Term
|
Definition
| the study of fossilized faunal remains from archaeological sites (from Davis); study of animal remains excavated from archaeological sites (from Reitz and Wing) |
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Term
| What is the goal of zooarchaeology? |
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Definition
| to understand relationship between humans and their environments |
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Term
| What are some lines of evidence a zooarchaeology should use when defending a hypothesis? |
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Definition
| faunal data sets, ethnographic analogy, modern experimental studies, cultural context of materials |
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Term
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Definition
| isolated bone, tooth, or shell |
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Term
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Definition
| single complete bone, tooth, or shell |
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Term
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Definition
| multiple faunal specimens of various taxa that presumably had some relationship before excavation began |
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Term
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Definition
| all samples from a single time period from a single site |
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Term
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Definition
| collections of different time periods from a site |
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Term
When was Darwinism coming into vogue, along with a struggle with the Bible and its contradictions?
(faunal material began to be used to learn about environment) |
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Definition
|
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Term
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Definition
| realized that a decrease in woodland animals (browsers) implied a warmer, dryer climate (see seasonality) |
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Term
| What two major discoveries challenged Biblical assertions? |
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Definition
megafauna
association of human remains with stone tools |
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Term
| What were the three major contributions of zooarchaeology in its beginnings? |
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Definition
1- showing antiquity of mankind
2- established how early man subsisted (what they ate, how they obtained their food)
3- used to reconstruct environment |
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Term
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Definition
used change in size and texture of bone to show transition of wild cattle and sheep to domestic (paired with stratigraphic levels)
-texture later disproved |
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Term
| When was the formative period of zooarchaeology? |
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Definition
| 1860's - early 20th century |
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Term
| What three main schools of thought had their heyday during the formative period of zooarchaeology? |
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Definition
| environmental determinism, environmental possibilism, and the historical approach |
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Term
| What is environmental determinism? |
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Definition
| environmental characteristics limit the development of material culture and technology; culture is a passive agent explained by the environment |
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Term
| What is environmental possibilism? |
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Definition
| environments may permit certain cultural developments but there are always cultural alternatives; environment explains absence of cultural traits but not presence |
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Term
| What school of thought regarding environment-human relations was prevalent during the Boasian era? |
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Definition
| environmental possibilism |
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Term
| What is the historical approach? |
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Definition
| environment is passive (part of context culture has developed in) |
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Term
| When was the Systematization Period of zooarchaeology? |
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Definition
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Term
| What was Julian Steward's major contribution? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| What is cultural ecology? |
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Definition
| cultures and environments are part of a total web of life, each can be defined in terms of the other; focus on resource utilization and adaptation |
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Term
| What was Walter Taylor's major contribution? |
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Definition
| conjunctive approach – reacting to archaeologists who defined culture based on an artifact |
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Term
| What was Theodore White's major contribution? |
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Definition
| drew upon quantitative methods from geology to invent MNI |
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Term
| In what period was faunal material not considered part of an archaeological culture? |
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Definition
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Term
| What period was characterized by an emphasis on the importance of methods? |
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Definition
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Term
| When was the Integration Period? |
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Definition
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Term
| What period was characterized by a shift from an inductive to a deductive approach? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| decisions are based on budgets of resources and are patterned solutions that may have a variety of outcomes |
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Term
| What are optimum foraging models? |
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Definition
| characterize human diets based on costs and benefits of search and pursuit |
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Term
| What is site-catchment analysis? |
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Definition
| defining or predicting the areas or resources habitually employed by inhabitants of a site |
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Term
| What is "foodways," according to Anderson? |
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Definition
| the study of the relationship between a group’s food habits, their natural and manmade environments, their social organization, and their culture |
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Term
| What is the difference between subsistence and foodways? |
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Definition
| -subsistence refers to all basic necessities of life, while foodways refers only to alimentation |
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Term
| What are the five processes Goody advocates examining? |
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Definition
I. Production/Procurement
II. Distribution (exchange system/market) -> power relationships
III. Preparation (cooking , butchering, preservation)
IV. Consumption -> important in formation of group identity
V. Disposal |
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Term
| What did Gutierrez examine? |
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Definition
| the way crawfish are used to maintain barriers between Cajun and non-Cajun, but also between Proud Coonasses and Genteel Acadians. |
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Term
| Why are crawfish a good symbol for maintaining barriers between Cajun and non-Cajun, and also between Proud Coonasses and Genteel Acadians? |
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Definition
-farms and natural crawfish habitats in Cajun areas (Cajuns dominate trapping, processing, and distribution)
-view its feistiness with respect and humor (makes it a good symbol)
-special cultural knowledge required to eat crawfish
-boil is group activity, with gender divisions
-ability to consume many crawfish indicative of skill and appetite, both good things in Cajun society
-used to be “poor people’s food” (Proud Coonasses like this) but is now gourmet (Genteel Acadians like this) |
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Term
| What does it mean to say that bone is a living substance? |
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Definition
-it is a connective tissue like muscle, nerves
-plastic, infused with blood vessels |
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Term
| What are the two types of skeletons? |
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Definition
| exoskeleton and endoskeleton |
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Term
| What are some examples of exoskeleton? |
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Definition
-arthropods, spiders, crabs
-scales, hooves, claws, beaks, fingernails, horns |
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Term
| What is the most common type of exoskeleton found at an archaeological site? |
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Definition
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Term
| What phylum has an endoskeleton? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the distinguishing feature(s) of the phylum chordata? |
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Definition
notochord/vertebral column
-notochord only remains in primitive animals
-vertebral column: segmented rod giving support and mobility |
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Term
What are the functions of bones?
