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Anthropology 2AC > FinalExamKeyTerms > Flashcards

FinalExamKeyTerms Flashcards

1
Q

profile

A

A vertical view or diagram of a site or feature (a cut-away/section view).

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2
Q

debitage

A

Workshop debris.

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3
Q

groundstone technology

A

Tools like pestles, net weights, and mortars.

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4
Q

data as “theory laden”

A

What someone perceives to be relevant archaeological data depends on his/her training and theoretical orientation.

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5
Q

Albert Spaulding

A

Classic papers on discovered types. Examined two attributes of pottery: tempering method and surface treatment.

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6
Q

ethnoarchaeology

A

Ethnographic studies designed to aid archaeological interpretation, such as descriptions of behavioral processes, especially the ways material items enter the archaeological record.

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7
Q

radiocarbon (C14) dating / half-life / AMS

A

A radiometric dating technique based on measuring the Decay of the radioactive isotope of Carbon 14 to stable Nitrogen 14.

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8
Q

soils vs sediments vs dirt

A

soil: Agriculture. Studying how soil was transformed after deposit.
sediment: Geological. Looking at how sediment formed.

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9
Q

Overseas Chinese Archaeology

A

Work mostly became popular due to CRM. Emphasis in last 5-10 years, partly due to collaborative archaeology. Chinese descendants brought in as stakeholders.

Amador County Farm: Found remains from both Chinese and Native American descent. Suggests an interracial living structure.

Market Street: Burned down numerous times; led to great preservation. Excavation done during the construction of the Fairmont Hotel in 1980s.

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10
Q

interpretation at the “trowel’s edge”

A

Pioneered by Ian Hodder at Catalhoyuk. Breaks down boundary between field, laboratory, and interpretation. Interpretation takes place on all aspects of archaeological research. Initial interpretation starts right in the field.

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11
Q

context

A

Characteristics of archaeological data that result from combined behavioral and transformational processes, which are evaluated by means of recorded association, matrix, and provenience.

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12
Q

Barbara Voss / Rebecca Allen

A

Started analyzing materials from San Jose Market Street Chinatown again in 2002. Was an orphan collection, now being cataloged, studied, and written-up.

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13
Q

Ellis Landing (CA-CCO-295)

A

Ellis Landing Shell Mound: Archaeological excavation by Nels Nelson in 1908-1908. Nelson conducted three-dimensional point provenience of every artifact. Site later commercially mined for fertilizer. Collection is still used, with new technologies being used on the materials recovered.

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14
Q

percussion techniques (direct/indirect)

A

direct percussion: A technique used for the manufacture of chipped-stone artifacts in which flakes are produced by striking a core with a hammer stone or striking the core against a fixed stone or anvil.

indirect percussion: A technique used to manufacture chipped-stone artifacts in which flakes are produced by striking a punch, usually made of wood or bone, placed against a core.

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15
Q

native landscape management

A

Study of anthropogenic burning used by Natives. One collaborative work conducted with Amah Mutsun tribal group.

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16
Q

Robert Oswalt

A

Linguist at UC Berkeley. Worked on creating dictionary between Kashaya and English. The Kashaya told him creation stories and events that happened to their tribes. Stories about strangers that rode on horseback.

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17
Q

classification

A

The ordering of phenomena into groups (classes) based on the sharing of attributes.

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18
Q

Metini Village Site / Fort Ross

A

Central Kashaya Pomo village occupied while Fort Ross was occupied. Needed to use low impact archaeological survey. Also needed to involve women from descendent communities. Needed to respect cultural rules.

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19
Q

pressure flaking

A

A technique for manufacturing chipped-stone artifacts in which flakes or blades are produced by applying pressure against a core with a punch usually made of wood or bone.

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20
Q

Año Nuevo State Preserve

A

Site at which anthropogenic burning by Native Americans to manage landscape was studied. Work with Amah Mutsun Ohlone.

