ANT 351 Study Guide - Comprehensive Final Exam Guide - Agriculture, Maize, Arizona
Document Summary
Archaeology is the scientific study of material remains for the purpose of first reconstructing, then explaining and interpreting, past human behavior. Material remains: raw materials for archaeological study are not the words, thoughts, or deeds of people who lived in the past, but the material things that people left behind. Archaeology is like forensic science in certain ways: forensic science pieces together a recent crime, archaeology pieces together human behavior hundreds or even thousands of years after events have happened, and the evidence is no longer fresh. Reconstructing, then interpreting and explaining: 2 important tasks ifn archaeology. Why did specific events and processes happen? (such as, the invention of agriculture, or the abandonment of an entire region, or the rise of social complexity. Central concepts: humans are unique in their ability to accumulate knowledge. Variation in human organization, behavior, belief, rituals in societies: linguistic. Language variation, acquisition, use and change: archeology.