(6) |
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Definition
1. Protect vital organs (ex: skull, ribs)
2. Protected by muscles; muscles hold bone in place and prevent it from bowing out under pressure
3. Store minerals (calcium)
4. Support body but must also be light enough to enable chase or escape
5. Assists in body movement (see types of joints)
6. Stiff to prevent bending, strong to prevent breaking |
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Term
| What does it mean to say that bone is a combination of organic and inorganic substances? |
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Definition
65% inorganic: calcium (hydroxyapatite) – resists compression and allows heavy loads
35% organic: protein – collagen (flexible fibers) |
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Term
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Definition
| tough sinew connecting muscle to bone |
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Term
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Definition
|
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Term
| What are the two types of bone? |
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Definition
dermal/membrane
endochondral/cartilage bone |
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Term
| How is dermal bone formed? |
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Definition
| osteoblasts form separate plates, come together in sutures |
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Term
| Which kind of bone has the Haversian system? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| Where do you find dermal/membrane bone? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| What is the Haversian system? |
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Definition
| regular arrangement of the bony matrix as a series of concentric lamellae surrounding a central longitudinal canal (Haversian canal) |
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Term
| What are the two types of endochondral bone? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
matrix of osteocytes, at joints to absorb tension (spongy stuff)
-fragile and easy to break off
-soft and nutritious |
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|
Term
|
Definition
straight-up bone, no sponge
-made up of bone units (1 = osteon)
-regular arrangement of osteons, each has a canal (Haversian canal) containing nerves and blood vessels supplying nutrients
-each osteon has a cement layer surrounding it
-structure (cement layer) helps to stop cracks |
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Term
| What are the three kinds of bone cell? |
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Definition
osteoblast
osteocyte
osteoclast |
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Term
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Definition
| secretes bone compound, becomes embedded, now osteocyte |
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Term
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Definition
| break down old osteons using acid and enzymatic digestion, lie on bone surface |
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Term
| What are the four kinds of joints? |
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Definition
| hinge, ball-and-socket, saddle, gilding |
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Term
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Definition
| permits movement in one direction (ex: elbow) |
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Term
| What is a ball-and-socket joint? |
|
Definition
| permits rotational movement (ex: femur in hip) |
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Term
|
Definition
| movement in two directions (ex: thumb) |
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Term
|
Definition
| movement in one direction (ex: tarsals) |
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Term
| What kind of animals have a more differentiated vertebral column? |
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Definition
| terrestrial (as opposed to aquatic) |
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|
Term
| What is the densest tissue in the body? |
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Definition
|
|
Term
| What does it mean to be heterodontous? |
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Definition
| differentiated dentition (like in mammals: incisors, canines, premolars, molars) |
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Term
| What are open-root teeth? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| What happens to the cartilage "bone" of a fetus? |
|
Definition
replaced through ossification
-cartilage eroded away and bone secreted into resulting spaces
-osteoblasts secrete bone surface
-bone is formed by apposition of layers (called lamellae) |
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Term
| What is the epiphysial plate? |
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Definition
| cartilaginous disc between epiphysis and shaft |
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Term
| What is Young's Modulus, and what kind of animals have a lower one? |
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Definition
measure of stiffness of an isotopic elastic material
-immature bones have a lower Young’s modulus than adult bones |
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Term
| What is Binford's Middle-Range Theory? |
|
Definition
archaeological remains are created by cultural and natural processes, so we must understand these processes and their impact on material remains
o relies on empirical observations of the processes and principles responsible for the formation of the archaeological record in order to interpret and even predict efficient human behavior and relationships with the environment
o Taphonomic research has contributed heavily to middle-range research |
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Term
| What is the idea behind Schiffer's site formation processes? |
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Definition
how the archaeological site is formed
o C-transforms (cultural) and N-transforms (natural) |
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Term
|
Definition
study of changes that influence a site or deposit (from Reitz and Wing)
o term coined by Efremov in 1940’s to mean “the laws of burial” |
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Term
| What were the three distinctive features Melanie Carver identified regarding chewing marks? |
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Definition
channeling, implies dog
punctures, imply dog
wide flat marks, imply human incisors |
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Term
| Who asserted incorrectly that spiral fractures could only be caused by hominids, and why were they wrong? |
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Definition
Raymond Dart
along Haversian system? could even be a stress fracture |
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Term
| What is the uniformitarian approach? |
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Definition
1) observe contemporary processes involved in the transition of organic material
2) analyze prehistoric data in light of these findings |
