Archaeology terms Exam Questions And Answers

Archaeology - ANS study of ancient things Simple random - ANS Sampling in which the quadrants chosen are completely random Stratified random - ANS Sampling in which the quadrants chosen are random, but guaranteed to cover a certain area Systematic sampling - ANS Sampling in which the quadrants chosen are done so in a grid pattern Bulb of percussion - ANS A convex surface on a stone from pressure applied to the opposite side Flake/blade - ANS A piece of stone struck off from a core Cortex - ANS The unusable outer part of a stone Striking platform - ANS Flat surface of a stone where a hammer is used to strike off a flake Dorsal - ANS The side of a flake that was outermost. The concentric rings are visible here. Ventral - ANS The side of the flake that was innermost. The bulb of percussion is visible here. Conchoidal fracture - ANS Curved fracturing present in obsidian Archaeological record - ANS The collection of artifacts, ecofacts, and features, all which were modified by humans Context - ANS The relationship of archaeological materials at a site Provenience - ANS An artifact's location within a site Matrix - ANS The material in which an artifact is found Association - ANS The spatial relationship between items in the archaeological record LIDAR - ANS Light Detection and Ranging, used for large site mapping Magnetometry - ANS Measure of magnetic abnormalities which signal human behavior Ground Penetrating Radar - ANS Technology that maps the positioning of items underground based on radar signals Vertical excavation - ANS A small, deep excavation that analyzes the progression of time at a site Horizontal excavation - ANS A wide excavation done all at one level that analyzes activity of one era Stratigraphy - ANS the study of rock layers and the sequence of events they reflect Large scale map - ANS Map that covers a smaller area with greater detail Small scale map - ANS Map that covers a larger area with less detail Profile mapping - ANS Side view of a site, like vertical excavation, showing progression of time Plan mapping - ANS Overhead view of a site Layer - ANS An archaeologically created layer Level - ANS An arbitrary layer created by an archaeologist B.C. and A.D. - ANS Before Christ/Anno Domini BCE and ACE - ANS Before Common Era and After Common Era MYA - ANS million years ago 2500 +/- 50 BP - ANS Before Present Law of Superposition - ANS Things on top are youngest, while things on bottom are oldest Index fossil - ANS Relative dating. A fossil present in a certain era that allows for dating. In archaeology, projectile points are these.