Archaeological Terminology Quiz

Archaeological Terms and Concepts

• Migration: the movement of people from one place to another, often resulting in cultural exchange and change.
• Activist Archaeology: an approach that emphasizes the use of archaeology to promote social justice and address contemporary issues.
• Seriation: a method of relative dating that involves arranging artifacts in a chronological sequence based on their characteristics.
• Scientific Method: a systematic approach to research that involves formulating hypotheses, testing, and revising conclusions based on evidence.
• Cultural Pluralism: the recognition and appreciation of diverse cultural traditions and practices.
• Assimilation: the process of one cultural group adopting the customs and traditions of another.

Dating Methods

• Absolute Dating: methods that provide a specific date or age range for an artifact or site, such as radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology.
• Relative Dating: methods that determine the age of an artifact or site relative to another, such as seriation and stratigraphy.
• Chronology: the study of the sequence of events in time, often used to establish a timeline for an archaeological site.
• Dendrochronology: a method of dating that uses the growth rings of trees to establish a chronology.
• Cross-Dating: a method of correlating the dates of different sites or artifacts based on similarities in their characteristics.

Cultural and Social Concepts

• Cultural Ecology: the study of the relationships between human societies and their environments.
• Subsistence: the means by which people obtain food and other essential resources.
• Descendant Communities: groups of people who are descended from the original inhabitants of an archaeological site.
• Kinship: the system of social relationships between individuals and groups based on family ties.

Archaeological Methods and Techniques

• Provenance: the origin and history of an artifact or site.
• Archaeobotany/Paleobotany: the study of ancient plant remains.
• Zooarchaeology: the study of ancient animal remains.
• Participant Observation: a research method in which the researcher participates in the activities of the group being studied.
• Qualitative Research: a research approach that focuses on non-numerical data and seeks to understand the meaning and context of the data.
• Quantitative Research: a research approach that focuses on numerical data and seeks to establish patterns and relationships.

Other Concepts

• Battleship-Shaped Curves: a type of graph used to illustrate the distribution of artifacts over time.
• Diffusion: the spread of cultural practices or ideas from one group to another.
• Iconography: the study of images and symbols in art and architecture.
• Diachronic Change: change over time, often used to describe the evolution of cultural practices or societies.
• Synchronic Change: change at a single point in time, often used to describe the relationships between different cultures or societies.

Ancient Societies and Cultures

• Empire: a large, centralized state that exercises control over a large territory.
• Polytheism: the belief in multiple gods or deities.
• Monotheism: the belief in a single god or deity.
• Neanderthal: a species of early human that lived in Europe and Asia from 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.
• Cognitive Archaeology: the study of the cognitive processes and mental representations of ancient societies.

Other Terms

• Invention: the creation of a new technology or cultural practice.
• Carrying Capacity: the maximum number of people that an environment can support.
• Systems Theory: an approach that views societies as complex systems composed of interconnected components.
• Repatriation: the return of cultural artifacts or human remains to their original communities or countries.
• Levallois Method: a technique used to create stone tools during the Paleolithic period.
• Piltdown Man: a famous hoax in which a fake early human skull was presented as a real discovery.
• Pseudoarchaeology: a term used to describe approaches that claim to be archaeological but lack scientific rigor or evidence.
• Paleolinguistics: the study of ancient languages and linguistics.
• Imperialism: the practice of one state or society exerting control over another.
• Iconoclasm: the destruction of religious images or icons.
• Hunting/Gathering: a mode of subsistence in which people obtain food by hunting and gathering wild plants and animals.
• Horticulture: a mode of subsistence in which people cultivate crops and tend to domesticated animals.
• Domestication: the process of selectively breeding plants and animals to create new varieties that are better suited to human needs.
• Pastoralism: a mode of subsistence in which people herd and raise domesticated animals.
• Social Archaeology: an approach that focuses on the social and cultural context of archaeological sites and artifacts.

Test your knowledge of archaeological terms such as migration, seriation, cultural pluralism, battleship-shaped curves, relative dating, cultural ecology and more in this quiz!