Introduction to Archaeology - Anthro 324
Final exam study guide
The final exam will emphasize material covered after the midterm: from the middle of chapter 5 in Thomas on, and the notes for class 10 and on. Answers to some questions will probably involve ideas discussed earlier in the class, since you may need to consider stratigraphy, dating, settlement patterns, levels of theory, etc. in the course of addressing other issues.
You should be able to explain and use the terms and concepts listed below. That means that you can answer questions about them, and that you can include them when relevant in answering other questions. Some questions may involve examples, especially ones that are covered extensively in Thomas or in class. For most terms, you should consider what it is, purposes of studying or using it, kinds of information it can provide, methods used, etc.
Know a little about the uses and methods of site mapping
Be able to draw basic conclusions from a site map
Theodolite and stadia rod, total station, GPS
Know a little about the uses and methods of surface collections
Be able to draw basic conclusions from a map showing surface collection data ("looks like the poor folks lived here and the wealthy ones lived there...")
Sampling strategies for surface collections (basically the same as for site surveying)
Limitations and problems in interpreting surface collections (especially poor visibility, multicomponent sites)
Noninvasive archaeological methods or remote sensing
Aerial photography: what sorts of things it can detect (crop marks, relief, vegetation...)
Soil resistivity
Ground-penetrating radar
Magnetometry
Vertical excavations vs. horizontal excavations
Test pits, trenches
Why did neat, rectangular, vertical-sided holes?
Provenience (in 3D coordinates, and stratigraphic context)
Datum, baulk, sterile
What sorts of things are typically recorded during excavation?
Screening
Flotation
Dry fine screening
Typical series of steps in studying a site
How cemetery excavations differ from residential or other kinds of excavations
The conservation ethic, or ethical responses to the destructiveness of archaeology
Systemic context vs. archaeological context
Archaeological record
Site formation processes
Depositional, reclamation, reuse, disturbance processes
Environments that are particularly good or bad for archaeological preservation, and why
N-transforms and c-transforms
Why is the archaeological record a biased subset of culture? (the "three filters" I suggested may help you think about this, but the specific terms are not important)
What are some virtues of the archaeological record, in spite of its biases?
Middle-range research
Ethnoarchaeology
Binford's Nunamiut studies; Rathje's Garbage Project
Experimental archaeology
Replication studies.
Use-wear studies
Faunal analysis.
NISP, MNI, total weight, etc.
Percentage data, per-volume data, etc.
Comparative collections.
Archaeobotany, paleoethnobotany.
Macrobotanical remains
Coprolites
Phytoliths
Pollen.
Bioarchaeology, Osteology, Paleopathology
Diet reconstruction using stable isotopes
Stress indicators
Paleodemography
Very generally, kinds of traits used for aging and sexing human skeletal remains
Ancient DNA studies
mtDNA
The "molecular clock"
Distinguishing spatial patterns of culture from spatial movements of people
Residential groups, corporate groups, non-residential groups
Statuses
Ascribed vs. achieved
Egalitarian vs. ranked vs. hierarchical societies
Ways to recognize different statuses in the archaeological record
Analysis of burials: theoretical issues and assumptions, methods used, kinds of conclusions and inferences commonly made
Sex vs. gender
Gender issues in archaeology: what do we want to find out, what kind of evidence can help, etc.
Cognitive archaeology and its two broad subtypes
Cosmology, ritual and religion, ideology, and iconography
CRM
What are cultural resources, as defined legally?
Describe the three phases of the studies required by NEPA and CEQA
Discuss the ethical conflicts involved in CRM
Purposes of historical archaeology and ethical issues associated with it
Kennewick Man, the surrounding controversy, and the general ethical issues it illustrates
NAGPRA