Study Guide for Quiz 1: Introduction to Archaeology PDF

Study Guide for Quiz 1 Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH103) A “study guide” is just what the words say: a guide to help you study. The study guide will help direct you in reviewing the materials in the textbook, Power Points, and your notes....

Study Guide for Quiz 1 Introduction to Archaeology (ANTH103) A “study guide” is just what the words say: a guide to help you study. The study guide will help direct you in reviewing the materials in the textbook, Power Points, and your notes. 1. What is archaeology? The study of the human past through material remains. cultural materialism: culture shaped by materials. 2. What is anthropology? The study of humankind past and present in a holistic and comparative way looking through a global perspective 3. Is archaeology ever involved in ethical issues? Yes. Mostly when encountering human remains, assigning artifacts to a culture, looting and illegal trade. 4. What does the “Moundbuilder Myth” refer to? The thought of Native American people not being smart enough to modify and establish mounds rather a lost civilization coming from Europe. 5. What was the importance of Squier and Davis’s work in relation to Moundbuilder studies? Their work laid the foundation for modern American archaeology by establishing rigorous documentation methods, including detailed site surveys, drawings, and descriptions. Observations discredited several myths from before. Effort to carefully describe their findings and their explicit rejection of romantic speculation. 6. Why is King Nabonidus important in the history of archaeology? Nabonidus looked to the physical residues of antiquity to answer questions about the past because he looked over to the Babylonian Empire and tracked past kings. 7. Why was Charles Darwin’s work important in the history of science and when was he working? His work is relevant because it was a piece of theory that expanded time conception to not stick to only biblical tales, rather far before it. 8. What does “Americanist archaeology” refer to? The focus of study is in American: native/ indigenous communities.  9. What does “New Archaeology” refer to? A focus on scientific and theoretical approaches to the field. Using the scientific method to understand cultural processes and the underlying factors that drive societal change, rather than just describing artifacts and sites. Lewis Binford is key 10. What is an artifact? A material remain that has been modified by a human being. 11. What is a research design and what are its components? Why are research designs important in archaeology? A research design is a paper that archeological researchers use to go do field work and note hypotheses. 1) Define goals and questions. 2) Approach to how to objectively answer the questions (sampling). 3) Use of the appropriate methods (sampling). 4) Identify lab analyses that you will do. 5) Detail and curate the artifacts and records (storing materials and documents). 6) Tell everybody how you will say your findings (disseminating). They are important because they keep the research grounded and serve as a study guide for their approach and discoveries. 12. What are the analytical levels in archaeological interpretation? (What is ODE?) Observe, Describe and Explain is the way researchers go and write their interpretations on findings. O. Location, Layers and Features D. classifying into Types, Functions, Phases. E. interpretation on the Cultural and Social Changes/ Characteristics. 13. Inductive vs. deductive reasoning. Inductive happens with specific observations to expand on them to a general idea. Deductive is having a general and grounding it to a specific. 14. What is a hypothesis? A phrase that explains the possibility of outcome in an experiment. 15. What are the subdisciplines of anthropology and is it important to maintain strict boundaries between them? Cultural, Linguistic, Physical and Archaeological. It is important to distinguish between them for practical and methodological reasons on how we are approaching our study. 16. What is the difference between emic and etic interpretations? Emic is to get inside the informer’s head to understand. Etic is to get the perspective from your lens. 17. Are issues of chronology still important in modern archaeology now that we have developed sophisticated approaches to understanding the past? Yes. They are not perfect and can still lead to misunderstandings and there needs to be constant revision and contest on how we are tracking these ideas. Chronology is an interpretation, not an absolute truth. 18. What are the differences between synchronic vs. diachronic approaches to archaeology? Synchronic that there is a happening at the same time as another without considering historical change (happening at the same time as). Diachronic that there is a slice between certain periods of time with the changes of societies. 