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21
Q

obsidian hydration

A

Adsorption of water on exposed surfaces of obsidian; if the local hydration rate is known and constant, this phenomenon can be used as a relative dating technique through measurement of the thickness of the hydration layer.

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22
Q

Market Street Chinatown

A

First Chinatown established in San Jose in 1866. About 3000 people, mostly men. 25% of Chinese population lived in Chinatown; others were laborers living elsewhere. Burned down (linked to arson).

Archaeological work conducted during Fairmont Hotel construction in mid-1980s. Enough funding for fieldwork, but not for further analysis (orphan collection). Materials archived, and later studied in a project under Barbara Voss in 2002.

Chinatown communities often moved around. Forced out as different lands became more valuable. Serve as time capsules of how Chinatowns looked at different times.

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23
Q

Kashaya Pomo

A

Inhabited coastal lands north of San Francisco. Hunter-gatherers who harvested wild plants and animals from the sea and land. The Fort Ross settlement was placed inside Kashaya Pomo territory by Russian merchants.

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24
Q

assemblages/sub-assemblages

A

assemblage: A gross grouping of all sub assemblages assumed to represent the sum of human activities carried out within an ancient community.

sub assemblage: A grouping of artifact classes based on form and function that is assumed to represent a single occupational group within an ancient community.

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25
Q

use-wear analysis

A

Edges of tools show nicks and scratches. Since different tasks produce different wear, can use low-powered microscopes or scanning electron microscopes to study wear and determine how tool was used.

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26
Q

taphonomy

A

Study of the transformational processes affecting organic ecofacts after the death of the original organisms.

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27
Q

ecofacts

A

Nonartifactual evidence from the past that has cultural relevance; the category includes both inorganic and organic objects.

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28
Q

types (discovered vs. arbitrary)

A

A class of data defined by a consistent clustering of attributes.

discovered: Approach used to classify archaeological materials into types where archaeologists can discover types that are inherent in the artifacts.
arbitrary: Tended to emphasize an etic approach. Attributes are based on archaeologists’ own biases and observations. Which attributes are selected to be looked at is dependent on the archaeologist.

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29
Q

soil micromorphology

A

Analysis of undisturbed sediments in thin sections in order to analyze the inner relations of soil deposits.

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30
Q

NAGPRA

A

1990 law to allow descendant communities to request materials back to tribal groups. Also protects and preserves sacred sites on federal reserves.

31
Q

Nels Nelson

A

Archaeologist at UC Berkeley in early 1900s. Studied shell mounds. e.g.: Ellis landing site, Emeryville shell mound.

32
Q

stratigraphy / strata

A

stratigraphy: The archaeological evaluation of the significance of stratification to determine the temporal sequence of data within stratified deposits by using both the law of superposition and context evaluations; also a relative dating technique.
strata: The definable layers of archaeological matrix or features revealed by excavation.

33
Q

pyrodiversity practices

A

Practices used by tribes such as the Amah Mutsun that could have carried out periodic controlled burning of plant life in order to promote greater diversity.

34
Q

Seriation

A

Techniques used to order materials in a relative dating sequence in such a way that adjacent items in the series are more similar to each other than to items farther apart in the series.

35
Q

construction of archaeological interpretations

A

interpretation: A stage in archaeological research design involving the synthesis of results of data analysis and the explanation of their meaning in order to reconstruct the past.

Interpretations are formed in present side archaeological work is contemporary.

36
Q

Patricia Erikson

A

Whaling with the Makah. Using archaeology and oral tradition.

37
Q

Spatial Structure of Archaeological Record

A

Spatial relationships between material allows generating archaeological interpretation. Can also study spatial relationships on broader scale and activity areas.

38
Q

tribal museums / cultural centers

A

Centers established on native land to present their view of the past. Recently, casino money has changed dynamics of museums. They also help stress the present and the living communities today. Sometimes also have education programs for public and/or their own people.

39
Q

chronology (direct vs. indirect age determination; relative vs. absolute dating)

A

direct dating: Determination of the age of archaeological data by analysis of the artifact, ecofact, or feature itself.

indirect dating: Determining the age of archaeological data by using its association with a matrix or object of known age.

relative dating: Determining chronological sequence without reference to a fixed time scale.

absolute dating: Determination of age using a specific time scale, as in years before present (B.P.) or according to a fixed calendar.

40
Q

attribute analysis (form, technological, stylistic)

A

attribute: The minimal characteristic used as a criterion for grouping artifacts into classes.
form: Attributes based on the physical characteristics of an artifacts, including overall shape, the shape of parts, and measurable dimensions; leads to form classification.
technological: Attributes related to the characteristics of raw materials and manufacturing methods; lead to technological classifications.
stylistic: Attributes defined by the surface characteristics of artifacts - color, texture, decoration, and so forth - leading to stylistic classifications.
classification: The ordering of phenomena into groups (classes) based on the sharing of attributes.

41
Q

Museums (relation to archaeology; museum research)

A

Museum research often takes second seat to field research, but is increasingly becoming an important component of archaeology. Wealth of information in museum collections, lower costs, materials from previous high impact work, and many museum materials often under used.

42
Q

Thad Van Buren / CA-AMA-364/H

A

Amador County Farm. Farm was very lucrative because it was able to sell to miners. Archaeologists found ledger by a Chinese cook written in the 1850s which listed some of the materials that the farm was using at the time. An example of a CRM project; Van Buren was a CRM archaeologist. Found Chinese materials from laborers working in farmstead along with materials from Native American origin. Suggests Chinese and Native Americans living together in perhaps an interracial living structure. Suggests a close interaction between Chinese and Non-Chinese.

43
Q

orphan collections

A

Collections where fieldwork has been conducted, but analysis and write-up have not been conducted.

44
Q

plan drawing / profile drawing

A

plan: A horizontal view or diagram of a site or feature (a bird’s eye/top-down view).
profile: A vertical view or diagram of a site or feature (a cut-away/section view).

45
Q

emic / etic classifications

A

emic: Insider’s perspective. Explain cultures as if participating within it. Trying to understand why actions are taking place. Adopted by postprocessual archaeologists.
etic: Outsider’s perspective. Culture seen from perspective of external, scientific observer. Viewpoint held by processual archaeologists.

46
Q

constituent analysis (sourcing studies)

A

Identifying chemical composition of raw materials. Geophysical signals of the rocks. X-Ray fluorescence and neutron activation. Geochemical analyses.

Obsidian formed from different volcanic activity. Different geochemical signatures from different sources. Each obsidian flow is unique and produces a unique signature.

47
Q

Amah Mutsun Ohlone (Amah Mutsun Tribal Band)

A

Native American tribe with whom it was studied if Native Americans may have used anthropogenic burning to manage landscape. Work at Año Nuevo State Preserve.

48
Q

dendrochronology (& fire-scar dendro.)

A

The study of tree-ring growth patterns, which are linked to develop a continuous chronological sequence.

Fire-scar dendrochronology: Scar on ring if a fire takes place and the tree lives through it. Can work out age and determine at what time there were fires. Can construct a fire history.

49
Q

interface

A

The surface at which two strata meet.

50
Q

experimental archaeology (lithic manufacture, lithic use-wear analysis, residue analysis)

A

Studies designed to aid archaeological interpretation by attempting to duplicate behavioral processes experimentally under carefully controlled conditions

51
Q

flaked stone technology (chipped stone)

A

flake: A lithic artifact detached from a core, either as a waste or as a tool.

52
Q

native narratives (oral history / oral tradition)

A

History and practices passed down generations in a descendant community. Can help archaeologist form more complete picture of an archaeological record.

53
Q

curation crisis

A

Museums are filling up with existing collections, and crisis about where to find room for new materials.

54
Q

ethnographic analogy (specific vs. general)

A

analogy: A process of reasoning in which similarity between two entities in some characteristics is taken to imply similarity in other characteristics as well; the basis of most archaeological interpretation.

specific analogy: An analogy used in archaeological interpretation based on specific comparisons that are documented within a single cultural tradition.

general analogy: An analogy used in archaeological interoperation based on broad and generalized comparisons that are documented across many cultural traditions.

55
Q

Catalhoyuk

A

Work by Ian Hodder that employed reflexive methodology and post-processual archaeology. Interpretations happening at trowel’s edge.

56
Q

reflexive methodology

A

A method that emphasizes constant and continuous interpretation and reinterpretation, based on the premise that evidence does not exist apart from interpretation and theory.

57
Q

inductive search method

A

Discovery of type. Helps determine how attributes of artifact relate to one another.

58
Q

geoarchaeology

A

Study of how sediments are deposited.

59
Q

residue analysis

A

Analyze material left on edges of archaeological materials. Can analyze the plant or animal proteins on tool if not washed. Proteins can be identified to species.

60
Q

Makah Cultural Research Center

A

Center at Ozette site. The Makahs are using archaeology as a justification for whaling practices. Trying to gain the right to hunt whales with the federal government. An effort to preserve culture with the youth. Using archaeology and oral tradition, Makah argued that whaling was a central part of their culture and used it to revive their culture.

61
Q

Ozette Site

A

Native Americans in the northwest. Their settlement was well preserved by a sudden mudslide. This helped preserve the site as a snapshot of time. Also an example of collaborative archaeology.

62
Q

deposition

A

The last stage of behavioral processes, in which artifacts are discarded.

63
Q

matrix

A

The physical medium that surrounds, holds, or supports archaeological data.

64
Q

datum

A

Datum is origin point from which grid system is set up. Site datum and unit datum.

65
Q

holistic approach

A

Direct historical approach. Using knowledge of present to interpret an reconstruct the past.

66
Q

multiple lines of evidence

A

Multiple sources of evidence are required to construct interpretation. Cannot just rely on one or two lines of evidence. Not all interpretations are equally valid. Supported by archaeological data.

67
Q

Glenn Farris

A

Conducted oral traditions study at Fort Ross over a short time frame, trying to understand stories that may contain evidence about the arrival of colonists.

68
Q

Roger Echo-Hawk

A

Example of using oral tradition. Explores creation stories of different peoples. Many depict great floods, and supernatural beings and monsters. He feels that these stories may go back to Pleistocene era: time of hunting mastodons and other big games, coupled with climate changes, like the flooding of coastal regions. Criticisms include some feeling that oral tradition can only be used going back a few hundred years.

69
Q

Ian Hodder

A

Argued for trowel’s edge interpretation (Catalhoyuk), and what is perceived to be relevant archaeological data depends on training and theoretical orientation.

Criticized processual archaeology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Argued that scientific approach really did not “prove” anything much.

70
Q

Erin Rodriguez

A

GSI: Studying geoarchaeology and archaeology of daily life. Soils, sediments, and dirt. Can study floors to generate interpretations about daily activities of past people. Can study soil chemistry to provide clues about past human activities.

soil micromorphology: Analysis of undisturbed sediments in thin sections in order to analyze the inner relations of soil deposits.

microstratigraphy: Examine smaller scales of deposition using microstratigraphy.

71
Q

Law of Superposition

A

The principle that the sequence of observable strata from bottom to top reflects the order of deposition from earliest to latest.

72
Q

data processing

A

A stage in archaeological research design usually involving, in the case of artifacts, cleaning, conserving, labeling, inventorying, and cataloging.

73
Q

association

A

Occurrence of an item of archaeological data adjacent to another and in or on the same matrix.

Anthropology 2AC (3 decks)

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