History 8 Archaeology Vocabulary

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Vocabulary

• artifacts-

Things that have been modified by human beings. They can be of stone, clay, bone, wood, or any other naturally occurring material. (Manual for Cultural Foundations of Ancient Civilization, page 5)

• define types of artifacts:
  • technic- artifacts which are strictly useful (CF page 5)
  • ideotechnic- artifacts which show a relationship (CF page 5)
  • sociotechnic- artifacts which show social class (CF page 5)

• ecofacts- "Ecological items that become associated with a site through natural processes, such as pollen deposition or natural preservation of insect remains. This includes seeds, wood remains, pollen...anything that provides information on the ecological setting of the site." (CF Manual page 5)
  • If you would like to learn more about ecofacts, go to [1]
• features- “Things that cannot be taken back to the laboratory for analysis because they are actually part of the earth or because moving will alter or destroy them are called features.” (CF Manual p5)
  • Examples of features are “…postholes, pits, house floors, mounds, cairns, middens...”.
  • [2]

• relics-

• records-

• source-

• Define primary sources and the types of things that might be a primary source.-

• Define a secondary source.-

• bias Give the criteria to identify it.-

According to [3], bias is "a preference or inclination, especially one that inhibits impartial judgement. Bias exists because of the authors. Documents often reflect the view of the upper class becuase most documents were written by men who were more educated and intelligent than averge. To help identify bias one can ask themself four questions: Are both sides of the subject expressed?, Are any of the facts unclear or vague?, Do the presented facts support the conclusion, and Are claims followed by examples or evidence? Click on the link for more about the criteria for identifying bias. [4] Also, a section on bias can be found on page 8 in the manual.