Reconstructing Ecological Adaptations

Question 1

What is cultural ecology?

Answer 1

still popular today as ecological arch. the study of the relationship btwn ppl and the natural enviro. so how are ppl using the enviro to help them live. became a popular focus of processual (moving towards a scientific approach) arch in 1960s. remains a focus in arch today. based in the idea that cultures are at least in part an adaptation to their natural enviro.

Question 2

Whats the difference btwn cultural ecology and cultural determinism?

Answer 2

doesnt say that ecology will determine entirely how we act/adapt. its more influencing our behaviour.

Question 3

How do we determine what ppl were adapting to?

Answer 3

difficult bc lots of materials dont preserve well. past enviros were very diff from today. knowing about past enviros can help explain some aspects of culture. ie diet, what kinds of organic materials might have been used as material culture.

Question 4

What do giant beavers tell us?

Answer 4

they were found in NA. could grow as large as 7.2 ft tall. went extinct about 11,000 yrs ago. ppl in americas liver there around 15,000 yrs ago so were living with giant beavers.

Question 5

What does the giant ground sloth tells us?

Answer 5

found in SA and possibly NA. measuring up to 6m in length (around 19 ft). went extinct about 10 kya. an overlap btwn them and humans.

Question 6

Where should you look for sites?

Answer 6

looking close to water bc diff bodies of water were rlly nb for populations survival and transportation. waterways and landforms change over time. ie; sea lvls have been fluctuating for thousands of yrs. sites that were on a beach when occupied may be several meters below or above sea lvl now.

Question 7

What is the example of Turakirae Head, New Zealand?

Answer 7

raised beaches. coast lines raising.sea lvls falling over1000s of years.

Question 8

What does the Forks tell us?

Answer 8

arch evidence shows at least 6000 yrs if human history. site of a peace treaty meeting btwn several indig nations about 800 yrs ago. 200 yrs ago it was more natural, the area looked very diff in the past. changes to area are both natural and cultural, at time of contact, was heavily wooded in some areas. streams and oxbow lakes coming off of rivers. oxbow lake is now st boniface area, so not a good arch site bc it was underwater, around the lake would be better.

Question 9

What are the methods of reconstructing paleoenvironments?

Answer 9

biotic enviros (looking at plant and animal remains). plants and animals that were living in the area. anbiotic enviros. non-living/non biological aspects of enviro such as topography, soil characteristics, location of waterways. climate; temp, precipitation, humidity, seasonal changes. looking at waterways and erosion. plants are identified by their remains (seeds, pollen, nuts, bark, wood, plytoliths). animals identified by their remains (bones, teeth - most common, also fur, hair, antlers, claws, nails, soft tissue, coprolites). archs might need help of palynologists (scientists who study pollen and spores) and paleontologists (looks at fossilized materials). adopted methods developed by earth sciences; geomorphic research, pedological research; lithological research; hydrological research; and sedimentological research.

Question 10

What is geomorphic research?

Answer 10

where and when ancient fts existed.

Question 11

What is pedological research?

Answer 11

distinguish soil processes.

Question 12

What is lithological research?

Answer 12

to determine where sediments originated.

Question 13

What is hydrological research?

Answer 13

determines the nature of water ways.

Question 14

What is sedimentological research?

Answer 14

understands the processes that bring sediments into sites and may subsequently disturb them. looking at where/how sediment is moving. ie glaciers melting after ice age and moving sediment.

Question 15

What are settlement patterns?

Answer 15

remnants of communities and networks. tells us how groups interacted with other groups and their enviro. 4 diff lvls; individ homes, single settlements, trad territories, regions.

Question 16

What do we look at when studying individ houses?

Answer 16

household arch is the study of one or a few houses. physical characteristics of a house; construction materials and methods, architecture. use of spcae within a house; gender studies or children studies, how were diff areas of the house being used. makeup of household; who lived in the house, how many ppl, how many families.

Question 17

What do we look at when studying a single settlement?

Answer 17

variability among houses ie some more complex than others. distribution of houses, where are the placed. spatial relationship of all fts within a site (middens, houses, burial ground, etc).

