ANT203Y1 Lecture : ANT203 - January 10 2012.pdf
Document Summary
Paleoprimatologist: a person who specializes in the study of the nonhuman primate fossil record. Paleoanthropologist: a person who specializes in the study of ancient humans; a multidisciplinary endeavour including geologists, archaeologists, physical anthropologists and paleoecologists. Interpreting fossil remains: geological knowledge / relative dating (stratigraphy, paleoenvironments, plant/ animal fossils, absolute dating techniques (carbon, uranium, k/ar) Taphonomy: the study of the process of sedimentation and formation of a site, and whether materials are in primary or secondary context. Includes the process that occurs with an organism after its death. Context: the environmental setting where an archaeological trace is found. Primary context: the setting in which the archaeological trace was originally deposited. Secondary context: one in which the specimen has been moved (such as by the action of a stream). Taphonomic processes and diagenesis: must consider soil ph / drainage, water, geology, weathering (sun, wind), roots, animal and insect activity (bioturbation), subsequent human activity, looting.