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Term
| What do and don't rodents chew? |
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Definition
| Love mammal bones, especially cancellous bones and scapulas, also like bird bones, but not rodent bones |
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Term
| Who are the Hadza, and who studied them? |
|
Definition
a small group of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania for ethnographic analogy
Oliver |
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Term
| Why would the Hadza section carcasses? |
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Definition
create more easily transportable units
facilitate carcass part distribution in camp
remove less desirable units from a larger body part |
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Term
| What were the bone breakage techniques employed by the Hadza? |
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Definition
striking a bone on an anvil with a hammerstone
clubbing bone onto anvil
chopping at bone with panga or axe
hacking at bone with knife
wrenching a bone
gnawing |
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Term
| What were some typical butchering decisions on the part of the Hadza? |
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Definition
o hindlimbs and forelimbs usually removed as units
o rib slabs removed
o vertebral column sectioned
o larger carcasses butchered at kill site, smaller transported whole |
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|
Term
| Which animals' marrow did the Hadza eat uncooked? |
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Definition
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|
Term
| How did bone breakage relate to gender division for the Hadza? |
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Definition
| butchery-related breakage = man’s duty; pot-size-related breakage = duty of women and children |
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Term
| What was the strategy Oliver proposed for carcass-processing decisions? |
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Definition
| nutrient extraction is maximized, while transport, field processing, and social costs are minimized |
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Term
| How critical is soil acidity to bone preservation? |
|
Definition
o Acid environment – organic acids from plants decaying leach minerals from bone (least calcified go into solution first
o Intensely alkaline environment: bones completely dissolve
o Ideal = 6.5-7.5 pH |
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|
Term
| What impacts the damage microorganisms have on bones in matrix? |
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Definition
Anaerobic work slower (part of why waterlogging is advantageous)
Require humidity (aridity is also good for preservation)
Temperature – extremes are less hospitable to microorganisms, so deserts and tundras are best for preservation |
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Term
| Why does the porosity of the bone structure impact bone preservation? |
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Definition
| Cancellous bone forms a conduit for water |
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Term
| How does hydrology impact bone preservation? |
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Definition
| Activates chemical response leading to degradation |
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Term
| What were the three main research questions Nicholson had in his taphonomy experiment? |
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Definition
o 1) Do soil pH and drainage regime determine bone survival?
o 2) Does cooked bone degrade differently from fresh bone? Is the method of cooking important?
o 3) Does decomposition occur at a similar rate for skeletons of a similar size from different animal groups |
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|
Term
| What were the results from Nicholson's taphonomy experiment? |
|
Definition
o Most aggressive environment: one of the acid soils tested
o Most favorable environment: one of the basic soils tested
o BUT pH alone is insufficient to predict skeletal preservation (pH not a major determinant)
o Burial depth, state of corpse prior to burial, temperature, rainfall/drainage regime, and oxygen availability do seem to matter
Clothing, fur, wool, and scales retard decomposition
Defleshing clearly speeds up degradation
Boiling seems to be more harmful than baking
o Concept that small bones degrade first not borne out
o Mammal bones appear to be attacked from the periostic surface with bacterial/fungal penetration of the bone cortex leading to pitting and channeling
o Fish bones seem to degenerate through cracking and crumbling progressing from edges (which is younger bone in fish)
o Overall a complex situation |
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Term
| What are the three general kinds of deposit, from Reitz & Wing? |
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Definition
o 1) kill/processing site refuse: single activity, assemblage dominated by one species
o 2) residential refuse: high diversity
o 3) intentional burials: skeletal completeness, most vulnerable to looting |
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Term
| What is primary refuse v. secondary refuse? |
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Definition
| Primary refuse is discarded where it is used; secondary refuse is discarded elsewhere |
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Term
| What are some examples of abiotic first order processes? |
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Definition
| wind, water flow, soil chemistry, climate |
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Term
| What are some examples of biotic first-order processes? |
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Definition
| microbes, insects, scavengers, commensals |
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Term
| What are some examples of second-order processes? |
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Definition
| site choice, excavation strategy, screen size, sample size to an extent |
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Term
| Who examined the Eschelmann site in PA (~1600-1625)—garbage dump in Susquehannock village? |
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Definition
|
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Term
| What are Guilday's criteria for butchering marks? |
|
Definition
-repetition through specimens
-anatomically-dictated reason why a mark would be there |
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Term
What are some species-specific butchering patterns observed by Guilday?
(Name 6 of 13) |
|
Definition
-limb bones of large mammals shattered for marrow
-feet of slain animals removed and thrown on garbage to be scavenged
-fox: skinned but probably not eaten
-wolf: exhibited butchering cuts (but not dogs)
-bear: brains eaten, skinned, broken down into 50 lb segments and stewed
-raccoon: brains eaten, cooked in one piece, limbs not smashed for marrow
-bobcat/cougar: forelimb removed, long bones used for bead/tube artifacts
-rice rat: natural life lived in dump?
-beaver: sectioned if big, incisors taken, brains eaten, marrow left
-white-tailed deer: hunted mostly fall/winter (determined based on antler growth), brains eaten, animal broken down significantly, phalanges used for fish hooks
-lots of birds taken for feathers rather than food
-sea bass important but no sturgeon |
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Term
|
Definition
| zooarchaeologists use systematic nomenclature for identification of taxa recovered from archaeological sites |
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Term
| What characterized Aristotle's taxonomic system? |
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Definition
inductive taxonomy determined through observation
1) mode of living/locomotion
2) environmental adaptation
3) shape of living form
-created a hierarchical system – much like ours today, but criteria are different (blooded v. bloodless turned to vertebrates v. invertebrates) |
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Term
| What did Carl Linnaeus publish in 1758? |
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Definition
publishes work on binomial system of nomenclature, clear-cut species diagnosis, and hierarchical categories
-groups have shared characteristics different from other groups
-BUT though spp. were static |
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Term
|
Definition
| collection of species with similar characteristics and presumed to have a common phylogenetic origin |
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Term
|
Definition
reproductive community of populations—reproductively isolated from others—that occupies a specific niche in nature
-smallest distinct grouping of organisms showing common ancestry
-has a particular geographic range and evolutionary duration |
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Term
|
Definition
distinctive, geographical segment of a species comprising a group of wild animals that is geographically and morphologically separate from other groups within the species
-always restricted to a given locality due to reproductive isolation |
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|
Term
| Who was known for the theory of inherited characteristics? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
established that Earth is millions of years old and argued against predestination
-geologist |
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Term
| What were Darwin's 5 theories of evolution? |
|
Definition
1) perpetual change: living world is always changing
2) gradualism: changes in living world happen incrementally, over a long period of time
3) common descent: one common ancestor for all plants and animals
4) multiplication of species: total number of species increase (speciation)
5) natural selection: heritable variation combined with selectional pressure (contradicted ideas of species type in Linnaean system) |
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Term
| What variations within species did Darwin observe that Linnaeus missed? |
|
Definition
-ontogenetic (during growth and maturation)/age
-sexual dimorphism
-genetic variability |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| any similarity in characteristics between living things due to a shared ancestry |
|
|
Term
| What is adaptive radiation? |
|
Definition
| rapid evolutionary radiation characterized by an increase in morphological and ecological diversity of a single lineage; over time, phenotypes exhibit adaptation in response to environment—evolutionary process driven by natural selection |
|
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Term
| What is punctuated equilibrium? |
|
Definition
| most sexually reproducing species experience little evolutionary change for most of their geological history; when evolution occurs, it is localized in rare, rapid events of branching speciation (cladogenesis) |
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Term
| What is the difference between a cladogram and a traditional phylogenetic tree? |
|
Definition
cladogram: shows birds on a branch with crocodiles and dinosaurs to form a taxon, perhaps a class of vertebrates
traditional phylogenetic tree: recognizes reptiles, birds, and mammals as three separate classes of vertebrate |
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|
Term
| What is allopatric speciation? |
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Definition
| geographical separation so populations can’t interbreed |
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|
Term
| What is sympatric speciation? |
|
Definition
| adapt to different niches within the same environment |
|
|
Term
| What is allelic frequency? |
|
Definition
| relative frequency of a particular allelic form of a gene |
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Term
| What is the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? |
|
Definition
| in large biparental populations, allelic frequencies and genotypic ratios attain an equilibrium in one generation and remain constant thereafter unless disturbed by recurring mutations, natural selection, migration, nonrandom mating, or genetic drift |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| chance fluctuation in allelic frequency from one generation to the next in finite populations – erodes variation |
|
|
Term
| What is migration, as it relates to evolution? |
|
Definition
| can prevent different populations of a species from diverging |
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|
Term
What are the primary sources of data from taxonomy?
(5) |
|
Definition
1) comparative anatomy (functional morphology)
2) comparative embryology
3) cellular and molecular biology
4) geography
5) genetic studies |
|
|
Term
| What are the 4 main phyla found at archaeological sites? |
|
Definition
| chordata, arthropoda, mollusca, echinodermata |
|
|
Term
| What is plantigrade motion? |
|
Definition
| flat-footed (human, bear) |
|
|
Term
| What is cursorial motion? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is digitigrade motion? |
|
Definition
| toes on ground, heels raised (dog, cat) |
|
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What is saltatory motion? |
|
Definition
| jumping (kangaroo, rabbit) |
|
|
Term
| What is fossorial motion? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| When does Grayson claim a zooarchaeological sample size is viable? |
|
Definition
| when there is no change in rank order of species as NISP increases |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| # identified specimens per taxa |
|
|
Term
| What are the assumptions associated with NISP? |
|
Definition
- assumes identical preservation
-assumes same # of bones in all spp. |
|
|
Term
| What are the problems associated with NISP? |
|
Definition
-commensals more likely to be whole
-affected by butchering patterns
-for real statistical relevance, you would need all the bones
-indeterminate # of individuals
-ignores meat weight
-does not allow valid intersite comparison
-different aggregational approaches – breaking down assemblage by strata will increase MNI |
|
|
Term
| What does Grayson prefer to NISP for assessing relative contribution of taxa to subsistence? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What are the three ways to calculate meat weight? |
|
Definition
1. Based off MNIs (% usable meat times MNI)
2. By bone weight (meat weight an exponential function of bone weight)
3. Measurement of bone |
|
|
Term
| What are the problems associated with calculating meat weight based off MNIs? |
|
Definition
problem of variability in size based on region or era, age of animal
what about fish? Average size is nearly impossible to determine |
|
|
Term
| What is an advantage of calculating meat weight based off bone weight? |
|
Definition
| eliminates questions and problems of breakage |
|
|
Term
| Why is measuring bone to calculate meat weight a less than ideal method? |
|
Definition
| takes too long to measure all the bone, so you measure one but lose statistical significance |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
weight of skeleton proportional to amount of flesh
-contests idea of bone weight as linear function related to meat weight
-use exponential formula to determine meat weight if you know skeletal weight
-formulas determined for certain classes of mammals
-useful to explore human interaction with animals, not to examine a single one |
|
|
Term
What is MNI and how is it calculated?
