner block
Con- difficult, assumption inner block is of value, sacrifice outer trench provenience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Expandotrench

A

Excavate trench in arbitrary levels, smaller blocks stepping out
Pro- gives stratigraphic control across horizontal
Con- Planview must be reconstructed in lab

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Archaeological Context

A

Processes that occur after artifacts enter the ground. Mech and Chem.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Systematic/Behavioral Context

A

An artifact’s life history, what happen before deposit

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Michael B. Schiffer

A

N-transforms- natural change
C-tranforms- cultural change
“absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Positive Evidence

A

finding artifact/ artifacts that support theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Negative Evidence

A

not finding artifacts/ artifacts that don’t support theory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Why stuff may be missing from record

A

Not there
Looked in wrong place
Failed to recover
Material not preserved

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Life History of Artifact

A

Procurement- how material was obtained
Manufacture- how material was formed
Use- how artifact was used
Recycle- artifact could be used for other task, or resharpen
Loss/Discard- human drops/loses/throws away artifact

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Mechanical Movement

A

Streams, Landslides, Humans, Animals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Chemical Alteration

A

Chemical Decay of objects

Heat, Humidity, acidity, material

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Preservation = M, C, D, S, T

A

Material (Perishable(Organic), Altered, Imperishable)

Climate- Temp, Hot=decay
precipitation= decay

Deposition- Rapid Burial= better preserve

Sediment- pH, Acid-mineral Base- Organic

Time- more= more decay

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Primary Deposit
Artifact right where it was placed
26
Secondary Deposit
A primary deposit that was picked up and moved (naturally)
27
Mixed Deposit
Deposit is primary, but materials mixed, animals(gophers)
28
In situ
Artifacts found such that exact provenience is known. Instant preservation. Pompeii
29
Quantitative Attribute
magnitude, represented by a numerical value
30
qualitative attribute
variance in quality or kind. (dead/alive. male/female, chert/obsidian)
31
class
a definition of the specified necessary and sufficient conditions for membership in a group
32
type
a description of an average looking specimen
33
typology
a set of types or set of descriptions
34
identification
the process of placing a new specimen within its proper class
35
Morphological types
Descriptive types designed to reflect the overall appearance of group of specimen by considering as many variable as possible, results in a typology. Make piles of similar stuff, write general description of piles. Easy to implement, hard to replicate between investigator.
36
functional types
types of contracted attributes that are relevant to function of artifact, (scraper, knife, arrowhead, etc, ) assume function, which maybe wrong.
37
temporal types
Defined on basis of attributes that have a limited range in time. cultural historians concerned with these units
38
Lithic technology
flaking/chipping (conchoidal fracture)
39
types of rock that fracture conchoidally
Volcanic and Sedimentary
40
debitage
waste material made during stone tool production.
41
core
a chunk of stone in which flakes are struck.
42
flake
a piece of chipped stone, length<2x width
43
blade
a piece of chipped stone length>2x width
44
hard hammer percussion
greater hardness percussor, short, wide, thick, fat bulb flakes
45
soft hammer percussion
Better flaking control, longer, thinner, and thinner bulbs
46
pecking
Hitting stone repeatedly
47
grinding
using rock to grind away another rock
48
sawing
moving rock back and forth to create groove
49
Reduction stages
:: Early- stone are found, broken, hard hammer :: Middle- Thinning bifaces, soft hammer :: Late- Final shaping, pressure flaking.
50
chipped stone pro and con
PROS- quick, sharp, CON- limited range in shapes, not durable
51
Ground Stone pro con
PROS- any shape, any rock, very durable CONS- very slow, not as sharp
52
steps of manufacture
shaping, drying, firing Shaping of clay, Drying the object until hard leather stage, firing, where chemical-molecular alteration which bonds clay
53
clay
fine grained earth material that develops placisity
54
temper
a plastic filler used in clay to help control shrinkage and lower firing temp.
55
modeling
manipulation of paste into desired shape
56
molding
Paste molded into template, Mass production
57
coiling
Widespread, lumps rolled into ropes, coiled up, smoothed with paddle.
58
surface treatment
Plain, cord marked, corrugated, smoothed, brushed
59
slips
Watery clay wash, not pigment
60
paints
::Fugitive paints ( vegetable pigment), applied post firing :: Non-Fugitive (mineral pigment) applied pre firing, change color :: negative firing- coat pot in stick substance, leaves burn scars
61
firing (oxidized/reduced environment)
:: oxidized- reds, yellow, browns, orange | :: reduced- blacks, whites, grey
62
kilns
:: ovens , oxygen can be restricted, more even heat, higher heat
63
sherds
fragmented pottery, vessel shape and size help find function
64
residue
remnants of past material in pottery , helps find function
65
evolutionary seriation
order based on universal rule, simple to complex, primitive to advanced
66
similary seriation
not based on a rule of development, 3 types Phyletic, Occurrence, and Frequency
67
occurrence, and frequency | Seriation
All assemblages must be comparable duration, from same area, from same cultural tradition.
68
Relative Dating
give relative time difference, but no magnitude
69
Absolute Dating
