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Flashcards in AR101 Final Exam Deck (66)
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1
Q

processual archaeology

A

an approach that stresses the dynamic relationship between social and economic aspects of culture and the environment as the basis for understanding the processes of culture change. Uses the scientific methodology of problem statement, hypothesis formulation, and subsequent testing.

2
Q

cognitive-processual approach

A

concerned with the integration of the cognitive and symbolic with other aspects of early societies, the role of ideology as an active organizational force

3
Q

structuralist approach

A

interpretations which stress that human actions are guided by beliefs and symbolic concepts, and that underlying these are structures of thought which find expression in various forms. The proper object of study is therefore to uncover the structures of thought and to study their influence in shaping the ideas in the minds of the human actors who created the archaeological record

4
Q

postprocessual explanation

A

explanation formulated in reaction to the perceived limitations of functional-processual archaeology; it eschews generalization in favor of an “individualizing” approach that is influenced by structuralism, critical theory, and neo-Marxist thought

5
Q

cognitive archaeology

A

the study of past ways of thought and symbolic structures from material remains

6
Q

processual

A

attempts to provide more general explanations (using, for instance, evolutionary theory), sometimes using law-like formulations and (more successfully) framing hypotheses and testing deductions from these against the data

7
Q

postprocessual or interpretive

A

emphasizes the specific context, drawing sometimes on structuralist or neo-Marxist ideas stressing often the role (“agency”) of the individual, and avoiding the generalizations of the processual approach

8
Q

migrationist and diffusionist

A

explanations rely on rather simple ideas of the supposed migrations of peoples, or the often ill-defined spread of ideas

9
Q

Marxist archaeology

A

based principally on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, this posits a materialist model of societal change. Change within a society is seen as the result of contradictions arising between the forces of production (technology) and the relations of production (social organization). Such contradictions are seen to emerge as a struggle between distinct social classes

10
Q

evolutionary archaeology

A

the idea that the processes responsible for biological evolution also drive culture change

11
Q

monocausal explanation

A

explanations of culture change which lays stress on a single dominant explanatory factor or “prime mover”

12
Q

multivariate explanation

A

explanation of culture change which stresses the interaction of several factors operating simultaneously

13
Q

critical theory

A

a theoretical approach developed by the so-called “Frankfurt School” of German social thinkers, which stresses that all knowledge is historical, and in a sense biassed communication; thus, all claims to “objective” knowledge are illusory

14
Q

hominins

A

the subfamily to which humans belong, as opposed to the “hominids” which include not only humans but also gorillas and chimps, and “hominoids” which group these with gibbons and orangutans

15
Q

pseudoarchaeology

A

the use of selective archaeological evidence to promulgate nonscientific, fictional accounts of the past

16
Q

material culture

A

the buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute the material remains of former societies

17
Q

cultural resource management

A

the safeguarding of the archaeological heritage through the protection of sites and through salvage archaeology generally within the framework of legislation designed to safeguard the past
*accounts for over 90% of the field archaeology carried out in the US

18
Q

rescue/salvage archaeology

A

the location and recording (usually through excavation) of archaeological sites in advance of highway construction, drainage projects, or urban developments

19
Q

legal basis

A

under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), archaeological investigation is often carried out in advance of projects on federal land, using federal funds, or requiring a federal permit

20
Q

funding

A

generally speaking, the proponent of the construction or land use project pays for the work, whether that party is a federal, state, or local agency, or a private developer

21
Q

compliance

A

project proponents fund legally required compliance work that includes inventory (survey), evaluation of a resource’s importance, assessment of impact of important resources, and mitigation (which may include avoidance, excavation, and conservation)

22
Q

outcome

A

the fieldwork typically results in at least a report filed with the SHPO and data entered in government and other databases. Many CRM projects also result in published journal articles, monographs, and books

23
Q

contract archaeology

A

archaeological research conducted under the aegis of federal or state legislation, often in advance of highway construction or urban development, where the archaeologist is contracted to undertake the necessary research

24
Q

stratigraphy

A

the analysis in the vertical, time dimension, of a series of layers in the horizontal, space dimension; often used as a relative dating technique to assess the temporal sequence of artifact deposition

25
Q

seriation

A

a relative dating technique based on the chronological ordering of a group of artifacts or assemblages, where the most similar are placed adjacent to each other in the series

26
Q

relative dating

A

the determination of chronological sequence without recourse to a fixed time scale; the arrangement of artifacts in a typological sequence, or seriation

27
Q

matrix

A

the physical material within which artifacts are embedded or supported

28
Q

remote sensing

A

the imaging of phenomena from a distance, primarily through airborne and satellite imaging; links geophysical methods such as radar with _____ methods applied at ground level, such as thermography

29
Q

absolute dating

A

the determination of age with reference to a specific time scale, such as a fixed calendrical system

30
Q

feature

A

a non-portable artifact (hearths, architectural elements, or soil stains)

31
Q

radiocarbon dating

A

an absolute dating method that measures the decay of the radioactive isotope of carbon in organic material

32
Q

Behistun (Bisitun)