What is the main complication with using it? |
|
Definition
– minimum number of individuals
- usually use most abundant element per taxa
-extremely sensitive to sample size |
|
|
Term
| Who looked at the refuse pits at Fort Michilimackinac? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What were Cleland's assumptions in comparing British, French, and Native Americans to find cultural differentiation? |
|
Definition
| natural availability of food, the specific cultural factors, climate/ecosystem has not changed from 800 to 1970 (although cites source for this), differences in data are based on cultural selection |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
-French married/lived with Native Americans; diet resembled that of Native Americans
-more fish than British
-British diet remained culturally distinct, imported provisions
-came to establish a military garrison
-better transportation system
-more domestic mammals, more birds (guns -> better fowlers)
-religion impacts diet (French eat fish on Fridays as Catholics)
-connection to homeland
-social/political structure
-relations with local populations
|
|
|
Term
| What did Shaffer say regarding sampling and quantification? |
|
Definition
if you have an inherent bias in your methods, it affects your end results
-1/4” screen: mice and voles -> only cranium and pelvis recovered
-only at size of fox you get consistent, reliable representation of animal |
|
|
Term
| Who showed how numerous bones, particularly smaller parts of the skeleton and isolated teeth, are lost when sieving is not carried out, and what do they recommend? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| What did Grayson say about the differences between richness, evenness, and diversity? |
|
Definition
-richness: variety component of diversity estimates (# of taxa represented)
-evenness: measures spread of taxa (relative proportion of taxa represented)
-diversity: # of taxa & proportions of taxa |
|
|
Term
| What were Rothschild's assumptions? |
|
Definition
-focus on evenness as an exemplar of diversity
-assumptions: urbanization is related to decreasing diversity
-diet diversity related to class
-high class could afford lots of meat varieties, lower class could hunt varieties of spp., but middle class screwed
-specialist provisioners (animal husbandry) |
|
|
Term
| What did Rothschild find? |
|
Definition
-more diversity in St. Augustine (tropical environment) than NY
-urbanization in NY -> decrease in richness
-found increase in diversity from early to late in St. Augustine |
|
|
Term
| How did Cleland define a focal subsistence economy? |
|
Definition
based on exploitation of a small number of plant and animal species
-consists of specialists |
|
|
Term
| How did Cleland define a diffuse economy? |
|
Definition
wide variety of organisms
-generalists |
|
|
Term
| How did Cleland define rarefaction? |
|
Definition
| asks question, how many species would a given sample have were that sample smaller, or “rarer” in individuals? |
|
|
Term
| Why might Julian Steward defend studies of seasonality? |
|
Definition
| cultural ecology would assert that environment dictates movement and even the social organization of a society (band size, gender division, etc.) |
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Term
| What is seasonality and what are three ways it might be expressed? |
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Definition
time of year at or during which a particular event is likely to occur (from Monks)
1) sequential date (ex: summer, fall, winter, spring)
2) absolute calendrical date
3) economic season – varies with climate, culture, and procurement system
-useful interpretive construct |
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Term
| How do we determine seasonality? |
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Definition
1. Presence/absence of species
2. Relative abundance
3. Physiological events |
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Term
| What are some species whose presence/absence can help determine seasonality? |
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Definition
a. migratory birds
b. edible plants (ex: berries, nuts, corn, etc.)
