Ch. 10 -- An Explosion Of Complexity Flashcards Preview

Intro To Archaeology > Ch. 10 -- An Explosion Of Complexity > Flashcards

Flashcards in Ch. 10 -- An Explosion Of Complexity Deck (28)
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1
Q

Amratian/Nagada I

A

Time period in predynastic Egypt

Upper Egypt – 5750-5650 ya

2
Q

City-state

A

Political entity characteristic of some early civilizations, especially in Mesopotamia

Central population center dominates the surrounding hinterlands, & the wealth of the countryside flows into the city where it is concentrated in the hands of the elite classes

3
Q

Civilization

A

Cultures exhibiting social stratification, labor & craft specialization, a food surplus used to support a political and/or religious elite, monumental construction, and a system of record keeping

4
Q

Class society

A

Societies rigidly stratified into social levels

5
Q

Cuneiform

A

Early form of written records in Mesopotamia, involving the impression of standardized symbols on wet clay

Earliest writing

6
Q

Dagga

A

A high-quality, clay-based building material used in Southern Africa

7
Q

Deffufa

A

Monumental mud-brick towers built by the inhabitants of the ancient Nubian civilization of Kerma located south of the third cataract of the Nile in modern Sudan

8
Q

Envelope

A

Name given to clay containers used to store clay tokens in the Middle East beginning 5500 ya

9
Q

Hieroglyphic

A

A writing system in which pictorial symbols are used to convey a particular sound, object, or idea - or some combination of these three things

10
Q

Knossos

A

Enormous and impressive site representing the culmination of Minoan civilization

11
Q

Kush

A

The Egyptian name for the land south of their territory

12
Q

Late Gerzean (Nagada II, Maadian)

A

Time period in predynastic Egypt

Nagada II = 5400-5300 ya in Upper Egypt

Maadian = 5400-5300 ya in Lower Egypr

13
Q

Mastaba

A

Mud-brick structures built over the tombs of a developing elite in Egypt before the pharaohs

14
Q

Minoan

A

Name given to the early European civilization that evolved on the island of Crete

15
Q

Monumental work

A

Large-scale, communal construction projects characteristic of civilizations

16
Q

Mycenaeans

A

Southern European civilization that followed the Minoans and preceded the Greeks

17
Q

Nagada III

A

Time period in predynastic Egypt

5300-5100 ya in both Upper & Lower Egypt

18
Q

New Temple Period

A

Culture period defined for Minoan Crete dating from 3650-3420 BP

Followed catastrophic earthquake that damaged the temple at Knossos but marks a fluorescence of Minoan culture

19
Q

Nubia

A

The territory south of the ancient Egyptian nation

20
Q

Omari A

A

Time period in predynastic Egypt

5750-5650 ya in Lower Egypt

21
Q

Rosetta Stone

A

Key to deciphering Egyptian written language

22
Q

Social stratification

A

Pattern of social integration in which individuals are placed into a hierarchy of social levels

The presence of a hierarchy of differences in status and wealth in a society

23
Q

Specialization of labor

A

Cultural pattern in which some individuals can focus all or most of their labors on some specialty

Characteristic of complex civilizations

24
Q

State

A

Class societies

Ruling class controls the populace by coercion and force - power to levy and collect taxes, establish & enforce laws, and conscript people to do the work of the state

25
Q

System of record keeping

A

Any symbolic system for keeping track of economic transactions, historical events, religious rules, etc.

26
Q

Token

A

Small pieces of shaped clay or inscribed tags of bone or ivory that represent early steps in the development of a written language

27
Q

Tumuli

A

An artificial pile of earth, often placed over an individual’s grave

28
Q

Ubaid

A

Name given to the culture of southern Mesopotamia at 6300 BP