time is measures on an interval- Dendrochronology, Radio Carbon, Potassium Argon, Thermoluminescence, Obsidian Hydration
70
Radiocarbon dating
``` C14 Nitrogen 14 with took a neutron Willard F. Libby (1940) Atomic bomb research , half-life (5730 + 40 years), ```
71
neutrons
(emitted when comic rays enter earth upper atmosphere),
72
beta particles
::what is emitted from Carbon 14 and then measured
73
radiocarbon years vs. calendar years
:: radio carbon years =/= calendar bc radio carbon supply is not constant
74
standard deviation
Dates given with 1 standard deviation
75
dateable materials with Carbon
Charcoal, wood, bone , shell, pottery, textiles, metal, hair, pollen, ice core, paper, blood.
76
AMS
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer | Directly counts C14 atoms, uses less material, 50,000 years, accurate, EXPENSIVE
77
Obsidian hydration, hydration rate, hydration layer (artifact reuse)
Obsidian hydrates at a variable rate( hydration rate), reuse will show a gap in hydration layer. hydration rate effected by temp, humidity, chemical comp of obsidian. varies by location
78
Thermoluminescence (TL)
pottery heated to release light, not accurate 30% error
79
potassium-argon dating
Used to date Volcanic rock, Counts decay of Ar40 to K40 , 4-5 billion years
80
Human environment
every factor of humankind's surrounding which may effect their mode of life, and or to which they might adapt
81
ecology
The science of interrelations between particular set of living organisms and there environment
82
paleoenvironment
Environment of the past
83
(flora, fauna, coprolites (poop) , geology, isotopes)
Paleobotany
84
Zooarchaeology—taphonomy
the transformation of living organisms from the biosphere to lithosphere
85
subsistence (cultural vs. natural)
:: Cultural Bone- cultural behavior, Food and non food items, Indicators- burned, buried, broken, made into artifact, cut marks, used for architecture :: Natural Bone- bones in site due to non-human activity, rodents, caves, dragged bones
86
Measure of Subsistence
:: NISP, - Number of Identified Specimens ::MNI, - Min Number of Individuals ::MNE, Min Numbers of Elements
87
seasonality(age, sex)
::When during year did activity take place, species hunted when available
88
butchery/transport
:: How carcass is cut up an taken from kill to camp
89
domestication
:: Human modification of plants or animals, producing strains/breeds different from ancestors. :: Genetic changes through "human" selection
90
biogeography
:: Study of distributions of plants and animals | ::comparing modern to past distributions
91
Direct resource access
resource procured by user by source
92
Indirect resource access
Trade and exchange; resource procured at source by one group, then transferred via exchange to other groups.
93
distance decay function
Linear drop of material away from source
94
food extractors: foragers/collectors
:: foragers- no concentration of any one resource, energy extraction is non systematic. Take whats available :: Collector- systematic collection, more processing time, less search,
95
food producers :agriculturalists/pastoralists
:: Both cultivate foods. Agriculturalists- large population, move little,,, Pastoralists move a lot, small populations.
96
Cultural resource management (CRM)----conservation archaeology;
:: Culture resource is any physical manifestation owing any of its attribute to human activity. anything made or moved by humans
97
1st effort to protect sites
Fredrick Putnam * Serpent mound in OH * Collected money from Boston’s Wealthy * Purchased, fenced, donated to state as a park
98
Antiquities Act
* 1906 (Teddy Rosevelt) * Protect sites on federal land * Too ambiguous * Still the basis of cultural resource laws today
99
Historic Sites Act
* 1935 * National Park Service—> identify, protect, and preserve cultural resources fundamentally important to Americans * Geared toward historic sites and stressed preservation in situ
100
Reservoir Salvage Act
* 1960s * Secretary of the Interior to oversee salvage of resources in river basins flooded by dam construction. * Last ditch effort
101
National Historic Preservation Act
* 1966. Most Important Law * Required the fed. gov. to establish a nationwide system for identifying and protecting cultural resources. * Establish a National Register of Historic Places * Appropriated funds for cultural resource planning in each state. Created State Historic Preservation Offices. * National Advisory Council
102
Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act
* 1974 * Amendment to Reservoir Salvage Act * Provided FUNDING * Up to 1% of federal dollars allocated to a project must be devoted to archaeological and historical resource mitigation
103
How do we negotiate these laws
* Most government agencies at both the federal and state level have cultural resource managers * Federal agencies Include * National Park Service * Bureau of Land Reclamation * Bureau of Indian Affairs * Dept. of Agriculture * State Agencies include * CalTrans * State Parks
104
Contact Archaeology
* An archaeological industry * In order to comply with regulations, most government agencies hire private consultants to do some or most of their compliance work. * Now the largest sector of archaeology- Most archaeology done in the US today is CRM (~90%)
105
CRM Process
* Can be divided into phases * Phase 1- identify and inventory * Phase 2- asses importance * Phase 3- mitigate adverse results
106
CRM responsibilities to: archaeological record,
Conserve as much as possible Dig only if needed colleagues, Don’t speak ill, give credit
107
research and scholarship,
research reports and investigation must be produced, only record of a site
108
clients,
Must be fair in cost, time, and results, and deadlines. Business is business
109
the law,
Compliance to all laws
110
the living (morals and ethics)
Must be responsible to all non archaeologists interested in arch sites

Archaeology (2 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions