Chapter 1/Lesson 1
Key Terms:

archaeology | The study of the human past, combining the themes of time and change. | culture | A uniquely human means of nonbiological adaptation; a repertoire of learned behaviors for coping with the physical and social environments | artifact | Any object or item created or modified by human action. | evolution | The process of change over time resulting from shifting conditions of the physical and cultural environments, involving mechanisms of mutation and natural selection. | fieldwork | The search for archaeological sites in the landscape through surveys and excavations. | site | The accumulation of artifacts and/or ecofacts, representing a place where people lived or carried out certain activities | survey | A systematic search of the landscape for artifacts and sites on the ground through aerial photography, field walking, soil analysis, and geophysical prospecting. | shell midden | A mound of shells accumulated from human collection, consumption, and disposal; a dump of shells from oysters, clams, mussels, or other species found along coasts and rivers, usually dating to the Holocene. | excavation | The exposure and recording of buried materials from the past. | ethnography | The study of human cultures through firsthand observation. | economy | The management and organization of the affairs of a group, community, or establishment to ensure their survival and productivity. | technology | The combination of knowledge and manufacturing techniques that enables people to convert raw materials into finished products. | rank | A relationship of inequality between members of society in which status is determined by kinship relations of birth order and lineage | organization | The arrangements between individuals and groups in human society that structure relationships and activities | egalitarian | A term that refers to societies lacking clearly defined status differences between individuals, except for those due to sex, age, or skill. | class | A relationship of inequality between members of society in which status is determined by membership in a level or class | craft specialists (or craft specialization) | Individuals involved in part- or full-time activities devoted to the production of a specific class of goods, often highly valued. | cosmology | The worldview of a group or society, encompassing their understanding of the universe, their origins and existence, and nature. | hierarchical | A term referring to societies that have a graded order of inequality in ranks, statuses, or decision makers | ideology | A conceptual framework by which people structure their ideas about the order of the universe, their place in that universe, and their relationships among themselves and with objects and other forms of life around them. | petroglyph | A drawing that has been carved into rock. | pictograph | A written or painted symbol that more or less portrays the represented object. | shaman | An anthropological term for a spiritualist, curer, or seer. |

Steps tp study past human cultures: 1. Discovery- a. Includes fieldwork 2. Analysis- b. Can happen during fieldwork, but most detailed aspects occur after. c. Goals: studying, examining, and describing materials and compiling data on their use and age. 3. Interpretation- d. Most important e. Utilizes discovery & analysis to explain how and why of major concepts (i.e. rise and fall of civilizations, etc.) f. Can be ongoing
Questions archeologists answer about past in regards to biological and cultural evolution: Why do humans now walk upright? Why do modern humans wear clothes?
Chapter notes:
Earth approximately 4.6 billion years old
Page 5 for periods in geological time (1.Pre-Cambrian, 2.Paleozoic, 3.Mesozoic, 4.Cenozoic)
Evolution- some occurs gradually and some occur in rapid spurts
Sites found thru archival research and fieldwork
Survey and excavation are the primary discovery techniques
Basic archeological field survey involved systematic field walking (walk up and down surfaces)
In situ- “In place”; describes remains in their original position
10:
First groups of farmers around 11000 years ago

Chapter 2 pgs 35-65/Lesson 2
Key Terms

fossil | The mineralized bone of an extinct animal | hominid | An obsolete term that refers to the human members of the primates, both fossil and modern forms | hominin | A current term that refers to the human, chimp, and gorilla members of the primates, both fossil and modern forms. | hominoid | A descriptive term for any human or ape, past or present, characterized by teeth shape, the absence of a tail, and swinging arms | paleoanthropology | The branch of anthropology that combines archaeology and physical anthropology to study the biological and behavioral remains of the early hominins | Sexual dimorphism | A difference in size between the male and female members of a species | relative dating | A technique used to estimate the antiquity of archaeological materials, generally based on association with materials of known age or simply to say that one item is younger or older than another | radiopotassium dating | An absolute dating technique based on the principle of decay of the radioactive isotope of potassium, 40K. Also called potassium-argon dating | percussion flaking | A technique for producing stone artifacts by striking or knapping crystalline stone with a hard or soft hammer | bipedalism | The human method of locomotion, walking on two legs | absolute dating | A method of assigning archaeological dates in calendar years so that an age in actual number of years is known or can be estimated | half-life | A measure of the rate of decay in radioactive materials; half the radioactive material will disappear within the period of one half-life | cutmark | A trace left on bone by a stone or metal tool used in butchering a carcass | Oldowan | The name given to the assemblages of early pebble tools and flakes belonging to the Basal Paleo lithic, derived from Olduvai | core | The stone from which other pieces or flakes are removed. Core tools are shaped by the removal of flakes | hammerstone | A stone used to knock flakes from cores. | tool | Any equipment, weapon, or object made by humans to change their environment. | Plio-Pleistocene | A generic term for the period of the Pliocene and early Pleistocene, used to describe the age of fossil finds, approximately 3–1 m.y.a |

Oldowan tools- oldest known tools, appearing in Ethiopia 2.4 million years ago
Two main dating methods: 1. Relative dating- main method; estimates age of artifiact by associating artifact with materials of known age 2. Absolute dating- provide precise age in calendar years; most common technique is radiocarbon decay
Early Hominins developed three important characteristics: 1. Bipedalism 2. Larger brain 3. Creation and use of tools
Chapter notes:
Potassium-argon dating- helps determine age of earliest human remains
Argon-argon dating- more accurate version of potassium-argon dating
Bones and artifacts not directly dated; instead rocks and ash that lie directly under or over the material is analyzed
Ardipithecus were small brained and large teeth
Homo Habilis were large teeth, small brain- gave rise to erectus which had larger brains, thicker enamel and reduction in sexual dimorphism

Chapter 2 pgs 66-96/Lesson 3
Key Terms 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. | Neolithic | The period of time of early farmers with domesticated plants and animals, polished stone tools, permanent villages, and often pottery. | handaxe | A large, teardrop-shaped stone tool bifacially flaked to a point at one end and a broader base at the other | sexual division of labor | The cooperative relationship between the sexes in hunter-gatherer groups involving different male and female task activity. | Acheulean | A major archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic, named after the site of St. Acheul in France. |

Chapter 3 pgs 99-150/Lesson 4
Key Terms hyoid bone | A delicate bone in the neck that anchors the tongue muscles in the throat. | ancient DNA | Genetic material preserved in archaeological remains of bones and plants that can be studied for information about past genetic relationships | Mousterian | A term describing the stone tool assemblages of the Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic, named after the site of Le Moustier in France. | mural art | Painting, engraving, and sculpting on the walls of caves, shelters, and cliffs | portable art | Decorated materials that can be moved or carried | radiocarbon dating | An absolute dating technique based on the principle of decay of the radioactive isotope of carbon, 14C; used to date archaeological materials within the past 40,000 years. |
Pale skin/light pigment in European populations may be recent, past 10,000 years.

Chapter 3 pgs 151-176/Lesson 5
Key Terms transhumance | A pattern of seasonal movement usually associated with pastoralists who take their herds to the mountains in summer and to the valleys in winter; more generally, a regular pattern of seasonal movement by human groups | pithouse | A prehistoric semisubterranean dwelling in which the lower parts of the walls were the earthen sides of a shallow pit; the top parts of the walls often consisted of a framework of poles intertwined with small twigs, covered with mud. | midden | An accumulated pile of trash and waste materials near a dwelling or in other areas of an archaeological site. | Mesolithic | The period of time of hunter-gatherers in Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia between the end of the Pleistocene and the introduction of farming; the Middle Stone Age. | hunter-gatherer | A hunter of large wild animals and gatherer of wild plants, seafood, and small animals, as opposed to farmers and food producers. | grave goods | The items that are placed in graves to accompany the deceased. |