Anthropology Exam 2 Outline PDF

Preview

Summary

Exam 2 study guide...

Description

Anthropology Exam 2 – Weeks 6-11 Week 6 – Monday Lecture Notes  What are archeological records? o Artifacts: portable objects made or used by hominins o Eco-facts: plant or animal remains that are byproducts of hominin activities o Features: non-portable remnants of hominin activities (walls, ditches, mounds) o Sites: locations where the remains are  What do Archaeologists record? o Matrix: the physical medium that surrounds, holds and supports remains o Association: 2 or more objects found in the same matrix o Provenance: the 3-D location of an object within the matrix o Context: evaluation of what happened to an object after it entered the archaeological record  Understanding Archaeology o Ethno-archaeology: study of how present-day people use objects and how these become part of the archaeological record o Taphonomy: study of the natural and human processes that affected the archaeological record  What influences preservation? o Organic remains don’t last long as stones or as inorganic remains o Very cold, dry or wet climates preserve organic remains o Transformational processes: looting, construction, natural disasters, animals  How do archaeologists find sites? o Interviewing the population o Studying historic maps o Surveying geographical locations, pedestrians, using aerials (planes) o GIS: Geographical information systems are used to organize site information  How to study sites o Excavation: systematic uncovering of archaeological remains through careful removal of the matrix (always destructive) o Documentation must be thorough and recording a site involves stratigraphic digging and a 3-D grid system  Categorizing Archaeological data o Cataloging: classifying an objects shape, material and function o Assemblages: groups of artifacts/features from a particular time and place in a site  Processual Archaeology o View archaeology as an objective, empirical science  Post-processual Archaeology o Subjective approach, sees archaeology as humanistic and historical  Gender archaeology: recognizes that women’s contributions have been systemically written out of the archaeological record  Collaborative Archaeology: seek to study the past by working with descendant communities  Archaeology as a tool of civic engagement is an approach that seeks to use an understanding of the past to address modern social justice issues  NAGPRA: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act o Protects Native American graves on federal and tribal land  Jobs in Archaeology

Cultural Resource Management (CRM): government mandated. Designed to mitigate the damage to archaeological development by modern development. Week 6 – Wednesday Lecture Notes  Stewardship: archaeologists are caretakers and advocates for archaeological record for the benefit of all people.  Preservation: Excavate efficiently to reduce damage, conserve and rebuild ruins o

Week 7 – Monday and Wednesday Lecture Notes  Why did humans settle down? o Glaciers recreated and ecological setting changed  Niche construction is when an organism actively changes its environment or creates a new environment  Domestication of plants and animals is a form of niche construction o Reproduction of local species is interfered with by human action o Human action changes local environment settings  Subsistence strategies are different ways varying societies meet basic survival needs  Archaeologists divide societies into o Foragers: food collectors who gather/hunt  Can be nomadic or sedentary  Egalitarian (equal) or stratified (hierarchy) o Food Producers: depend on domesticated plants and animals  Pastoralists: herd animals and livestock  Farmers: practice intensive (put energy in extracting resources from the land – modern) and extensive (don’t change the land – traditional) agriculture  Sedentism: settling in one location  Wild plants (wheat was the first) were transformed through domestication o Wheat changed to get less brittle rachis and larger seed head  Animal Domestication: they are outside their natural range, change in shape and size, abrupt increases in animal numbers in one location and more males killed than females  Consequences of domestication o population increase, surplus of food, rise of inequality, specialization, increase in disease and more permanent settlements  Hypothesis of how Domestication happened o Oasis Theory (Gordon Childe)  Plants, animals and humans clustered near sources of water  Competition for food led to domestication o Hilly Flanks (Robert Braidwood)  Earliest domestication happened natural habitats of wild progenitors (in hilly flanks of Asia) o Feasting (Billy Hayden)  Agriculture driven by displays of power and surplus needed for these displays  Status and power is associated with power o Marginal Zone Theory (Lewis Binford)  Large population and scarce food so agriculture was a last resort  Farming is very time and labor intensive so it’s not preferred o Broad Spectrum Foraging (Kent Flannery)  Population pressures force demographic pressure and migration o Domestication of Humans (Jacques Cauvin)  Domestication precede by emergence of new religious practices and symbolic behavior



 



 



 

Early domestication in southwest Asia o recent studies of the 12,500-year-old Natufian culture use “multiple strand” approach o They are foragers who intensively use wild resources. o Sedentary society with no domestication. Have social stratification Environmental degradation is a consequence of hominins settling down o Goes from Natufian  PPNA  PPNB  PPNC Pre-pottery Neolithic A + B (9700-6000 BC) o Large villages and smaller settlements o Clear evidence of domestication o New and social political organizations Pre-pottery Neolithic C (5900-5500 BC) o New settlements types = new forms of leadership o Human induced environmental degradation o Mega-sites: large towns and cities Pottery Neolithic (6000-4000 BC) o Both larger and small settlements o Social fragmentation and landscape degradation Neolithic Revolution (12000-8500 BC) o Growth in village size and in artistic expression o Dense settlement and slow transition to full scale domestication o Earliest domesticates by 8500 BC o Herding by 2000 BC (New World  4000 BC) o Cultivated plants by 9000 BC (New World  5000 BC) o Permanent settlements by 11000 BC (NW  2000 BC) Domestication of plants and animals occurred independently in o Mesoamerica  maize and squash o South America  potatoes, beans, quinoa, llamas o Eastern US  goosefoot, sunflowers, squash Consequences of domestication and Sedentism o No available land, populations grew, diseases spread, surplus food, social stratification Ecological niche – way of life of living things

Week 8 - Monday Lecture Notes  Holmberg’s Mistake o Observes Amazonian societies in a chaotic, nomadic state of nature  Historical Ecology: historic earth sciences + past and present human activity o Holistic and practical perspectives o 1) Nearly all environments have been influenced by human activity o 2) Human nature is neutral o 3) Different types of societies affect the environment differently o 4) human interactions with environments are a global phenomenon  Historical ecology studies landscapes o Landscapes are physical manifestations of the human-environment relationship  Humans modify landscapes  Environmental Limitations o Swidden (land cultivated by burning) agriculture, fishing, hunting  Classifying groups o Said the Amazon couldn’t support complex societies because of ravages from early European contact (Holmberg’s Mistake  but false)



 

 

Landscape Transformation o Increases species diversity (high diversity repels invasive species and prevents disease) o Primary and Secondary (species proportions change in disturbed habitats) o Domesticated landscapes: all intentional and non-intentional practices and activities of humans that make the environment productive for all species Landscape Transformations in the history of S. America o Burning, raised fields, canals, fish ponds, mounds, ringed ditch villages, geoglyphs  Geoglyphs are shapes in the Earth (circles) Rethink the Columbian Past o It was thought that small mobile groups lived in floodplains o But ideas show there were big populations that permanently settles o Pristine Myth: America found by explorers was not pristine wilderness (untouched) because there were Indian populations Noble Savage: ideology originating in the Enlightenment  view of the New World as one with nature and uncorrupted by civilization Historical ecology counters this belief that any human society or culture is innately a forest protector or a forest destroyer ~ says that the key to understanding our relationship with the environment is in our cultural practices themselves which are changeable

Week 8 – Wednesday Lecture Notes ‘  Rise of hierarchy o Denser populations made consensual methods of decision making ineffective o Institutions become self and system serving (those in power stay in power) o Unequal control of land, power and resources o Goods exchange and production, craft-specialization  Mesopotamian States o Fertile floodplain between Tigris and Euphrates river  rich in food, land, but not raw materials (wood) o Temple Institution key focus (ziggurat)  Economic function: received goods and redistributed them o Large scale irrigation o Neolithic (6000 BC)  Scattered farming villages on northern fringe of floodplain  Season rainfall supported agriculture o Chalcolithic (5300-4100 BC)  Ubaid Period  Economy based on fish, cattle, and irrigation agriculture  Establishment of the temple  Ex) Eridu, Iraq (earliest Mesopotamian temple)  Rapidly grew in size and importance because of temple in 5000 BC  Temple was rebuilt many times and the largest dwellings were close to the temple. They also had Ubaid pottery (slow wheel) o The Uruk Period (4100-3100 BC)  Rise of monumental structures and clear signs of social stratification  By 3100 BC, population grew due to immigration in  Royal cemetery with over 2500 burials o Indus Valley Civilization (decline by 1900 BC)  Broad fertile floodplain, highly developed craft industries, systemically planned cities (drainage networks for individual’s houses)



o

Early settlements (7000-3000 BC) had craft production, hunting & fishing, plow agriculture, some monumental architecture, varied site size  Writing was in seals/stamps and large centers connected communities through trade networks (Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro) Egyptian Civilization  Stable crops (onion and melons), animals (sheep, pig, cattle)  Amratian Period (3800-3500 BC)  Well-developed craft industries appeared (ceramic)  Gersean Period (3500-3100 BC)  Larger scale craft production (gold), trade intensifies, increased social and economic inequalities, increased warfare  Dynastic Egypt (3100- 30 BC)  Larger and more complex than Mesopotamia  Extreme stability and ruled by royal court (centralized power)