c. temperature-sensitive animals (ex: hibernating mammals, cold-blooded animals)
d. insect pupae |
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Term
| What did Gilbert and Bass use to infer summertime deaths of Indian burials? |
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Definition
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Term
| How did Bowen's chart use relative abundance to show seasonality? |
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Definition
| spring is a season of relative scarcity; people eat salted pork and that which is preserved… spike in consuming of cattle in fall before grass dies… fish eaten mostly in spring when river unfreezes and salmon/shad run |
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Term
| What are some physiological events that can be used to show seasonality? |
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Definition
a. body size – can tell about environmental conditions (colder climates -> bigger animals)
b. incremental tooth growth (cementum)
c. incremental growth of mollusk shells (faster growth in warm weather, usually, white rings indicate summer, but so sensitive, even storms are recorded in shell)
d. epiphysial fusion
e. tooth eruption and wear
f. crown height (not used as much)
g. osteoporosis (nutritional stress on bone)
h. medullary bone (found in birds--CaPO4 deposited by female birds prior to nesting in femur, tibiotarsus, and ulna)
i. antler growth (grows quickly, then calcifies; eventually, separated by osteoblasts at pedicle; pattern of dark and light up to 5 years)
j. fish – bones grow incrementally like mollusk shells (look at growth rings on otoliths, opercula, and vertebrae, temperature-sensitive (dark and light rings)
k. oxygen isotope in mollusk shells (isotope utilized depends on the seasons; can measure temperature of water when growing edge of shell was being produced)
l. population structure |
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Term
| What did Davis use at Hayonim cave to show transition from wintertime hunting to year-round hunting… used to suggest possible evidence for domestication? |
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Definition
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Term
| What did Casteel use to determine seasons of two interments in a burial complex in California? |
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Definition
| temperature-sensitive fish bones |
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Term
| What are archaeologists measuring the seasonality of? |
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Definition
o Consumption – given by assemblages
o Procurement – biologically, we can tell this |
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Term
| What are the main differences between Clark and Flannery? |
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Definition
Clark examined a single species while Flannery used multiple lines of evidence, including plants defined by a rainy and dry season
Clark used an inductive, Flannery a deductive
Clark's was based off assumptions regarding hunters and gatherers applied to a single site while Flannery took a regional approach
Flannery looked at food preparation while Clark didn't
Clark wanted to reconstruct social organization and population estimates while Flannery didn't |
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Term
| When do you kill an animal if your primary goal is meat production? |
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Definition
| when feeding no longer causes proportional growth |
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Term
| When do you kill an animal if your primary product is wool? |
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Definition
| keep mostly adult animals (bred only for replacement reasons, males castrated) but killed once quality of wool trails off |
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Term
| When do you kill an animal if your primary product is milk? |
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Definition
| babies killed as soon as yield of milk is not endangered |
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Term
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Definition
-specialization in complex societies
-different relative value placed on different products (from Payne) -- affects age at slaughter
-can track market system using age at death (esp. supply) |
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Term
| Where did Payne's comparative specimens come from? |
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Definition
| ethnographic analogy (modern day Turkey) |
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Term
| Where did Silver's comparative specimens come from? |
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Definition
| x-rays of modern breeds (noted they fuse a little earlier) |
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Term
| What affects age of maturation? |
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Definition
-breed
-nutrition (esp. in early years)
-for toothwear -> diet |
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Term
| Why did Payne argue against using ephiphysial fusion? |
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Definition
- sequence ends too early in life
-differential preservation causes substantial errors whereby younger age-groups are underestimated
-mandibles and mandibular teeth less affected by differential preservation and recovery |
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Term
| Why should we not dismiss using epiphysial fusion to determine age at death? |
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Definition
-may have difficulties obtaining mandibles with teeth
-ages of fusion are of interest in themselves (why is there a discrepancy in age of fusion over time?) |
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Term
| What are the problems Watson presents with using epiphysial fusion to determine age at death? |
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Definition
| screening loss of young bones, differential preservation, treating a range as a point, use of bone tools, variance in age of fusion over time, variance in age of fusion brought on by castration |
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Term
| How does Watson suggest minimizing uncertainty in using epiphysial fusion to determine age at death? |
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Definition
| increase number of age stages, discover form of distribution of fusion age of an element |
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Term
| When does Silver say an accurate estimate of an animal's age can be made? |
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Definition
it belongs to a species or breed of which the age characteristics are well-documented (only true for modern samples)
its place of nutrition is known (can only be guessed at—often from bones you’re examining)
most of the teeth and a representative selection of bone are available (usually bones aren’t from a single animal)
it is not yet adult |
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Term
| What are some distinguishing characteristics of neonate bone? |
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Definition
-grainy
-slender long bone shaft, with bigger ends in proportion
-smooth
-sometimes really hard to distinguish by spp.
-with age, extremities become narrower by comparison
-with age, thicker, heavier bone cortex
-small prominences for tendon and muscle attachments
-in cranium, premaxilla grows (teeth move forward) |
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Term
| Where does the most accurate reading for toothwear come from? |
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Definition
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Term
What is the key problem with using toothwear to determine age at death? |
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Definition
| relationship between stage of eruption/wear and the age of the animal is not precisely known |
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Term
| What did Payne find at Asvan Kale? |
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Definition
| medieval kill-off pattern seems to resemble modern times, while Hellenistic/Late Roman Asvan seems to emphasize production of wool more |
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Term
| What is Payne's process for using toothwear to determine age at death? |
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Definition
-wherever possible, teeth are mended and replaced in the mandibles
-only record if more than half of tooth is present
-record which tooth it is, whether it is complete or not, its state of eruption, and its state of wear |
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Term
| What is important about the fact that not animals participate in domestication? |
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Definition
| signifies intent on both ends |
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Term
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Definition
a process in which humans shifted their attention from securing dead animal to securing and selectively maintaining the animals’ most important product—their offspring (from Meadow)
-biological & cultural phenomenon |
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Term
| Where were the three main places that animals were domesticated? |
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Definition
| Near East, Far East, Americas |
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Term
| What was the first species domesticated and when did it happen? |
|
Definition
dog, ~10,000 BCE
evolved as social hunters (during glacial phase of Upper Paleolithic they had the same ubiquitous distribution and they preyed on the same herds of large animals) |
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Term
| What was domesticated in the second phase and when did it happen? |
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Definition
goats, sheep, cattle, pigs (~8,000 – 6,000 BCE)
-at first for primary products (meat and hides) |
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Term
| What was domesticated in the third phase of domestication and when did it happen? |
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Definition
horses, donkeys, camels (~2,000 BCE)
-for labor
-also, secondary products of 2nd phase domesticateds |
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Term
| How does Clutton-Brock define a domestic animal? |
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Definition
bred in captivity for economic profit to a human community that maintains complete mastery over its breeding, territory, and food supply
-based off modern definition of animal husbandry |
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Term
| How does Clutton-Brock define a breed? |
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Definition
group of animals selected by man to possess a uniform appearance that is inheritable and distinguishes it from other groups of animals within the same species
-product of artificial selection by man, geographical barriers need play no role |
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Term
What are the conditions for domestication, according to Clutton-Brock?
