Anthropology exam 1

Any object or item created or modified by human action.

Any of the remains of plants, animals, sediments, or other unmodified materials that result from human activity.

The study of strata, or layers of rock or soil

(in rock layers) Each layer of rock or soil is older than the layer above it and younger than the rock layer below it.

Dating layers of rock and soil by using the different rocks and soil above and below

Anywhere where there is a spatial concentration of material evidence or artifacts

Explaining or telling the meaning of something in understandable terms

The place where the artifact was located and its surroundings.

Any material remains of past human life or activities which are archaeological interest

The branch of anthropology that combines archaeology and physical anthropology to study the biological and behavioral remains of the early hominins

The human method of locomotion, walking on two legs

A current term that refers to the human, chimp, and gorilla members of the primates, both fossil and modern forms

Brain size measured in cubic centimeters (cc); brains get larger over time

The generic term for the various species of the genus Australopithecus, including A. ramidus, A. afarensis, and A. africanus.

The name given to the assemblages of early pebble tools and flakes belonging to the Basal Paleo-lithic, derived from Olduvai.

A percus-sion technique for making stone tools by striking one stone, or core, with another stone, or hammer.

A flintknap-ping technique that involves the use of a hammer of bone, antler, or wood, rather than stone.

The study of the human past, combining the themes of time and change.

The exposure and recording of buried materials from the past.

One of the two major categories of Paleolithic art, along with portable art. Mural art consists of painting, engraving, and sculpting on the walls of the caves, shelters, and cliffs of southwestern Europe; one of the hallmarks of the Upper Paleolithic.

The first period of human prehistory, extending from the time of the first tools, more than 2.5 m. y. a., until the end of the Pleistocene, 10,000 years ago. Characterized by the use of flaked stone tools, it is also known as the Old Stone Age.

The period of time of early farmers with domesticated plants and animals, polished stone tools, permanent villages, and often pottery; the New Stone Age.

Amajor archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic; named after the site of St. Acheul in France. A hallmark of the Acheulean is the handaxe.

A term describing the stone tool assemblages of the Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic, named after the site of Le Moustier in France. See also Acheulean.

A technique for manufactur-ing large, thin flakes or points from a carefully prepared core; first used during the Lower Paleolithic and remaining common during the Middle Paleolithic. The method wasted flint and was generally not used in areas of scarce raw materials.

An iron mineral that occurs in nature; used by prehistoric peoples in powdered form as a pigment for tanning animal skins; often found in burials from the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic.

One of the two major categories of Paleolithic art, along with mural art. Portable art includes all decorated materials that can be moved or carried; found throughout Europe and much of Eurasia.

A hunter of large wild animals and gatherer of wild plants, seafood, and small animals, as opposed to farmers and food producers. Hunting and gathering characterized the human subsistence pattern before the domestication of plants and ani-mals and the spread of agriculture. Hunter- gatherers are also known as foragers.

The taming of wild plants and animals by humans. Plants are farmed and become dependent on humans for propagation; animals are herded and often become dependent on their human caretakers for food and protection.

The human manipulation or fostering of a plant species ( often wild) to enhance or ensure production, involving such techniques as clearing fields, preparing soil, weeding, protecting plants from animals, and providing water to produce a crop.

Lewis Binford’s theory that population in-crease in Southwest Asia upset the balance between people and food, forcing people to turn to agriculture as a way to produce more food.

Living in permanent, year-round contexts, such as villages.