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83 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What techniques do archaeologists use to locate archaeological sites? |
-Satellites -Google earth -Aerial photographs -Drones -Look at historic maps -American indian trails -Sanborn fire insurance maps |
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What individuals helped develop a more scientific archaeology? |
Charles lyell- father of geology Charles Darwin- evolution of cultures, worms |
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Matrix refers to ________________ |
Soil that holds everything up |
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Thomas Jefferson's excavation of a burial mound was significant because___________ |
He figured out the mounds were built by native americans not the “mound-builders”, which inspired the Smithsonian to do a study on it |
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An archaeological site is_______________ |
-Loci of human activity-minimally consists of concentrations of one form of archaeological data -Usually consists of patterned arrangements of artifacts, ecofacts, and features |
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Provenience refers to____________________ |
3 dimensional location of something in space of earth |
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Association refers to_______________ |
2 or more things found together |
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What factors are involved in the transformation of an archaeological site? |
-Cultural and Natural transforms -Construction -Reverse stratigraphy- erosion causes the earliest area to be covered and the oldest area to be exposed |
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Who is considered the father of American Anthropology? |
Franz Boas |
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What is true of American Archaeology during the New Deal? |
-Archaeology was done where unemployment was highest -It gave a large number of people jobs -Unemployment was highest in the winter so archeology was done then -Workers provided basic tools so free tools -Skilled people (professors, museum workers) and semi-skilled people (people who didn’t know about archaeology) were doing archaeology because there was training on the job |
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The four human behavioral processes that help create the archaeological record are ________ |
1. Acquisition 2. Manufacture 3. Use 4. Deposition |
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Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656) was responsible for what? |
Using the bible to argue that the world was created in 4004 BC, showing that anything found has to happen in 6,000 year time period. |
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Classical archaeology is defined as____________________ |
The study of Rome and Greece (pottery, etc) |
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What are the forms of absolute dating? |
Radiometric- based on rate of radioactive decay Varves- tree ring dating but using soil |
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Potassium-argon is most commonly used to help date________________ |
-Volcanic rock -Things older than 100,000 years |
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What objects are suitable for radiocarbon dating? |
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What are advantages that AMS dating has over conventional dating? |
Directly dates radioactive material |
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What are forms of relative dating? |
-Stratigraphy -cultural/natural associations -Seriation -cross dating points -stylistic seriation |
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What techniques are used to obtain an absolute date for a site? |
-Ecofacts of known age (tree ring growth) -Artifacts of known age (coins, dated inscriptions) |
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Historical archaeology, as defined in the U.S., includes the study of what societies? |
Western European Expansion (post-columbian societies, interacting w american indians, Williamsburg/Mount Vernon-African American) |
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C-transforms are________________ |
Anything caused by humans (not nature) |
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What did Professor Means find through AMS dating of Monongahela villages? |
Which village is earlier and which one is later through radiocarbon dating |
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A secondary context is_________ |
Primary- excavate and find in the spot someone was using it Secondary- everything else |
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Absolute dating is _______ |
Archaeologist produce a calendar then determine the age of something |
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Relative dating |
Dated roughly in reference to other artifacts, ecofacts, layers, or features |
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Archaeomagnetism is done by_______ |
Location of the magnetic pole that created the direction recorded in the hearth |
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AMS is __________ |
Directly dating radioactive material |
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Shroud of Turin |
-Was doubted because there was no mention of the Shroud of Turin in a historic document and people constantly faking religious artifacts. -They decided to use radiometric dating and found it was from the 1300 |
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Dead sea scrolls |
-Cave in israel -Texts that matched the old testament -Question was raised: "Are these people copying the old testament, or are these part of the documents of the old testament?" -Dated earlier than the old testament so they contributed to the bible |
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Ice Man |
-Found in alps -Stone tools found were old, axe was more recent -Gained knowledge: copper axes were present in europe earlier than most people thought |
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Stages in CRM Archaeology |
Phase 1- Survey Phase 2- Evaluation Phase 3- Data Recovery |
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Martz Rock Shelter |
-Rock shelter- an overhang used to get shelter and do activities -Occupied on a short term basis by humans -Prehistoric and historic artifacts found (shovel head) |
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Information to gather once an archaeological site is found |
-Do an archaeological survey -Controlled and transect surface collection -Put grid over whole area and number them -Once uncovered, record characteristics (Receive number, State number (ranking), Two letter (city, county, parish). Number of order of site recorded) |
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USGS quadrangle topographic maps are used to__________ |
Tell you about distance to water, elevation, kind of land (flat, hilltop, floodplain), slope of sight, buildings and roads |
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What do geological maps do? |
-Show us the kind of rocks that are available -Show us the underlying geology? |
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What is the predictive Model |
Observed locations used to then predict sites that have yet to be uncovered |
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What are the two types of sampling? |