A

longest Old Persian text and it tells of the reconquest of the Empire by Darius
• Propaganda rock, written in three different languages
• Darius killed the usurper and came into power
(Rawlinson)

33
Q

market exchange

A

a mode of exchange which implies both a specific location for transactions and the sort of social relations where bargaining can occur; usually involves a system of price-making through negotiation

34
Q

reciprocity

A

a mode of exchange in which transactions take place between individuals who are symmetrically placed, i.e. they are exchanging as equals, neither being in a dominant position

35
Q

redistribution

A

a mode of exchange which implies the operation of some central organizing authority. Goods are received or appropriated by the central authority, and subsequently some of them are sent by that authority to other locations

36
Q

rosetta stone

A

an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts (with some minor differences between them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

37
Q

popol vuh

A

mayan creation myth. mud people –> stick people –> corn people.
Hunter & Jaguar deer

38
Q

J.F. Champollion

A

deciphered trilingual rosetta stone, refused to acknowledge work of Thomas Young.

39
Q

Chain of Decipherment

A

Modern Persian –> Middle Persian –> Old Persian –> Trilingual Inscriptions –> Babylonian/ Assyrian/ Elamite –> Akkadian and Sumerian

40
Q

elgin marbles

A

a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures (mostly by Phidias and his assistants), inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin obtained a controversial permit from the Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the Parthenon while serving as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803.

41
Q

UNESCO 1970 Convention

A

Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (preventative measures, restitution provisions, international cooperation framework)

42
Q

chain of collecting

A

collector –> request to dealer –> dealer to sources –> sources to locals –> locals loot/ destroy archaeological context

43
Q

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

A

requires federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American “cultural items” to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations. Cultural items include human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

44
Q

open area excavation

A

the opening up of large horizontal areas for excavation, used especially where single period deposits lie close tot he surface

45
Q

vertical excavation

A

timeline of events, best in caves. looking for shallow sediments

46
Q

wheeler box grid

A

retaining intact baulks of earth between excavation grid squares so that different layers can be correlated across the site in vertical profiles

47
Q

horizontal excavation

A

classical sites, larger sites

48
Q

tunneling

A

digging down into the earth

49
Q

zonal excavation

A

opening up one area. four by four squares, select an area where features are connecting

50
Q

aging a skeleton

A

epiphyseal fusion, toothwear
main methods of establishing the age of a skeleton are by examinations of the growth patterns of bones and teeth and of bone microstructure

51
Q

sexing a skeleton

A

size of sciatic notch, subpubic angle
intact bodies can be sexed from the genitalia; skeletons and bone remains, much more common in archaeological record, are sexed from size and form differences between male and female bones; children are difficult to sex

52
Q

deep sea cores

A

drilled from the sea bed, provide the most coherent record of climate changes on a worldwide scale; contain shells of microscopic marine organisms (forminifera) laid down on the ocean floor through the continuous process of sedimentation. Variation in the ratio of two oxygen isotopes in the calcium carbonate of these shells give a sensitive indicator of sea temperature at the time the organisms were alive

53
Q

ice cores

A

borings taken from the arctic and anarctic polar ice caps, containing layers of compacted ice useful for reconstructing paleoenvironments and as a method of absolute dating

54
Q

palynology

A

the study and analysis of fossil pollen as an aid to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climates

55
Q

phytoliths

A

minute particles of silica in plant cells which survive after the rest of the plant has decomposed; some are specific to certain parts of the plant; survive very well in most archaeological sediments and can add to the picture of the environment built up from other sources

56
Q

pollen

A

most useful for the study of minor fluctuations in climate over the last 12,000 years though can be preserved for millions of years in some contexts
*lake cores

57
Q

oxygen isotope ratios in ice cores

A
  • warm: more O16

- cold: more O18

58
Q

oxygen isotope ratios in marine cores

A
  • warm: more O18 on shells

- cold: more O16 on shells

59
Q

sexing a skeleton

A

size of sciatic notch, subpubic angle

60
Q

deep sea cores

A

drilled from the sea bed, provide the most coherent record of climate changes on a worldwide scale; contain shells of microscopic marine organisms (forminifera) laid down on the ocean floor through the continuous process of sedimentation. Variation in the ratio of two oxygen isotopes in the calcium carbonate of these shells give a sensitive indicator of sea temperature at the time the organisms were alive

61
Q

ice cores

A

borings taken from the arctic and anarctic polar ice caps, containing layers of compacted ice useful for reconstructing paleoenvironments and as a method of absolute dating

62
Q

palynology

A

the study and analysis of fossil pollen as an aid to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climates

63
Q

phytoliths

A

minute particles of silica in plant cells which survive after the rest of the plant has decomposed; some are specific to certain parts of the plant; survive very well in most archaeological sediments and can add to the picture of the environment built up from other sources

64
Q

pollen

A

most useful for the study of minor fluctuations in climate over the last 12,000 years though can be preserved for millions of years in some contexts
*lake cores

65
Q

oxygen isotope ratios in ice cores

A
  • warm: more O16

- cold: more O18

66
Q

oxygen isotope ratios in marine cores

A
  • warm: more O18 on shells

- cold: more O16 on shells