19. What is an example of a diachronic approach in biology? Species evolution because their adaptability allows them to exist even with changes happening. Like with corn, where from maíz there was selective breeding and different types came with their breeding to eat. 20. What are the periods in the history of archaeology and what characterizes each? a) Speculative (1492-1840): Fieldwork with material analysis. b) Classificatory-Descriptive (1840-1914): chronology. Making it a systematic discipline categorizing findings and describing them. c) Classificatory- Historical (1914-1940): layering important to develop chronologies, records of findings, and careful field methods. Context and function of artifacts. d) Explanatory (1940- present): New Archaeology by Binford with key on scientific method and understanding underlying processes of stability and change in past cultures 21. Is Thomas Jefferson a good representative of the speculative period in the history of archaeology? Yes. He promoted going into the field and analyzing artifacts. His methods were the first scientific approaches. Focused on the OD part of ODE.  22. What is ethnohistory and why is it important in archaeology? Ethnohistory combines written records and oral traditions to study past cultures, and in archaeology, it helps interpret material remains by providing cultural and historical context. 23. What are chronological charts and why are they important in archaeology? Chronological charts are visual representations that display the sequence of events, cultures, or periods over time. 24. What is the period called in the history of archaeology when archaeologists took a dramatically different perspective on the past compared to earlier periods? What was the dramatically different perspective? New archaeology; It emphasized hypothesis testing, quantitative analysis, and the use of theories from anthropology and systems thinking, shifting the field from a descriptive approach to an explanatory one. 25. In the history of archaeology, when did archaeologists find that it was crucially important to engage other scientists in their research programs? During the new archaeology this was found because there were different areas that needed specialization and attention; archaeologists began incorporating methods and theories from fields like anthropology, biology, geology, and environmental science. 26. What is manupport? Some material remain moved by a human but not modified in structure. 27. What is a midden? A deposit resulting from human activities, sediment mixed with food remains and discarded artifacts; garbage. 28. What is a feature? Examples? Non-movable artifacts 29. What is an ecofact? Examples? Non artifactual ecological remains in sites, important clues about lifeways of past peoples. 30. What is stratigraphy as it relates to archaeology? Refers to the study of layers (strata) of soil, sediment, or rock at a site. It helps archaeologists understand the chronological sequence of human activity  31. What is the definition of the “archaeological record”? Refers to all the physical remains of past human activity that are preserved in the environment, including artifacts, structures, features, biofacts, and ecofacts 32. What is the definition of “prehistory”? Non-written data analysis of time. 33. What is historical archaeology? Written data analysis of time. 34. Did prehistory end at the same time all over the world? NO! This era begins with written records. S. Iraq- sumerian language (3000-2500 BC). England with Christianity enters this era. In the Americas after European connection 1492-4. 35. What are the systemic and archaeological contexts? How are these concepts important in helping archaeologists understand the archaeological record? Systemic: (Use)all environmental and cultural environments a society used artifacts. Archeological context: (Preservation) the situation in which artifacts and features are found once they have been removed from their original systemic context, including their position in the soil, the stratigraphy, and their relationship to other artifacts. 36. Do archaeologists excavate activities and behavior? They don’t in the direct sense, rather they excavate artifacts to later try and reconstruct behavior 37. What are cultural transforms? Examples? Cultural transforms are changes done from human wanting. Ex. a human takin an arrowhead from somewhere else and transporting it to their own context. 38. What are natural transforms? Examples? Natural transforms are changes that happen to an artifact due to nature. Ex. a rodent taking a piece that would be located deep in the soil to a higher layer. 39. What is middle-level theory and why is it important in archaeology? Middle level theory emphasizes the connection between artifacts and human behaviors and activities, helping archaeologists interpret the past.  40. 40. What are the major kinds of middle-level studies conducted in archaeology? Experimental: conducting activities to gain insight for arch interpretation; acting as if we were them. Premise: observation of own activities informs on the past. Ex. skinning animals, cutting or chirping. Ethnoarchaeology: ethnographic research for insights on past behavior. Premise: observing current day people will inform interpretations. Ex. going to a village and seeing how their tools and activities are. 41. 41. What is ethnoarchaeology? The combination of the field with ethnography to be able to create a better understanding of patterns that could be within societies that habit a specific area that is similar to the one being studied. 42. What is lithic usewear analysis? Why is it an important kind of study? The study of wear patterns on stone tools to determine how they were used. Tools date and usage appropriately by researchers. 43. What are replicative studies in archaeology and why are they conducted? When researchers try and simulate the activities thought out on the usage of artifacts to get better insight into the methods used back then and if the hypotheses are right.