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80 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What is a Symbol: Introduction |
- Topic is intimately bound up with ideology |
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What is a Symbol: Defn |
- something that stands for something else |
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What is a Symbol? |
- consistent with Saussure’s definition of a “linguistic sign” but what about material practices? |
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Three Sign Types |
1) Symbol 2) Icon 3) Index |
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Sign Type: Symbol (Signifying Process & Examples) |
- By convention (the relation between sign and signifies must be learned) - ex. words, gestures |
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Sign Type: Icon (Signifying Process & Examples) |
By resemblance
Examples: - photos |
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Sign Type: Index (Signifying Process & Examples) |
By causal or existential connection
Examples: - symptoms ie: cough suggests a cold |
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The Archaeology of Symbols (Two focused on) |
- how have symbols been conceptualized by archaeologists? - in Structuralist Thought - in Processualism |
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Symbols in Structuralism & Processualism (two examples) |
- eg. Leroi-Gourhan’s (1982) analysis of French Palaeolithic cave art |
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Problems with Symbols & Archaeology |
- two problems with the above thoughts |
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Art |
in effect, the rendering of ‘symbols’ generally within a certain stylistic tradition |
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Style |
distinctive patterning of elements recognized within a group as appropriate for a particular kind of art |
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Problems with Art as an Analytical Category |
- in the ‘modern west’ art is seen as a ‘realm’ of culture - as well, it is something to be appreciated for its beauty |
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Aesthetics |
How the senses are socialized and attuned to aspects of the physical world in culturally-meditated ways |
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Art & Aesthetics |
- few other cultures view ‘art’ as a realm of culture, and this was likely true in the past as well |
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Oldest Known Art |
-upper Palaeolithic Period, ca. 30-10 kya |
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Parietal Art |
· engraved and painted animals (bison, horse, wild boar, ibex common) + humans, hands and geometric shapes |
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Mobiliary Art |
· many different media-clay, wood, fibre, hides, only a small portion of which survives today |
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Grotte de Chauvet |
- example of old art site - SE France, Ardeche |
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Approaches to Religion |
Tylor, Durkeim, Durran |
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Tylor |
the belief in spiritual beings |
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Durkeim |
a set of beliefs and practices by which society represents itself to itself |
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Durran |
a system of collective, public actions which conform to rules (ritual) and usually express "beliefs" |
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Classifying Religion (Two Types) |
world religions vs primal religions |
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World Religions |
Features of World Religion (ex: Christianity, Islam, Judaism) after Bowie (2000) |
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Primal Religions |
Features of Traditional/ Primal Religions after Bowie (2000) |
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Two Types of Dating |
- direct dating: dates the artifact/ecofact |
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Kinds of Dates |
- Relative: one artifact or level is younger/older than another |
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Relative Dating Techniques |
Seriation Sequence Comparison Obsidian Hydration |
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Seriation |
- technique used to order artifactual materials from one or more context(s) |
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Seriation Assumptions |
- typical assumption re: patterning - other assumptions:
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Sequence Comparison |
- comparing unknown sequence to known |
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Obsidian Hydration |
- discovered in 1960 by Irving Friedman and Robert L. Smith |
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Chronometric Dating Techniques |
Calendar Dendrochronology Radiometric Dating: - Radiocarbon Dating - Potassium Argon Thermoluminescence Dating |
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Calendar Dating |
- have written records in some places so can use those - Notions of time: |
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Dendrochronology |
- non-radiometric - tree-ing dating of preserved wood |
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Radiometric Dating |
- concern: bias |
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Radiocarbon (14C) Dating |
- radioactive isotope or variety of carbon which forms in the atmosphere |
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Radiocarbon Dating: Two Forms |
- conventional: measures rate of decay per unit of time |
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Radiocarbon Dating: Reporting |
- radiocarbon years BP (e.g.. 770 +- 40 years) |
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Radiocarbon Dating: Calibration |
- conversion to date in calendrical years |
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Potassium Argon (K-Ar) Dating |
- same principle as 14C:radioacitive decay |
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Thermoluminescence Dating |
- works on pottery and HT cherts/flints |
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Two Questions to when Considering how societies were organized |
- what was the size or scale of the soviet? |
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Classifications of Societies (What Model? How did classify?) |
- one model in Archaeology - Service(1962) - Classification based on size & scale: - bands - tribes - chiefdom - state - problems: - unilinear
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Bands |
- small scale ( < 100 people) |
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Tribes |
- larger than bands (~1000-2000 people) |
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Cheifdom |
- larger than tribes (~5000 - 20000+ people) |
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State |
- pre-industrial |
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Internal Organizations |
- some archeological indicators |
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Funerary Customs |
- burial mode: |
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Trade & Exchange |
- can take the form of: - redistribution eg. potlatch |
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Settlement |
- nature and extent of settlement features |
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Settlement Systems: Bands |
Forgers Collectors - continuum proper by Lewis inform (1980) as a way to account for diversity in hunter0gatherer life ways |
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Forgers |
- residential mobility - short-term base camps, forays over limited distances |
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Collectors |
- logistical mobility - more complex, fewer moves |
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Settlement Systems: Tribes/Chiefdom |
sedentary settlement |
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Settlement Systems: States |
hierarchical settlement system |
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Social Organization: Gender/Sex |
- how do gender roles vary through time & across space? |
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Gender/Sex Case Study Example |
- Moche, North Coast, Peru ca. 200 BC - AD 700 |
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What is a Complex Society? |
- typically associated with chiefdoms and states |
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Writing (Complex Society) |
- writing: |
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Pictographic Symbols |
- one to one correspondence between the depiction and what it depicts |
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Logographical/ Ideographic |
- abstract formal correspondence between depiction and word |
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Syllabic/ Alphabetic |
- syllabic - written symbol for each syllable |
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Metallurgy (Complex Society) |
- early metalworking (Copper/Bronze/Iron Age) ca. 4000-600 BC |
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Predictive Science (Complex Society) |
- typified by astronomy |
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Urbanism (Complex Society) |
- not simply a product of increased (settlement) size but also density - also involves… |
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Occupational Specialization |
- consumers and producers have different skill sets, may no longer know one another, or occupy the same settlements |
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Complex Society in North China (Case Study Example) |
- states |
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Monumental Architecture (Complex Society) |
reflects economic, social and political differentiation within the community |
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Complex Society Models: Single Cause |
- Karl Wittfogel (1957) - Irrigation |
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Complex Society Models: Multiple Cause |
- V. Gordon Chile - ‘Urban Revolution’ |
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Archaeology Roots: Colonialism |
- much of archaeology is intimately tied to the colonial enterprise |
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Archaeology Roots: Privilege |
- Boas and other early anthropologists and archaeologists were able to pursue their studies because of certain privileges including: |
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Problems with Roots of Archaeology |
- how does one get past this legacy? |
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Decolonizing Archaeology |
- Major shifts in theory/methods/ethics |
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Decolonizing Archaeology: Challenges |
- conflicting ethics and gaining trust |
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Ethics |
- SAA Code of Ethics (1996) - stewardship |
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A Shift in Archaeology Today! |
- major shift in theory/methods/ethics |