ANT 2100 Combined Exam
Set Questions & Revised Correct
Detailed Answers
1. Site surface survey - ANSWER walk around and record things
2. 3 major players in archaeology research: - ANSWER time, money, people
3. What are blazons? - ANSWER Polychrome quadrangular signs
4. What were the flat carved stones in Lascaux used for? - ANSWER Lamps
5. What plant carbons were found in the sandstone lamp? - ANSWER
Juniper
6. What is ocher? - ANSWER Dried clay colored by iron oxides
7. Ground-based remote sensing of Ground Penetrating Radar: - ANSWER
can indicate depth at which changes in soil composition occur
8. Magnetometry is most useful for mapping sites because - ANSWER buried
features cause slight fluctuation inthe earth magnetic field
,9. Cross-dating - ANSWER technique used to take advantage of
consistencies in stratigrapy between parts of a site/different sites
10. Law of Superposition - ANSWER the lower you dig, the older it gets
(vertical through time)
11. Biostratigraphy - ANSWER specialized form of cross-dating using animal
and plant fossils
12. Methods of excavation - ANSWER 1. wheeler box-grid - seeks horizontal
and vertical symmetry between squares in the site
2. open-area - better to uncover everything horizontally and only
investigate vertically when necessary
13. Underwater recon - ANSWER mostly done by sonar and magnetometry
14. Seriation of artifacts is - ANSWER based on principle that things change
over time. It determines relative date of artifacts and their chronological
relationship to eachother
15. 2 types of dating techniques: - ANSWER 1. relative - based on
comparisons, does not give precise age
2. absolute: dates calibrated and measured
, 16. Biostratigraphic dating uses faunal correlations because - ANSWER
presence/absence of species or species abundance my indicate a specific
period/phase/date. Need to use key species tat show changes in their origins,
terminations, and ranges
17. Dendrochronology - ANSWER method of dating which makes use of
annual nature of tree growth
18. Radiocarbon dating - ANSWER developed by Willard F. Libby, 1949.
19. Potassium-Argon dating - ANSWER used on volcanic materials older than
100,000 and up to 5 million years old
20. Luminescence dating best used for: - ANSWER clay-fired pottery and flint
tools that have been burnt
fission track dating useful for: - ANSWER micas, tekites, matural and
synthetic glass
electron spin resonance - ANSWER used to date minerals
Australopithecines - ANSWER small brained (chimp sized), small bodied,
bipedal, Lucy, lived in E + S Africa
Homo habilis - ANSWER earliest tools 2.6 mya, probably first tool makers,
small bodied but brains are bigger than australopitheines
Set Questions & Revised Correct
Detailed Answers
1. Site surface survey - ANSWER walk around and record things
2. 3 major players in archaeology research: - ANSWER time, money, people
3. What are blazons? - ANSWER Polychrome quadrangular signs
4. What were the flat carved stones in Lascaux used for? - ANSWER Lamps
5. What plant carbons were found in the sandstone lamp? - ANSWER
Juniper
6. What is ocher? - ANSWER Dried clay colored by iron oxides
7. Ground-based remote sensing of Ground Penetrating Radar: - ANSWER
can indicate depth at which changes in soil composition occur
8. Magnetometry is most useful for mapping sites because - ANSWER buried
features cause slight fluctuation inthe earth magnetic field
,9. Cross-dating - ANSWER technique used to take advantage of
consistencies in stratigrapy between parts of a site/different sites
10. Law of Superposition - ANSWER the lower you dig, the older it gets
(vertical through time)
11. Biostratigraphy - ANSWER specialized form of cross-dating using animal
and plant fossils
12. Methods of excavation - ANSWER 1. wheeler box-grid - seeks horizontal
and vertical symmetry between squares in the site
2. open-area - better to uncover everything horizontally and only
investigate vertically when necessary
13. Underwater recon - ANSWER mostly done by sonar and magnetometry
14. Seriation of artifacts is - ANSWER based on principle that things change
over time. It determines relative date of artifacts and their chronological
relationship to eachother
15. 2 types of dating techniques: - ANSWER 1. relative - based on
comparisons, does not give precise age
2. absolute: dates calibrated and measured
, 16. Biostratigraphic dating uses faunal correlations because - ANSWER
presence/absence of species or species abundance my indicate a specific
period/phase/date. Need to use key species tat show changes in their origins,
terminations, and ranges
17. Dendrochronology - ANSWER method of dating which makes use of
annual nature of tree growth
18. Radiocarbon dating - ANSWER developed by Willard F. Libby, 1949.
19. Potassium-Argon dating - ANSWER used on volcanic materials older than
100,000 and up to 5 million years old
20. Luminescence dating best used for: - ANSWER clay-fired pottery and flint
tools that have been burnt
fission track dating useful for: - ANSWER micas, tekites, matural and
synthetic glass
electron spin resonance - ANSWER used to date minerals
Australopithecines - ANSWER small brained (chimp sized), small bodied,
bipedal, Lucy, lived in E + S Africa
Homo habilis - ANSWER earliest tools 2.6 mya, probably first tool makers,
small bodied but brains are bigger than australopitheines
