Anthropology

ANTHRO FINAL EXAM STUDY NOTES

Key Concepts

II. Primate Fossils:

1. Describe the process of fossilization and the circumstances that provide the best preservation of material.

1. Organism dies
2. Body is preserved through:

1. Rapid permanent burial-protects organisms from scavengers and elements. Stable environment
2. Anaerobic conditions-without oxygen. Waterlogged sites.
3. Sediment accumulation-layers of soil, protects from elements
4. Absence of heat and compression
5. Mummification-anaerobic conditions, extreme cold. Air flow. Constant wet/dry environment.
6. Ideal circumstances- sediment under water. Lakes, rivers, marshes. Anaerobic.
7. Lithification-turns soft sediment into rock. sediments compact under pressure, expel connate fluids, and gradually become solid rock.
8. Premineralization-minerals in sediment replace minerals in the skeleton. Skeleton dissolves, Mineralized copy.

II. Describe the ways in which sites are located and excavated.

1. Site are located

1. walking across a landscape and looking for artifacts
2. research ground work
3. Talking to people
4. Dig holes
5. Surveys

1. Excavated

1. prepare a research design.
2. Remove vegetation
3. Establishing the grid is a key step. 
4. Dig trenches in between grids
5. Number the grids
6. Record keeping

III. Identify the different dating techniques (chronometric and relative), the time     periods they work best for, and the type of material that is dated.

1. Relative dating method-no exact dates.

1. Stratigraphy- studies rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification).
2. Fluorine dating-the lower the strata, the higher the fluorine level
3. Seriation (cultural dating) -artifacts from numerous sites, in the same culture, are placed in chronological order.
4. Biostratigraphic-identification of fossils found within sedimentary rock strata as a method of determining the relative geologic age of the rock

1. Absolute dating (chronometric dating)- gives specific dates.

1. Radiocarbon dating- Used to date anything with carbon (bone, wood, seeds, charcoal, shell, etc). A couple hundred years to 50,000 ya

1. 14C dating

1. Dendrochronology-tree ring dating
2. Potassium-Argon dating- 100-4.3 bya

1. Volcanic rock
2. 40K/40Ar dating
3. Dates to last time object was heated.

Paleomagnetic dating relies on the periodic reversal of the earth's magnetic poles

1. Paleomagnetic reversals-

1. Dates metallic grains in sedimentary and volcanic rock.
2. Only used with other dating methods.

1. Amino acid racemization-40 kya -180 bya

1. Organic material
2.  proteins are examined under high magnification using polarized light

1. Electron spin resonance-2000 ya-300 kya

1. Limestone, coral, fossil teeth, mollusks, egg shells, bone-calcium.

1. Thermoluminescence-20 ya-800 kya

1. sediment, pottery, rock.

ii. measures time since sample last heated.

1. Fission track dating-beginning of earth.
2. dates glass-like rock

IV. What characteristics define the primate groups identified in your chapter (9)?  Know the physical characteristics, geographical spread, and time period for each.