Test 2 Keywords Flashcards
(39 cards)
Absolute Dating
Absolute dating provides a computed numerical age in contrast with relative dating which provides only an order of events
Relative Dating
is the science determining the relative order of past events, without necessarily determining their absolute age
Absoute Dating Types
Potassium / Argon Argon / Argon OSL - Optical Radiocarbon Dating Dendrochronology -tree rings
Relative Dating types
Seriation
Cross Dating
Stratigraphy
OSL dating
Optical dating is a method of determining how long ago minerals were last exposed to daylight.
Potassium / Argon dating
is a radiometric dating method used in geochronology and archaeology. It is based on measurement of the product of the radioactive decay of an isotope of potassium (K) into argon (Ar).
Argon / Argon
a radiometric dating method invented to supersede potassium-argon (K/Ar) dating in accuracy. The older method required two samples for dating while the newer method requires only one.
Radiocarbon Dating
a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years
Dendrochronology
the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns of tree rings, also known as growth rings
Seriation
a relative dating method in which assemblages or artifacts from numerous sites, in the same culture, are placed in chronological order.
Cross Dating
a technique that ensures each individual tree ring is assigned its exact year of formation.
Stratigraphy
a branch of geology which studies rock layers and layering (stratification)
Archeology
the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes
Material Culture
refers to the relationship between artifacts and social relations
Garbology
the study of (mostly modern) refuse and trash
Law of Uniformitarianism
the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe.
Law of Superposition
Sedimentary layers are deposited in a time sequence, with the oldest on the bottom and the youngest on the top.
Artifact
something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest
Ecofact
Strictly, natural materials that have been used by humans, for example the remains of plants and animals that were eaten by a given community.
Feature
some human non-portable activity that generally has a vertical characteristic to it in relation to site stratigraphy. Examples of features are pits, walls, and ditches
Excavation
the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains.
Survey
the method by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human cultures across a large area
Remote Sensing
he acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object.
Flotation
involves using water to process soil or feature fill to recover tiny artifacts.