Week 8 - Friday Lecture Notes  Olmec  ballgame, lime pit, jade masks and figurines, gulf coast cultures  Mogote, Valley of Oaxaca  first pottery, public buildings, storage pits, settled farmers o Site grew larger than any in valley, export mirrors and import drums o Monuments represented elite and showed power, evidence of writing  Monte Alban, Oaxaca  pottery developed, consolidation of power, 300 danzantes on public building. Expansion of political, economic and military influence outside Oaxaca  Basin of Mexico Home to Teotihuacan and Aztec Triple Alliance o Teotihuacan: architecture style was talud-tablero. Constructed massive pyramids and apartments. Multi-ethnic makeup of city. Rose after Ciudadela burned by volcano.  No depiction of rulers but emphasis on priests, warriors and trade  Ideological city, temples, no royal tombs, city rises as a manufacturing center  In Mesopotamia, administration over irrigation leads to leadership and states  In Mohenjo-Daro, it leads to trade and craft production  In Dynastic Egypt, its large-scale warfare between upper and lower Egypt  In Olmec, mysterious rulers and poor leadership  Mogote, redistribution and warfare o Privileged families artificially deformed their kid’s heads, buried sumptuary goods o Hypogamy: powerful women married lower status men to raise status of village leader  Monte Alban, consolidation of power through ritual, warfare, and strength  Teotihuacan, trade importance, no single ruler, manufacturing, regional consolidation (volcano)  Theories of the rise of the state o Wittfogel (Hydraulic): voluntary control of resources and labor o Carneiro (Circumscription): limitations lead to warfare and states o Elman (Neo-evolution): evolution of human societies o Desire (stratification) for prestige goods creates economic power Week 9 - Monday Lecture Notes  Temples are the mechanisms by which power is acquired ************  Chauvin de Haunter: distinctive art, mixed agriculture (potato and quinoa) o 2 Construction Phases o Old Temple: Made from cut stone, Honeycomb passageways. Lanzon (oracle monument) is at the heart. Lanzon is the central deity  1000s people, larger than any site in same valley. Spread of a religious tradition. o The New Temple (Castillo)



 Large staircase added, subterranean gallery o Art: no elite people, warriors, animal figures, deities Moche: adobe pyramids, highly stratified society, intricate pottery o Moche collapse led to the rise of the states Wari and Tiwanaku

Week 9 - Wednesday Lecture Notes  Inka Empire (many provinces, languages and ethnicities) o Known for making textiles from alpaca fur  Alpaca’s use to have coarser (thin) and longer hair o Mit’a Labor: forced labor, implemented at state level o State reciprocity through food, gifts and textiles o Split Inheritance: one son gets power and one gets wealth o Accounting through tying notes on string o Mitmaq: they relocated entire villages o Huánuco Pampa: Inka outpost and capital (storage facility)  “battered walls”, trapezoidal doors, pillow masonry o Cuzco, Peru (center of the empire)  Administrative center and market o Their demise is due to the Spanish (Francisco Pizarro)  Battle of Cajamarca (happened at time of civil unrest)  Ransom of Atahualpa (kidnapped Inka ruler)  Looted gold from Cuzco and killed the ruler Week 9 - Friday Lecture Notes  Diaspora: reluctant dispersal of a group of people from homeland to another place o Alienation in new land, need adaptation in new land (traditions) o Generally due to forceful expulsion (exile, slavery)  What do archaeologists look for? o Diaspora is disruptive to culture because old traditions need to be transformed and new ones need to be adopted  African Architectural origins: coin-coin house (Ghana)  African crops established: okra, watermelon, taro Week 11 - Monday Lecture Notes  Our natural state is one in which inequality is not present  Our social aspects create inequality  solution is to put hunters/gatherers in charge  Archaic Foragers o After 4000 BC  reduced mobility, cyclical occupation o By 1500 BC  cultivation of plants, ground stone tools  Archaic Mounds o Rare. Located in areas rich in natural resources. Associated with hunt/gatherer  Poverty Point, LA o Unequal gifting and mechanisms of status discovered o Made of multiple mounds very rapidly. Found rare pottery, ornaments, clay objects.  Chiefdoms: 1000s people, more than one permanent community, agricultural, hierarchy, general authority  The Mississippi Period: rely on maize, populations increase, wide status differences Week 11 - Wednesday Lecture Notes

    

Historical Archeology: aided by written records/documents Feature: Non-portable remnants from the past, such as house walls or ditches Site: A precise geographical location of the remains of past human activity Artifact: Objects that have been deliberately of intelligently shaped by human activity Eco-fact: plant or animal remains that are byproducts of hominin activities

QUIZ QUESTIONS 1. Which of the following is not a complication for the archeological study of diaspora? a. Isolation has led to little in the way of distinctive material culture in West Africa 2. Which of the following is evidence that the Natufians lived in relatively permanent settlements? a. Cemeteries, permanent buildings at settlement sites, bones of young birds at sites 3. A conflict among scholars concerning domestication centers on whether people were aware of what they were doing in intervening in the gene pool of wild plants 4. According to Bruce Smith, the ancestors of domesticated seed plants were weedy generalists that thrived in disturbed environments 5. Richard Meadow argues that herding represents a complete change in human attitudes toward and relationships with animals. Why? a. Focus shifts from the hunted animal to its offspring 6. Processual archaeology is an attempt to make the disciple more scientific while interpretive archeology stresses the cognitive and symbolic aspects of social structures and social relations. 7. Hydraulic hypothesis stipulates the control of water (irrigation) by leaders explains the rise of administrative states in Mesopotamia 8. Warka Vase as Uruk has salves carrying goods, domesticated plants and animals, resources offered in tribute to rulers/god 9. Queen Shub-ab was buried with a headdress and a harp...