ANT200Y1 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Tool Stone, Oldowan, Lewis Binford
ANT 200 Exam Study Guide
Part A: Dating Methods
Radiocarbon Dating
- How does it work: C14 half life and mixing
o C14 is formed when cosmic rays hit nitrogen in the atmosphere and then form
molecules of C02
o Absorbed by plants through photosynthesis and spread through biosphere
o Ratio of C14 to other isotopes of carbon is a global constant
o C14 decays at a regular rate when an organism dies it stops accumulating C14 and
decay begins
- What context can they be applied: can only date carbonaceous material that have been
preserved
o Dates are calibrated
o Specific to terrestrial biozones (not marine context)
- Developed by Willard Libby in 1949, nobel prize
- Before most common method of dating was relative→seriation dating
- Limit of radiocarbon dating was about 50-60,000 YA
Argon Dating
- Developed partly by U of T physicist
- Levels of ash called “Tuff”
- How does it work: Accumulation clock
o Based on accumulation over time
o Need to have a 0 point/point of interest
- Accumulation of 40Argon
- Clock set to zero by volcanic eruption
- Argon is volatile
- 40K (Potassium) decays into Argon at a known constant rate
o Radioactive
o Decays into Argon
- Take a sample of ash from these Tuff layers, measuring the amount of accumulated argon
and divide by the annual rate, you can calculate back to how long ago the volcano
erupted
- What context can they be applied: dating minerals and rocks more than 100,000 years old
Paleomagnetic Dating
- How does it work:
o Geologists take readings of dated profiles going back hundreds of thousands of
years
o Volcanoes aren’t always available for argon method, so this method can be useful
o Some dating goes back over 60 million years
o The last time magnetic fields were normal (sediment orientation) was less than
700,000 YA, then 1 MYA, then 1.8 MYA
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o Sediments that are not the modern orientation are constrained
- What context can they be applied: only available in measuring magnetic orientation of
sediments
Thermoluminescence
- How does it work:
o Time range = 40-200,000 YA
o Picks up where C-14 left off
o Measures the light energy of electrons trapped in crystal lattices of minerals
o These electrons are absorbed at a set rate in a given location
o Heating releases these electrons, “resetting” the clock
o A local steady state having to do with the background radiation in the soil (then
can figure out how much energy has been added into artifact since)
o Useful because the light energy can be driven out through heating (this accurately
measures the accumulation of light energy since)
o At this time, Neanderthals had been throwing a lot of flint into fire (so any
trapped electrons were driven out and the TL clock was set to ‘0’) back in the lab,
dosimeters are used to measure local uptake conditions (the TL measured in burnt
flint dates the burning of the flint)
o TL Dating Results:
▪ Neanderthal sites mostly around 50,000 Y old
▪ Qafzeh and El Wad between 90-100,000 Y old
▪ So, everything we had thought was wrong
▪ Modern humans were not the direct descendants of the Neanderthals (two
separate species, Phylogenetically separate lineages were very clear,
supported by genetic evidence)
▪ Puts the split between the lineages somewhere between 500-800,000 years
ago
What context can they be applied: can only be used in materials contacting minerals because it
measures heat and sunlight exposure of minerals
Part B: Fundamental Methods of Archaeology
Importance of Context
- Context is everything (ex// Geological context, etc.)
- There is always a give and take in archaeological ethics
- What often makes artifacts important is that they were found together—they are a
package, which provides context
- Archaeology is a discipline that pays attention to detail
Role of Sampling
- Must be related to your goal
- Total coverage
o Conceivable but rare
- Random
o Distribute search areas randomly across area, relatively unbiased sample
- Random-stratified
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o Sample many random landscapes, represented sample of each zone
- Iterative (Bayesian)
o Incorporate prior knowledge
o Based on data and statistics
o You don’t start off knowing strategy, you build as you go along
o Able to target and focus efforts, while still getting quantitative and reasonable
results
Goals of Survey
- Find Sites
- Find Patterns
o Look at patterning of material culture across the landscape
- Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Logistical (Collectors)
o You move around, but have one base
o Base Camp (where you live most of the time)
▪ Lithic Quarry
▪ Hunting Site
▪ Nut Trees
▪ Marsh
o Mobility: how do they move around their landscape
o In your archaeological survey, you find many sub-sites you may also expect to
find task specific tool kits
▪ Ex// Hunting camp may have arrow heads
o May find heavy objects, that can’t be transported easily, at a base camp
- Hunter-Gatherer Mobility: Residential (Foragers)
o Seasonal Camp → Seasonal Camp → Seasonal Camp → Seasonal Camp
o Variety in plant remains, animal’s bones, etc.
o Expect to have a much more even picture here, should find a whole range of
activities
o Wouldn’t expect any built installations, no heavy items (moving around too much
to lug around)
- Often times understanding how a city works/runs you have to look outside the main city
→ this is done through SURVEY
- Method #1: Field walking/Pedestrian Survey
o Divide study area into transects along grid lines
o Situational differences direction of plough scars (different kind of tools makes
different type of furrow), forest cover, weather, experience of surveyors
o Determining “sweep width” (10 metres? 1 metre?) is based on numerous aspects,
skill, familiarity with local artifacts, conditions, etc.
▪ Flags are often used to mark the location of artifacts (different
colours=different types of artifacts) often accompanied by “sketch maps”
- Method #2: Test-pitting
o Dig down and sift for artifacts
- Rationale (finding good places to excavate)
o Artifacts
o Literary sources
o Oral sources
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Document Summary
What context can they be applied: can only date carbonaceous material that have been preserved: dates are calibrated, specific to terrestrial biozones (not marine context) Developed by willard libby in 1949, nobel prize. Before most common method of dating was relative seriation dating. Limit of radiocarbon dating was about 50-60,000 ya. Developed partly by u of t physicist. How does it work: accumulation clock: based on accumulation over time, need to have a 0 point/point of interest. Clock set to zero by volcanic eruption. 40k (potassium) decays into argon at a known constant rate: radioactive, decays into argon. Take a sample of ash from these tuff layers, measuring the amount of accumulated argon and divide by the annual rate, you can calculate back to how long ago the volcano erupted. What context can they be applied: dating minerals and rocks more than 100,000 years old.