Non-arbitrary units- Non random Arbitrary units- -No clear pattern other than boundaries. -Random sampling- choose grid units randomly |
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Is excavation destructive? |
Yes, becasue... You can’t un-dig an archaeological site |
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What are the goals of excavation? |
Understand horizontally what’s going on, and vertically what’s going on. -Plan view- horizontal -Profile- vertical |
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What are the two types of datum? |
1. Entire site -How you link your archaeology site to the world -Permanent location (not on a tree of something) 2. Unit - For references within the unit |
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Remote sensing is done by_________ |
-Soil resistivity -Using a multi colored map to compare No resistance- blue Resistance- red |
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Characteristics of dry screening |
-No water is used - Mesh screen that is a quarter inch is used to sift dirt away |
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Characteristics of wet screening |
-Uses water to wash off dirt -Takes more time than dry screening (Ex. Used on food artifacts and burials) |
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What are good techniques to photographing a unit? |
-Scale -Shoot the entire unit before you start excavating (very important in public area) -Make sure lighting is consistent |
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What is stratigraphy? |
Recording of the layers to figure out what the meaning of them is. |
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How many hours should you spend in the field? |
4, and more outside of it |
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Legacy of the “New” archaeology: research design and methods |
1. Project goal 2. Hypothesis 3. Strategy and rationale 4. Field methods 5. Result and analyses 6. Interpretation |
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What does a good unit map contain? |
-A Scale -A North area -A key |
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What do you have to do to profile a unit? |
-Draw a profile -Record (what kind of soil, what color soil, etc.) |
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Obsidian hydration is most commonly used in the USA. T or F? |
False, it is mostly used outside of the USA because it uses absolute dating on volcanos |
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What is BETA dating? |
It is done on charcoal and BETA particles are recorded |
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How is a radiocarbon formula written? |
Radiocarbon age, Before present (10,000, 1950) |
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What could the finding of un-local materials mean? |
Trade |
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What does the NAG PRA do? |
Protects Native American indian remains during grave excavation |
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Prehistorians |
Study the period before writing |
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Egyptology |
Study development of Egyptian culture |
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Biblical Arhaeology |
People or places mentioned in the bible |
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Industrial Archeology |
Study of mills, factories, and how to understand past industry |
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Underwater archaeology |
-Prehistoric & historic -Possibly used to be land, now under water |
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Relief Archaeology |
The study of 1930s and the Great Depression |
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Assryiology |
Study of Babylonian development and cunieform |
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Salvage Archaeology |
After WW2 |
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What are key factors to remember about Pompeii |
-Volcanic eruption -Pompeii was buried in ash -1730 people began excavating Pompeii to loot artifacts for trading |
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What are the parts of the three age system? |
1. Stone Age 2. Bronze Age 3. Iron Age |
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How does the three age system work? |
Looks at the material of the tool to figure out the age of the tool. |
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Who was Giovanni Belzoni? |
He was a tomb raider and a looter who opened the tomb of Thebes with dynamite. And he sent a lot of artifacts to England for $ in return. |
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What languages were the 3 passages of writing on the Rosetta Stone written in? |
1. Greek 2. Cursive Egyptian 3. Egyptian |
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What did the Rosetta Stone do for history? |
It was used to look at common symbols and figure out what hieroglyphics meant. It opened up Egyptian history. |
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What did Heinrich Schliemann contribute to Archaeology |
He inspired people in Ancient Olympia to do the first proper excavation after he tore through a mound in Troy improperly. |
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What is unilineal evolution |
What every culture goes through: 1. Savagery 2. Barbarism 3. Civilization |
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What did Howard Carter find? And what did he do after he found it? |
He found King Tut's tomb Then he spent 7 years carefully documenting his findings and the details of it |
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What was the first archeological site of the new deal? |
F.E.R.A in Marksville Mount, Louisiana |
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What were the pros and cons of the cultural history approach? |
Pro: organizes artifacts by time period and tries to make sense of the artifact over time Con: does not explain WHY |
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What is radio carbon dating? |
A way to date archaeological sites by using the radioactive form of carbon on anything organic |
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What is the benefit of the culture process school? |
It got rid of the culture history approach and explained WHY. It is the current process used today |
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What is the archaeological research process? |
Theory> method> interpretation> evidence |
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How do archaeologists reconstruct the past? |
-Form -Function -Process |
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What is the TPQ? |
The date AFTER which an artifact, ecofact, or feature was deposited |
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What is the TAQ? |
The date BEFORE which an artifact, ecofact, or feature was deposited |
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What is cross dating used for? |
To link layers at archeological sites together |
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What were artifactual spears/points used for? |
They were the prime thing used to date sites in the USA |
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What is dendrochronology? |
Tree ring dating (can be both absolute and relative dating) |
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What is stylistic seriation? |
Petrie used the style of artifacts to determine the age of them |