Aerial reconnaissance
Important survey technique in the discovery and recording of archaeological sites. Takes place from air
Anthropology
The study of humanity - our physical characteristics as animals and our unique non-bio characteristics we call culture.
1. Biological anth (physical)
2.Cultural anth (socio-cultural)
3. Archaeology
4. Linguistics
Archaeological culture
Constantly recurring assemblage of artifacts assumed to be representative of a particular set of behavioral patterns carried out at a particular time and place.
Assemblage
A group of artifacts recurring together set at a particular time and place, representing the sum of human activities
Archaeology
Subdiscipline of anthropology studying the human past through material remains
Artifact
Any portable object used, made or modified by humans
-stone tools/pottery/metal weapons
Association
Co-occurrence of an artifact with other archaeological remains, usually in the same -matrix
Matrix
The physical remains within which artifacts are embedded or supported
Attribute
A minimal characteristic of an artifact such that it cannot be further subdivided.
-aspects of form/style/decoration/color/raw material
Australopithecus
A collective name for the earliest hominins emerging about 5 million years ago in East Africa
Biological Anthropology
A subdiscipline of anth (physical anth) dealing with the study of the human biology/physical characteristics and their origin/evolution.
Classification
The ordering of phenomena and/or other classificatory schemes on the basis of shared attributes.
-type/typology
Context
Artifact's CONTEXT consists of immediate matrix (material around it) // provenience (horizontal/vertical position of matrix) // association with other artifacts (w/ other artifacts: usually in same matrix)
Cultural anthropology
Non-biological, behavioral aspects of society. Social, linguistic, technological components underlying human behavior. (social anth)
-Ethnography (study of living cultures)
-Ethnology (compare cultures using ethnographic evidence)
Cultural ecology
Term coined by Julian Steward to account for the relationship between human society and its environment, in which CULTURE is viewed as the primary adaptive mechanism
Cultural evolution
Theory that societal change can be understood by analogy with processes underlying the biological evolution
Cultural resource management (CRM)
Professional practice of managing and preserving cultural resources
Culture
Non-biological characteristics unique to a particular society
Ecofacts
Non-artifactual organic/environment remains which have cultural relevance
-floral/faunal material as well as soil/sediment
Environmental Archaeology
Field of inter-disciplinary research (arch/natural sciences) directed at the reconstruction of human use of plants and animals, and how past societies adapted to environmental conditions
Ethnoarchaeology
Study of contemporary cultures with a view to understanding the behavioral relationships which underlie the production of material culture
Ethnography
(subset of cultural anth) concerned with study of contemporary cultures through first hand observation
Evolution
The process of growth and development generally accompanied by increasing complexity.
Darwin's work laid the foundations for the study of artifact typology (natural selection basis for survival)
Excavation
The principal method of data acquisition in archaeology, involving the systematic uncovering of archaeological remains through the removal of the deposits of soil and the other material covering them and accompanying them
Experimental Archaeology
The study of past behavioral processes through experimental reconstruction under carefully controlled scientific conditions
Feature
A feature is defined as a nonmoveable element of an archaeological site. Features are evidence of human activity that primarily consist of cultural made materials which are part of the natural layer
-pits, soil, pathways
Flotation
A method of screening (sieving) excavated matrix in water so as to separate and recover
small ecofacts and artifacts
Formation processes
archaeological materials came to be
buried, and their subsequent history afterwards.
-Cultural formation processes include the deliberate or
accidental activities of humans
-natural formation processes refer to natural or environmental events which govern
Geographic Information System (GIS)
software-based systems designed for the collection,
organizing, storage, retrieval, analysis, and displaying of spatial/digital geographical data held in different
"layers." A GIS can also include other digital data
Geophysical remote sensing
methods include ground penetrating radar, soil resistivity, and magnetometry (among others)
Ground penetrating radar
A method of subsurface detection in which short radio pulses are sent through the soil, such that the echoes reflect back significant changes in soil conditions
Ground reconnaissance
a wide variety of methods for identifying individual
archaeological sites, including consultation of documentary sources, place-name evidence, local folklore,
and legend, but primarily actual fieldwork
Hand axe
A Paleolithic stone tool usually made by modifying (chipping or flaking) a natural pebble
Historical Archaeology
The archaeological study of historically documented cultures. In North America, research is directed at colonial and post-colonial settlement, analogous to the study of medieval and postmedieval archaeology in Europe
Hoards
Deliberately buried groups of valuables or prized possessions, often in times of conflict or war,
and which, for one reason or another, have not been reclaimed. Metal hoards are a primary source of
evidence for the European Bronze Age
Hominins
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
Homo naledi
Most recent hominin discovered (2015)
Hunter-gatherers
the members of small-scale mobile or semi-sedentary societies, whose subsistence is mainly focused on hunting game and gathering wild plants and fruits; organizational
structure is based on bands with strong kinship ties
Landscape Archaeology
The study of individual features including settlements seen as single components within the broader perspective of the patterning of human activity over a wide area.
