ARCHAEOLOGY STUDY GUIDE CHAPTER 10., Exams of Health sciences

Download ARCHAEOLOGY STUDY GUIDE CHAPTER 10. and more Exams Health sciences in PDF only on Docsity! WEEK 10 Human Behavioral Ecology ➢ Make predictions about human behavior ➢ Given a certain set of payoffs and rational actors ○ What is “optimal behavior” ➢ Ex. ​Optimal Foraging Theory ○ Currency = calories (or fat, proteins, etc.) ➢ In the given enviro. ○ How should a person maximize payoffs? ➢ Have to know what was available ○ Then create ​predictions​ for arch. Record Subsistence Systems ➢ Humans make choices about what to eat ○ How do they make those decisions? ○ Ex. Cree duck hunter vs. Inuit seal hunter Optimal Foraging ➢ Cost-Benefit mode ○ Cost=Time ○ Benefit=Calories ➢ Each prey item has: ○ Payoff (calories) ○ Search Time - seasons ○ Handling Time ➢ Prey is ranked ○ What types of animals=highest rank? ■ Large ones ○ What animals are most rare (> search) ■ Large ones ➢ Mathematical models make predictions ○ If rabbit = X kcal, Elk = Y kcal ○ If rabbit encounter rate = Z /hr ○ If elk encounter rate = W / hr ➢ Can construct models about optimal behavior Patch Choice ➢ Other models, “patch choice” make predictions about mobility ○ How long should a person stay in a gathering patch ○ Given law of diminishing returns ○ But also travel costs to a new seed patch ➢ But can construct models about optimal behavior ○ And settlement patterns Optimality Models ➢ If people are not “optimal” ○ What could explain this? ○ Other factors at work: ■ Too many people/overcrowding ■ Using diff. Technologies ■ Other payoffs more important (not calories) ● Prestige ● Family size ➢ We then look for those factors ➢ Important is to ​PREDICT ​the record ○ Under certain conditions (ex. “Optimal foraging”) Subsistence / Settlement Systems ➢ People solve subsistence and settlement issues in very different ways ➢ What are some of those subsistence-settlement systems? Subsistence Systems ➢ Hunting and gathering ​- no field or crops ○ Foragers​ (travelers) - time minimizers ■ Tend to be mobile, travel long distances ○ Collectors​ (processors) - space/lamd minimizers ■ Tend to be sedentary ➢ EX. Seasonal Round: ​Foragers​ - move around landscape throughout the seasons ○ Material technologies ■ Light weight and generalized tools ○ Storage ■ Not much ➢ Ex. Seasonal Round:​ Collectors ○ Material Technologies ■ Specialized tools ○ Hunter-gatherers helped drive species to extinction ○ Many examples of overexploitation ➢ All societies do this… ○ Extinct animals in australia, south and north america, Europe, Africa ■ Sabor tooth ■ flying ducks in califronia never discovered alive ➢ Example: Easter Island (Rapa Nui) ○ Middle of Pacific Ocean ○ Populated polynesians 800-1200ad - brought chickens, rats, yams ○ Tropical Paradise - Available Resources: ■ Wood, Rich volcanic soil, obsidian, plentiful seafood ➢ 1,000 yrs later ○ Europeans arrived ○ Landscape and environment dramatically changed ○ WHAT HAPPENED? ■ Did ppl destroy environment and society collapse? ■ Or adapt? ➢ Theories ○ Competition between villages ➢ Result of complex series of factors ○ Population increase ■ Peak in ad 1500=7,000 ppl ○ Over-consumption of natural resources ■ Deforestation - why? ● Jared Diamond hypothesis: ○ Woood used for boats, rope, moving statues ○ Cleared land for agriculture ● Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo ○ Idea rat eat seed of trees ■ Rapid decline to 2,000 people by 1750 ● Jard Diamond: warfare ● Hunt and Lipo: Disease and slave trade ➢ Deforestation resulted in ○ Loss of plant and animal habitat ○ Soil erosion ➢ Loss of forest resources led to ○ Exhaustion of ocean resources ○ No boars for fishing or travel ■ Isolation ○ Warfare ➢ Why didnt people stop before it was too late? ➢ What were people thinking when the last tree died? ➢ What can WE learn from this history? ➢ Is