Question 18

What can archs determine from single settlement research?

Answer 18

inequality btwn households, seasonality of site - when usus inhabited, by looking at plant remains, animal remains, harvesting. source of raw material - can indicate trade bc they didnt have the resource in their area.

Question 19

What can archs determine from traditional territories research?

Answer 19

its studying areas habitually used by a spec group. number and diversity of site types. evidence of cultural continuity in a spec area. so looking at the way houses were produced to look at cultural continuity. establishing evidence of seasonal rounds, nb to look at cultural mvmts due to weather. particularly prevalent in NA to support indig knowledge of precontact use and occupancy of an area. nb to know how diff indig groups used spec land and interacted with one another.

Question 20

What can archs determine from regional analysis?

Answer 20

its the largest form of analysis.. examine data from studies on individ houses, settlements, and trad territories. look for similarities or diffs in patterns throughout a geographic area. use methods and theory from geography; measures distance btwn settlements, how settlements are patterned in relation to nat enviro. looking at how multiple settlements are being distributed through a geographical region.

Question 21

What is the Chaco road system an example of?

Answer 21

a regional analysis. its a precontact road syst located in what is now SW US. largest road constructed btwn 1000 and 1125 CE. may have served economic and symbolic purposes. could have been used for trade btwn diff settlement groups, gathering of ppl from diff settlements, and/or linked to astronomical observations (lined up with constellations).

Question 22

What are the ways that population size can be estimated?

Answer 22

historical records; ethnographic analogies; oral histories and trad knowledge; number of ppl in a burial site; local or regional carrying capacity.

Question 23

How are historical records used to estimate a pop size?

Answer 23

its the most accurate. still need to be cautious. only for recent past (that had written hist).

Question 24

How are ethnographic analogies used to estimate a pop size?

Answer 24

looking at contemp pops that have oral hist or still living in trad ways and compare to arch site. number of rooms, dwellings, or hearths to estimate size. must use with caution bc of wide variety of enviros and cultures (cultures evolve with time).

Question 25

How are oral histories and trad knowledge used to estimate pop size?

Answer 25

used if dont have written hist. gives clues to pop increases or decreases, or relative size.

Question 26

How does the number of ppl in a burial site help us estimate pop size?

Answer 26

looking at the number of grave sites. only for sedentary cultures who buried their dead in a designated area. have to know if remains are from the same time period; can look at caskets or artifacts theyre buried with to try to figure out if ppl in cemetery are from around the same time, might need radiocarbon dating (but want to avoid destruction of remains). some remains may have been buried elsewhere (children), or remains completely decomposed. multiple ppl could be buried in the same grave shaft.

Question 27

How do archs use the local or regional carrying capacity to estimate pop size?

Answer 27

its the number of ppl an area can support. so the max number of ppl that couldve lived in a region/area.

Question 28

How do archs estimate pop sie in regions ans territories?

Answer 28

must ensure that sites being used for calcs are contemporaneous (existing/occuring in the same period of time). so making sure that were looking at ppl who were in area at one time. need to be aware of seasonal mvmts; dont want to count diff settlements/campsites as diff ppls when it was rlly the same pop moving during the seasons.

Question 29

What are buffalo pounds?

Answer 29

a site that many ppl lived in from diff cultures for no more than a few wks. shows why its nb to understand diff patterns of behaviour of pops. its when ppl would gather to hunt buffalo, they would corral them into fenced in area to hunt them and share amongst all the ppl there.

Question 30

What is a subsistence strategy?

Answer 30

how ppl get their food. five categories for pre-industrial times.

Question 31

What are the types of subsistence strats?

Answer 31

generalized foraging, specialized foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, domestication.

Question 32

What is diet?

Answer 32

what ppl were actually eating.

Question 33

What is generalized foraging?

Answer 33

hunter gatherers. food comprises of wide range of wild plant and animals collected themselves. prior to 15,000 yrs ago, all ppl were generalized foragers. typically lived in small groups of less than 50 ppl. egalitarian (no social stratification, all ppls equal). highly mobile. there are still general foraging groups today.

Question 34

What are the arch indicators of generalized foraging?