LIDAR : Light detection and radar
a remote sensing technique using the same principle as radar. The instrument transmits light to a target, some of which is reflected back to the instrument. The time for the light to travel out to the target and back is used to determine the range to the
Macrobotanicals
readily recognizable plant parts recovered from archaeological samples
-corncobs/nuts/acorns
Material culture
the buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute the material remains of former
societies
Middle Range theory
A conceptual framework linking raw archaeological data with higher-level
generalizations and conclusions about the past which can be derived from this evidence. **Allows archeaologists to make inferences from archaeological finds in the present to behavio
NAGPRA
Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act - US Federal Legislation passed in
1990
New Archaeology (60's)
argued for an explicitly scientific framework of archaeological method and theory, with hypotheses
rigorously tested, as the proper basis for explanation rather than simply description
Non-probabilistic sampling
non-statistical sampling strategy (in contrast to probabilistic sampling)which concentrates on sampling areas on the basis of intuition, historical documentation, or long field experience in the area
Paleolithic
The archaeological period before c. 10,000 bc, characterized by the earliest known stone tool
manufacture
Palynology
The study and analysis of fossil pollen as an aid to the reconstruction of past vegetation and climates
Post-processual archaeology
A counter-movement within archaeology that responded to processual archaeology. Emphasized the subjectivity of archaeological interpretation as well as the importance of
human agency, issues of gender, and social inequality
Prehistory
period of history before the advent of writing
Probabilistic sampling
using probability theory, designed to draw reliable general
conclusions about a site or region, based on small sample areas
-simple random sampling
-stratified random sampling
-systematic sampling
-stratified systematic sampling
Processual archaeology
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
Provenience
the exact location of an item in a site (it's x, y, z position)
Reconnaissance survey
A broad range of techniques involved in the location of archaeological sites.
-the recording of surface artifacts and features, and the sampling of natural and mineral resources
Region
spatially bounded area containing two ore more archaeological sites
Remote sensing
The imaging of phenomena from a distance, primarily through airborne and satellite imaging.
-Ground-based remote sensing links geophysical methods such as radar with remote sensing methods applied at ground level, such as thermography
Research design
Systematic planning of archaeological research including
(1) the formulation ofa strategy to resolve a particular question
(2) the collection and recording of the evidence
(3) the processing and analysis of these data and their interpretation
(4) the publ
Resistivity
A method of subsurface detection which measures changes in conductivity by passing electrical current through ground soils
-consequence of moisture content
Simple random sampling
A type of probabilistic sampling where the areas to be sampled are chosen using a table of random numbers.
cons
-defining the site's boundaries initially
-the nature of random number tables results in some areas being allotted clusters of sample squares,
Site
A distinct spatial clustering of artifacts, features, structures, and organic and environmental remains
- the residue of human activity
Stratification
laying down or depositing of strata or layers (also called deposits) one above the other. A succession of layers should provide a relative chronological sequence, (latest-top/earliest-bottom)
Stratified random sampling
(form of probabilistic sampling)
region or site is divided into natural zones or strata such as cultivated land and forest; units are then chosen by a random number procedure so as to give each zone a number of squares proportional to its area, thus overc
Stratified systematic sampling
probabilistic sampling which combines elements of
-simple random sampling/stratified random sampling/systematic sampling,- in an effort to reduce
sampling bias
Stratigraphy
the analysis in the vertical, time dimension, of a
series of layers in the horizontal, space dimension. It is often used as a relative dating technique to assess
the temporal sequence of artifact deposition
Steno's Law of Superposition
Layers of rock or sediment are arranged in a time sequence, with the oldest on the bottom and the youngest on the top, unless later processes disturb this arrangement
Systematic surface survey
less subjective and involves a grid system, such
that the survey area is divided into sectors and these are walked systematically, thus making the recording
of finds more accurate
Unsystematic surface survey
field-walking, i.e. scanning the ground along one's path and recording the location of artifacts
and surface features
Systematic sampling
(probabilistic sampling) employing a grid of equally spaced locations
-selecting every other square. This method of regular spacing runs the risk of missing (or hitting) every single example if the distribution itself is regularly spaced
tell
A Near Eastern term that refers to a mound site formed through successive human occupation over a
very long timespan
Three Age System
classification system devised by C.J. Thomsen for the sequence of technological periods (stone, bronze, and iron) in Old World prehistory. It established the principle that by classifying artifacts, one could produce a chronological ordering
Total station
electronic/optical instrument used in surveying and to record excavations
Type
A class of artifacts defined by the consistent clustering of attributes
Typology
The systematic organization of artifacts into types on the basis of shared attributes
Uniformitarianism
The principle that the stratification of rocks is due to processes still going on in seas,rivers, and lakes
-that geologically ancient conditions were in essence similar to or uniform with those of our own time