earth a large Rapa Nui? ○ Can we generalize? ➢ People did not disappear from Rapa Nui ○ Adapted to new conditions ○ New technologies and social systems evolved (ex. rock mulch garden) ➢ What does this mean for our civilization? ➢ Can we avoid pitfalls of previous civilizations? Human Health and Disease ➢ Did people in past suffer from diseases? YES A LOT. ➢ Arch. has much to contribute ➢ Sources of information: ○ Written records (historical) ○ Bioarchaeology ■ Study if skeletons, mummies ○ Recovery of infectious agents ■ Parasites ○ Paleogenomics ■ Genetic material of infectious agents (dont habitually brush teeth) ➢ Historical Records ○ Not specific ○ Ex. cause of death = “convulsions” or “bleeding” ■ Symptoms of diseases as we know them today ○ Useful for population-level information ■ And corroborating information ➢ Bioarchaeology - Osteological ➢ Best for CHRONIC diseases; individual level ➢ Only those that leave evidence on bones ➢ Infectious diseases: ○ Tuberculosis, syphilis ➢ Non infectious: ○ Osteoma, Osteroarthrtis ➢ Long-term anemia ➢ Stress events = Linear enamel hypol[lasia; long enough to disrupt normal growth ➢ Pelogenomics ➢ Better for ancient infectious diseases ➢ Human bone/calculus/tooth ○ Put on DNA sequencer ○ Billions of DNA fragments ○ Stitch together to make genomes ○ Compare tot reference database ○ Most will be non-pathogenic microbes ■ Some may be pathogenic ■ Or potentially pathogenic ■ “Carrier” vs. “Diseased” ➢ Best to combine with ​osteology ➢ Mummfied Tissues ➢ Insights into wide range of diseases ➢ Esp. non communicable diseases ○ Diabetes, cancer, eye cataracts, etc. ○ All these present in ancient societies ➢ Combined with paleogenomics ○ Recovery of infectious pathogen DNA ■ Example: king tut had malaria ■ Medieval smallpox ➢ Mummified bodies = rare ➢ Osteological Paradox ○ People who show evidence of disease survived long enough to develop skeletal “lesions” (ex chronic) ○ May be “healthier” than those who died quickly (ex. No lesions” ➢ If no evidence for disease ○ Maybe no disease present (healthy) ○ Maybe unhealthy, but died quickly ➢ Infectious diseases ○ Highest rates in ancient states and empires ■ Urban populations ■ Often no sewage - no clean water ■ Endemic pathogens - influenza ○ Lower in small-scale societies ■ Esp. mobile/nomadic groups Human Evolution ● More and more archaeological data closer to present ● Important “events” (remember evolution is a process) 1. Bipedalism 2. Tools 3. Language 4. Art Bipedalism ● How do we know an ancestor walked upright? 1. Bowl-shaped pelvis (compared to chimpanzees pelvis) 2. Angled hip and knee joints 3. S-shaped vertebral column - chimp is C-shaped 4. Big toe, in line with others 5. Footprints! ● Ancestors bipedal ○ At least 3.5 mya ○ Probably 5 mya ● Why do humans become bipedal (theories) ? ○ Not about speed (humans are slow) 1. Prevent overheating 2. See over grasses 3. Efficient transport 4. Free hands for carrying things/making tools ● Brain size also increased ○ Brain is energetically VERY expensive ○ Why do we need big brains? ■ Neandertals, on average, had larger brains ■ Maybe make tools? ■ Cultural transmission? ■ Learning? ■ Oldest tools = oldowan ■ ABT 2.6-3 my ● Gona, ethiopia ● Lake Turkana, Kenya ● Simple broken rocks ● Cut marks on bones Tools ● Why did humans start using tools? 