(7) |
|
Definition
-limited home range but not territorial
-hardy (survive removal from mother, adapt to completely new environment/lifestyle)
-social animal with dominance hierarchy (inborn liking for man)
-useful (source of food)
-breed easily in captivity
-not highly adapted for instant flight
-easy to tend (docile, versatile eating habits) |
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Term
What are the archaeological criteria for recognizing domesticated animals, according to Clutton-Brock?
(9) |
|
Definition
-wild animals larger than domestic (at least at first) – then either much larger or much smaller
-why? nutrition?
-stress pathology on bones
-age/sex ratios
-face/jaws shorten
-smaller teeth
-tympanic bulla larger in wolf than dog
-domestic goats have twisted horns
-relative brain size decreases?
-sudden appearance of imported species |
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Term
| What problem did Hecker address? |
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Definition
| Question of differential domestication in Ancient Near East (by about 4000 BCE animal domestication had existed in the eastern part of the fertile crescent for thousands of years, yet east was culturally similar to west in all other ways) |
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Term
| How does Hecker define cultural control? |
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Definition
1. Deliberate interference with movement, breeding, and population structure
2. Extends over a long period of time
3. Deals with a population (not just individuals)
4. Makes animal population more accessible to humans |
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Term
| What is the exclusionist viewpoint regarding domestication? |
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Definition
| taming -> removal from nature -> breeding for profit |
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Term
| How do Stein's findings at Gritille relate to Hecker's concept of cultural control? |
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Definition
| Gritille caprine survivorship pattern accords well with Redding’s expected population structure for a domesticated herd managed with the goal of “herd security”—idea of risk management |
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Term
| What example did Hecker use to illustrate his idea of cultural control? |
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Definition
| limited corralling, or natural corralling as at Beidha, accompanied by killing at a very young age |
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Term
| How many sites did Crabtree use in attempting to understand provisioning processes associated with specialization in complex societies? |
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Definition
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Term
| What was Crabtree's goal in her analysis of four Anglo-Saxon sites? |
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Definition
establish connection between urbanization and rural herding systems
-(urban demand -> rural specialization) |
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Term
| Why did Crabtree say there were many sheep at Brandon and West Stow? |
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Definition
| for environmental/topographical reasons |
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Term
| How does Crabtree use Zeder to explain predominance of cattle and overall lack of diversity in faunal remains at Ipswich despite its environment which would favor sheep? |
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Definition
| Zeder says that provisioners for urban dwellers have an interest in species that provide most meat per animal |
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Term
| What does Crabtree say about the pigs at Wicken Bonhunt? |
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Definition
-large scale pig production may have taken place at a limited number of sites, like Wicken Bonhunt
-older pigs signal pig breeding, preponderance of heads signifies site for production |
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Term
| What are the two main problems associated with Crabtree's analysis? |
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Definition
environmental analogy: how do we know ground cover wasn’t different then?
