Anthropology 2 Archaeology and Prehistory
Review Sheet #1: Introduction to Anthropology
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anthropology has four subdisciplines:
1) cultural or social anthropology
2) archaeology
3) physical or biological anthropology
4) linguistic anthropology
3 Goals of archaeology
a) construct culture history – define the spatial (i.e., geographical) and temporal (i.e., chronological) framework in order to organize
the data (e.g., artifact, ecofacts, features, structures, etc.) of the archaeological record
b) reconstruction of past lifeways – to define the recoverable aspects of past human existence: settlement pattern, population
density, technology, economy, organization of domestic life, kinship, maintenance of law and order, social stratification, ritual, art,
and religion
c) elucidate cultural change – i.e., to explain the “why” cultures (and societies) change over time
anthropology is a holistic (def.: assuming an interrelationship among the parts of a subject) study of the evolution and variation of
the human species. Anthropology includes the study of human biology, human physical evolution, human cultural evolution, and
human adaptation. An important concept in Anthropology is embeddedness which holds that the various institutions (i.e., social,
economic, political, and ideological) are interrelated and change in one institution generates change in the others
paleoanthropology – a specialty in the subdiscipline of biological anthropology; it is the study of the human fossil record; it is
particularly concerned with the physical and cultural evolution of our species through study of the skeletal and artifacts of ancient
hominids
paleontology - the study of the forms of life that existed in prehistory that are represented by the fossils of plants and animals
culture can be defined as: 1) all the knowledge, beliefs, values, morals, laws, customs and behavior that are learned and pasted on
from generation to generation and 2) the nonbiological mechanism of human adaptation to their environment
creationism and catastrophism
James Ussher was mid-seventeenth century Irish cleric (Protestant) who determined based on genealogies found in the bible, that
the world was created beginning on the night preceding October 23, 4004 B.C.. This allowed just 6000 years for all of human
history. This became church dogma and still is a fundamental belief in Creationism
uniformitarianism is a concept developed by James Hutton in the late 18th century in his book the Theory of the Earth. He was
the first to use geological information (i.e., scientific data) to disprove theory of catastrophism. He argued that operations of
nature are equable and steady, not unpredictable and catastrophic.
Theory of Superposition was formulated by Charles Lyell a 19th century geologist. He was the first to observe the stratigraphy,
this is, the order to the relationship between earth’s various rock layers. He argued that these layers were laid down like layers of a
cake and that the lower strata was laid down earlier than the upper strata and thus are older.
three-age system developed in 1836 by J. C. Thomsen who work in Danish National Museum. In order to arranged and classify
the growing collections at the museum, he developed a chronological system of the history of human culture into Stone Age,
Bronze Age, and Iron Age.
taxonomy is the systematic classification based on similarities and differences among the items being classified; organisms,
artifacts, or human cultures can be classified in this way.
species is a group of populations whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, while a genus is a group of similar
species with similar environmental adaptations
Charles Darwin was a 19th century naturalist, he wrote On the Origins of Species in 1859 which detail the Theory of Biological
Evolution. Darwin sat on his theory for 20yrs, he realized what the implications would be for Christian ideology. Darwin did not
discover the theory of biological evolution per se, more particularly he developed the principle of natural selection which implies
that accumulated favorable variations in living organisms over long periods must result in the emergence of new species and the
extinction of old ones. Natural selection provides a direct way of accounting for biological change as time passed. The concept
that each successive generation can be modified slightly through evolutionary processes is known as descent with modification.
Others before Darwin had speculated on phenomena of biological evolution, including Aristotle; like most great ideas there are
always antecedents in history.