1. Accessing new foods (bone marrow) a. Marrow = high energy b. May have allowed brain growth c. Fire? 2. Ability to exploit new habitats with different foods 3. Central Place Foraging a. Home bases b. Tools allow foragers to bring food back ● Once tools start, slow evolution 1. Hand axes by 1.7mya 2. Prepared cores by 0.5 mya 3. Blades by .08 mya Language ● Difficult to determine, not preserved ● Neadertals structurally capable ○ Ca. 300,000 BP ○ Hyoid bone is modern ○ Helps control voice ● Some scholars think only primitive language then ● Advanced language = only fully modern humans (linked to art) ● Indirect evidence ○ Neandertals occasionally intentionally buried ■ Ca. 120,000 BP ■ Belief in the afterlife? ○ May have also fed seriously injured ■ Does this indicate care and language? Art ● Sites in South Africa ○ Blombos cave ○ 100,000 BP ○ Pigments ● Evidence of paint? Art? ○ Body camouflage/hunting? ○ More details: ANT 28 ● Oldest Musical Instrument ○ Claimed to be a flute ■ Divje Babe Cave ■ NW Slovenia ■ Ca. 43,000-82,000 yrs old ■ At least 4 holes ■ Diatonic musical scale ■ 37cm long intact ● If Neandertals had art, it is rare ● Explosion of art in Upper Paleolithic ○ 40,000BP ○ Nearly all sites have art ○ Beads, figurines, cave art Agriculture ● Relatively recent “invention” ○ What did people eat before agriculture? ■ Hunted and gathered ○ How old is Agriculture? ■ 11-12 kya ○ Where is the oldest agriculture in the world? ■ SW Asia, Fertile Crescent ● Just as ice age ending ● What kind of crop were growing? ○ Wheat, Barley, Chickpeas ● Live in small sedentary communities ○ 50-100 people ● Happened over and over in prehistory ○ At least 7 major “centers”, as many as 10 ■ Exact # debated ● Lumpers vs. splitters ■ Suites of plants independently domesticated ● All within 8,000 yrs of one another ● Successfully replaced Hunters and Gathers ○ HGs still live on margins in many areas ● Every continent besides Australia ● Europe is a secondary center of agriculture Domestication: ● Genotypic and phenotypic modification of species a. States benefit everyone b. Coordinate specialists c. Facilitate economy of scale = greater efficiency 2. Conflict Perspective a. States benefit few people = elites b. Elites use power to maintain status c. Exploit the masses for their own benefit i. Take food, take labor, etc. Theories on Origins of States 1. Population Pressure ​(Urban Revolution) a. Populations grow naturally b. People need organization to operate/keep peace c. Integration Perspective 2. Technology Specialization ​(Economic Efficiency) a. More people = more demand for goods b. Need mass production and craft specialists i. Goods with economies of scale c. Needs organization d. Integration Perspective 3. Redistribution​ (Technology and Trade) a. Environments have highs and lows in density b. Move to centralized areas and redistribute i. Controllers of markets take cut c. Needs organization 4. Irrigation​ (Need for Organization) a. In arid environments, irrigation stabilizes water b. Canals= large-scale construction c. Needs organization i. Scheduling, cleaning, etc. d. Integration Perspectiive 5. Warfare​ (Protection in Numbers) a. When resources short supply, warfare an option b. Need military to protect c. Needs Organization - Banding together = more power i. Warriors need food/compensation 6. Marxist Explanations a. Certain individuals gain access to means of production b. Exploit this to their benefit c. For AG = land and labor d. Religion (opiate of people) = common way to support i. To support and perpetuate elites Origins of Writing Writing Systems ● Develop independently in many areas of world ● Usually with state-level societies ○ Sometimes in chiefdoms ● Major Scripts and Date of Origin (LOOK ON PHONE) ● South American empires never developed writing ○ Used ​Quipus ■ To keep track of things ○ Is this writing? ● Writing used to ​record and keep track​ of many things ○ Transactions ○ Laws ○ Taxes ○ People ● But also for ​political and social purposes ○ Stories and myths ○ History ○ Propaganda ● Also to bamboozle people and discourage critical thinking ● Many different media ○ Stone ○ Paper ○ Bamboo ○ Wood ○ Metal ○ Bone Proto-Writing ● Precursors of writing in Mesopotamia ca. 7000 BP ● Consistent of seals and/or signatures ● Recorded transaction, counting items ● NOT TRUE WRITING ● Around 5500 appears to be more like true writing ● Script = characters used ○ I.e. Roman, Cyrillic, Chinese ● Language = spoken word ○ I.e. English, Mandarin, Hopi ● Same script can be used to write in different languages ● People often borrow scripts (c and k same sound ) ○ Add new symbols for sounds in their language ○ And drop other symbols ● Writing systems evolve and change, as does language ○ Languages change faster than writing ○ Writing more conservative ● Why do we write: ○ Through, Cough, Thought, Dough, Bough (these used to have same sound - language evolved not writing) ○ With the same letters, yet they sound different Chinese Writing ● Evolution of symbols very clear from study of ancient scripts ● Evolution of sign for horse Types of Writing Systems ● Pictographic ○ Represent words or ideas ○ Elements visually portray associated meanings ○ I.e. box for house, or stick figure for human ➔ Easy to decipher meaning of texts ◆ Even if language unknown ◆ Don’t need to speak language to read text ◆ Universal understanding ➔ But can never know how language actually sounded ➔ Script preserves meaning not language ● Syllabic ○ Syllables represented by signs ○ Used to phonetically spell words ➔ 60-200 individual signs ● Alphabetic ○ Signs represent individual distinctive sounds of phonemes = spoken language ➔ 20-60 Individual signs ● ALPHABETIC AND SYLLABIC ➔ Have to know language and script to decipher ◆ Harder to decipher meaning of texts ➔ But possible to know what language sounded like ➔ Script Preserves language not meaning ■ Cited as proof of biblical “giants” ■ Goliath ○ Archaeologists said fake ○ Visitors charged money to see ○ Later, sld to a syndicate ● People are eager for data to support beliefs ○ Want to believe! ● Burial box of “James, brother of Jesus” ● Box is old, inscriptions is not ● Sold by man with history of making and selling fakes ● Even scientists can spread false information ○ Pittdown Man = Fabrication! ● Result of 2 main things: ○ 1. English Nationalism (most advanced, sophisticated wanted to evolve first) ○ 2. Belief in a particular model about evolution ● But then found skulls in Africa that show real evolution ● How to evaluate data (minimize hoaxes) 1. Peer Review 2. Credentials of reviewers and authors 3. Falsifiable 4. Look for possible ideological and commercial benefits to authors ● Scientific method is the BEST way to evaluate data 1. Self-correcting a. Is there bad science? YES b. But people falsify those results eventually 2. Cumulative knowledge-building a. Can it answer all questions? NO b. But ultimately strives to 3. Provides a basis to assess claims ● At UCD, you have an advantage ○ Learn not what to think, but how to think ○ Critical thinking Who owns the past? ● Archaeologists often study past of “other” people ○ Can be politically charged ● Does everyone “own” the past? ● Or only some people? ● Archaeology: it is our collective past ○ We all own the past ○ No one group should interpret or control Archaeological Viewpoint ● Sites are IRREPLACEABLE resources ● Must be conserved and managed ● Sites are part of a shared HERITAGE ○ National and human heritage ○ We all collectively own and learn from the past ● People who plunder, rob us all of that heritage ○ Often committing a crime ● Federal, state, and local agencies need to protect ● 1906 American Antiquities Act ○ Destroying sites on US land a crime ■ Jail time and fine ○ Does not protect sites on private land ● National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) ○ 1966 ○ Gave more protection ○ Included a “Section 106” ○ Impacted sites on Federal Land have to be “mitigated” ● California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) ○ 1970 ○ Some protection for sites on state and private land ● All people deserve to have their story told ● Archaeologists work to do that ● But treat traces of the past with respect ● Work with descendant communities