-ad hoc nature of explanations |
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Term
| How do Bowen/Zeder describe small-scale provisioning systems? |
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Definition
non-food producers (small urban population), plantations & farms in non-urban neighboring areas
-personal exchange (between relatives/friends), no/few middlemen
-animal husbandry at farms supports the family (age makeup of herd should reflect this)
-not enough demand for farmers to shift to commercial form
-more young beef/veal (by-product of dairying)
-similar diversity between urban and rural assemblages |
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Term
| What happens as societies get larger and more complex, with regard to their provisioning systems, according to Bowen and Zeder? |
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Definition
more animals raised specifically for sale (Crabtree’s point)
Governmental regulations on where/how animals can be raised and butchered increase as society becomes more specialized
-increasingly relegated to outskirts of town
-urban assemblages lacking in heads
Personal element diminishes -> middlemen
Diversity in diet decreases in complex societies
-less wildlife
-less choice
-in Crabtree & deFrance – also see Rothschild, who found this to not really fit
-need a large sample of both urban and rural assemblages |
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Term
| How does Bowen characterize Boston's market economy? |
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Definition
intensification of cattle husbandry began when Boston’s population began to increase in 1730s
-as military became more important, military ventures diverted an unknown proportion of Boston’s supply sources away from local producers (military could pay better than urban consumers)
-markets began to appear -> farmers intensified old methods, then adopted specialized techniques
-beef was huge, as were draught oxen and dairy cows, along with cattle as a commodity to sell
-sheep were latecomers to New England, although wool-growing was important part of subsistence agriculture and demand grew hugely for roasts and spring lamb |
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Term
| What did deFrance find at the elite Bolivian highland community ofTarapaya? |
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Definition
inhospitable conditions in highlands of Bolivia meant that all of city’s food supply had to be imported; at Tarapaya (elite community), diet consisted primarily of Old World domestic animals—esp. caprines and chickens
-colonial development of agropastoralism in combination with a fluid system of trade enhanced the diversity of foodstuffs available to the colonial residents
-archaeological samples indicate that either indigenous women exerted little influence on dietary choices or they emulated the dietary habits of the Spaniards to distinguish themselves from other ethnic groups |
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Term
| How did Miller and Burger use relative frequencies in their study in Peru? |
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Definition
-used relative frequencies to demonstrate llamas in upper zones (feet and heads up high, body parts low)
-claimed vertical economy in Peru based on altitudinal ecosystems -> distribution/exchange system |
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Term
| What did Miller and Burger find characteristic of the first period of occupation at Chavin de Huantar? |
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Definition
small habitation area with the greatest faunal diversity
-transitional phase in animal procurement strategy (from wild deer to domesticated llamas)
-llamas primary importance was initially as pack animals (eaten as incidental culling of herd occurred) |
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Term
| What did Miller and Burger find to be characteristic of the intermediate period at Chavin de Huantar? |
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Definition
-c. 500 BCE, sudden integration of camelid pastoralism, then camelids constitute dominant item in diet—probably llamas
-in intermediate period, large camelids start to predominate as part of shift, although only occasionally an entire llama carcass was brought to the site on the hoof (llamas being increasingly maintained in elevated area where a significant percentage of them were slaughtered and prepared as freeze-dried meat) |
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Term
| What did Miller and Burger say about the last period of occupation at Chavin de Huantar? |
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Definition
| camelids achieve almost total monopoly of diet, and faunal assemblage corresponds with artifactual evidence suggesting socioeconomic differentiation (differential access to dried fish and shellfish) |
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Term
| What does Lyman now say regarding reasons for performing relative frequency analysis? |
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Definition
| all relative frequency studies go back to taphonomy |
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Term
| How does Bowen's relative frequency analysis of the African Meeting House and the Narbonne House relate to taphonomy? |
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Definition
| NH had many more cranium elements, but they had similar amounts of teeth; NH was a protected midden while AMH was a living floor—crania less dense than teeth, less likely to survive in living floor |
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Term
| What is the schlepp effect? |
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Definition
| hunter-gatherers bringing certain elements back from kill sites and campsites |
|
|
Term
| What reasons are there for doing relative frequency assessment, aside from taphonomy? |
|
Definition
-schlepp effect
-economic and social behavior
-ranking of good meats v. bad
-based on nutritional value, marrow, fattiness?
-cultural selection
-agricultural societies- rural and urban (not an exchange—instead, a market system)
-may distinguish among commensal animals, animals used for food, and those raised/used for non-food purposes (from Reitz and Wing)
-can help reconstruct environment (animals dying naturally probably more complete)
-animals which lived near the site might be more skeletally complete |
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Term
| What was Lyman's criticism of past attempts to discern socioeconomic status using faunal remains? |
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Definition
| has typically been done without an explicit definition of “socioeconomic status” (income level? prestige?) |
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Term
| How did Lyman suggest examining socioeconomic status using faunal material/relative frequencies? |
|
Definition
-instead of using NISP (since meat cuts have different amounts of bones), suggested calculating minimum numbers of analytic units of interest (here, # of beef cuts)
-multiply MNBC by meat yield per beef cut to get meat amount contributed per group of beef cuts
-correlate this with respective economic rank (justified and described) – for Lyman, based on amount of meat per bone (although for us, about tenderness, like tenderloin) |
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Term
| What did Reitz & Wing advise against, in determining economic value of meat cuts? |
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Definition
| frequently skeletal portions are based on modern cuts of meat and their presumed current market value |
|
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Term
| To what did Lyman apply his process? |
|
Definition
| Schulz & Gust’s data from the jail and the hotel |
|
|
Term
| What relative frequency assessment did Reitz and Wing ultimately promote? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
minimum number of animal units
-aimed at a cut of meat (but no global or historic standard) |
|
|
Term
| What is a corrected frequency? |
|
Definition
| divide # of specimens for each element by the number of times that element occurs in one individual of that species based on symmetry to produce a corrected frequency |
|
|
Term
| What is a relative frequency? |
|
Definition
| mean corrected frequency per species |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| refers to food value, used to distinguish between scavenging assemblages and human assemblages |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| Modified General Utility Index: Binford’s most popular index, based on several subsidiary indices incorporating components of utility (meat, marrow, bone, grease, etc.); reflects Binford’s concern with “riders”—elements with little utility themselves but firmly attached to elements with higher values |
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