Mound Builders Debate – primarily concerns the question of who built the numerous earthen mounds located in the eastern
United States
Thomas Jefferson – considered the father of American archaeology because he was the first person to systematically excavate an
archaeological site (Indian mound), to keep detailed records of his excavations and to ask and subsequently answer, scientific
questions about the people who built the mound
Franz Boas – one of earliest and most influential American anthropologist, considered the father of American anthropology; he
was primarily an ethnographer and ethnologist, who called for rigorous scientific fieldwork methods to collect and record data, he
was strongly opposed to unilinear cultural evolution, he believed that each culture was totally unique because of historical accident
with too many combinations and permutations for broad generalizations, this is the his theory of historical particularism, it
emphasizes cultural relativism or the concept that each culture is unique and can only be understood from its own perspective, one
must set aside their own personal biases and value system
adaptation - a mode or strategy for survival; an adaptation can be a physical characteristic or a cultural behavior
H. W. Schulz, CCSF, 02/15/16
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archaeological record - is the physical remains produced by past human activities, which are sought, recovered, studied and
interpreted by archaeologists in order to reconstruct human behavior in the past
archaeological sites - a place(s) at which traces of human activity are found, types of sites include:
living or habitation sites (simple surface scatter or deeply buried mound)
kill sites, ceremonial sites, burial sites, quarry sites, art sites
archaeological data - are the material remains of human activities, these include:
artifacts - portable objects made or modified by human activities
features - non-portable artifacts and associated material, e.g., post-holes, hearths, or burials
ecofacts - the nonartifactual remains found in archaeological sites, e.g., animal bones, plant remains, and pollen
structures buildings that can be identified from features in the ground
context - the position of an archaeological find in time and space, established by measuring and assessing its associations, matrix,
and provenience; the assessment of an object’s context includes study of what has happened to the find since it was buried in the
ground (i.e., transformational process – see below)
primary context - refers to a find which has remained undisturbed from the time it was originally deposited until archaeological
recovery
secondary context - refers to finds which have been disturbed (e.g., by water transport or by subsequent human activities) since
they were originally deposited
provenience - archaeological materials occur within a matrix (i.e., surrounding material), their position within this matrix is their
provenience; it is the horizontal and vertical position of an archaeological object measured in relationship to the established
coordinate system used at an archaeological site, i.e., the three-dimensional position within an archaeological unit and/or site
law of association - the principle that objects found in physical association were probably in use together at the same time
assemblage - all of the artifacts found at a site, including the sum of all subassemblages at the site
subassemblage - an association of artifacts denoting a particular form of prehistoric activity practiced by a group of people
archaeological cultures - are consistent patterning of assemblages, the archaeological equivalents of human societies;
archaeological cultures consist of the material remains of human culture preserved at a specific space and time
culture areas - are large geographic areas in which artifacts characteristic of an archaeological culture exist in a precise context of
time and space
behavioral processes consisting of four consecutive stages: acquisition, manufacture, use, and disposal or deposition
transformational processes include all conditions and events that affect material remains after use towhen they are excavated by
archaeologists
taphonomy the study of what happens to remains of plants and animal after they die
field methodology include techniques used by archaeologists to locate and evaluate archaeological sites, there are two broad
methods involved: 1) archaeological reconnaissance, i.e., the systematic attempt to locate, identify, and record archaeological
sites and 2) site survey, i.e., collection of surface data in order to evaluate an archaeological site
site survey is the collection of surface data in order to evaluate an archaeological site; the objectives of site survey include:record
data pertaining to subsurface features based on what is detectable from the surface
collect and record information based on artifacts, ecofacts, features, etc found on the surfaceto use these data to test hypotheses
about the site
subsurface testing a number of techniques are used to learn about subsurface characteristics
auger testing - a power or manual tool used for digging test holes; auger testing is generally restricted to the earliest stages of an
archaeological reconnaissance
mechanical detection methods -receptivity survey, magnetic survey, pulse radar
archaeological excavation - the primary method used by archaeologist to retrieve information that is buried in the ground; modern
archaeology focuses on problem-oriented excavation, i.e., sites are excavated to test a specific hypothesis or investigate a welldefined research problem. Archaeological excavation is destructive, therefore it is used on a limited or selective basis. The primary
goal of excavation is to produce a three-dimensional record of the site. There are two primary excavation techniques: 1) vertical
excavation is undertaken to establish a chronological sequence, normally covering a limited area; methods include, e.g., test pits,
vertical trenches, and tunneling and 2) horizontal excavation which is designed to uncover large areas of a site, especially
settlement layouts
H. W. Schulz, CCSF, 02/15/16