Review for Anthoropology

Know the approximate time boundary between prehistory and history and what development it is based on.
  Archaeologists define prehistory as that portion of human history that extends back some 2.5 million years before the time of written documents and archives.
  History is the study of human experience through the time of written documents, has a much shorter time span. Written records go back to the 5,000 years ago in western Asia.
1. What percentage of human existence has been in prehistoric times?
2. Name the forms of prestate societies. (P.28 Box)
  Prestate societies are small-scale societies, based on the community, band, or village. They vary greatly in their degrees of political integration and sometimes divided into three loosely defined categories:
  1. Bands are associations of families that may nor exceed twenty-five to sixty people.
  2. Tribes are clusters of bands that are linked by clans (formal kin groups).
  3. Chiefdoms are a controversial category, for they display great differences in organization and social complexity, making them hard to define precisely.
3. What is superposition and stratigraphy in an archaeological site? (P17, F1-6)

4. Know the difference between pseudo archaeology and actual archaeology.
  When such unrealistic subjects (for example, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, and King Solomon's Mines) are treated more seriously, accusations of pseudoscience are invariably levelled at their proponents. Pseudoarchaeology is an umbrella term for all activities that claim to be archaeological but in fact violate commonly accepted archaeological practices. It includes much fictional archaeological work, as well as some actual activity. (from wikipedia)
5. The main kind of data that archaeologists rely upon is called (2 words). Radiocarbon dating
6. Know the 4 main kinds of dating techniques, what time periods they are associated with, and what kinds of things each can date.
  1. Historical records (present... [continues]

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