Answer 34

great diversity of plant and animal remains (seeds, pollen, bones, etc). small temp settlements. equal distrib of resources. pottery is rare bc can be heavy for ppl moving around so much.

Question 35

What is specialized foraging/complex foragers?

Answer 35

subsistence based on primary resource while still having a wide diversity of plant and animal diet. ex. ppl on the northwest coast of NA had a diverse diet, but salmon was prominent. pop of a few hundred to a few thousand, spread out. semi sedentary - would stay in. one area for some time and then move. marked social inequalities.

Question 36

What are the arch indicators for specialized foraging?

Answer 36

diversity in plant and animal resources, with an abundance of one kind. semi permanent villages. unequal distrib of resources.

Question 37

What is pastoralism?

Answer 37

subsistence based on herding animals like cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. emerged about 11000 yrs ago. pop of up to a few thousand spread among several villages. seasonal mobility - werent rlly staying in one area permanently so that they could graze the herds on new areas. slight social inequalities.

Question 38

What are the arch indicators for pastoralism?

Answer 38

abundance of one or two animal species at a site. seasonal mvmt. some social inequality in distribution of resources. not everyone needs to hunt or gather, so not everyone is gonna be a leader, which leads to social inequalities.

Question 39

What is horticulture?

Answer 39

subsistence based in plant cultivation with hand tools only. emerged 11000 yrs ago. range in size from 100s to 1000s, spread in many diff villages. semi-sedentary. moved every few yrs after soil nutrients depleted.

Question 40

What are the arch indicators of horticulture?

Answer 40

abundance of domesticated plant remains. looking at types of seeds or kernels to see if domesticated. evidence of multi-year occupation. garden plots. slight moderate inequality in distribution of resources. start to get roles with ppl specializing in a resource.

Question 41

What is agriculture?

Answer 41

intensive plant cultivation, often with the use of animals to assist in preparing fields and harvesting, this allows for the expansion of land to plant crops. emerged about 6000 yrs ago. high pop densities, 1000s to 1,000,000s.

Question 42

What are the arch indicators of agriculture?

Answer 42

presence of cities - bigger pops. marked social inequalities. often have armies. often have a writing syst (doesnt have to be sophisticated). often have monumental architecture - elaborate buildings and structures.

Question 43

What is domestication?

Answer 43

no consensus on the def of domestication in arch. plants or animals under human control. plants and animals are dependent on humans for their survival (interdependent relationship). plants and animals are domestic if humans are involved in the breeding. can be difficult to identify domestic plants and animals.

Question 44

What are arch indicators of plant domestication?

Answer 44

archs use a combo of morphological and cultural evidence to determine if a plant is domesticated. part of plant ppl use is usu bigger. presence of garden artifacts. presence of ft like irrigation canals. soil chemistry indicating a previous garden plot. domesticated plants usu bigger than wild ones.

Question 45

What is an example of a garden artifact?

Answer 45

using bison scapula as a garden tool.

Question 46

What are the arch indicators of animal domestication?

Answer 46

the completeness of animal skeletons. age and sex ratio of the slain. cultural evidence within a site ie fences where animals were found, manure going to soil so its diff. size of animal - animals are smaller when first domesticated.

Question 47

How do we reconstruct diets?

Answer 47

looking at and analyzing human remains and waste. to determine what foods were being eaten, archs usu look at; plant and animal remains in cultural contexts; human skel remains; human waste; human soft tissue; residue on artifacts.

Question 48

How does looking at plant and animal remains in cultural context tell us about diet?

Answer 48

most common and most reliable indicators; middens - looking at the kind of animal remains; hearths - may be assoc with cooking process and finding charred remains; containers; caches; houses - what kind of remains are in there.

Question 49

What does human skeletal remains tell us about diet?

Answer 49

archs use trace elements (elements from the earth from what youre consuming going into bone as minerals) and isotopes in bone to find indications of what ppl ate. a meat rich diet typically leaves higher lvls of copper and zinc and lower lvls of manganese and strontium in our bones. ratio of carbon and nitrogen (can differentiate btwn terrestrial and marine animals) is diff in various kinds of plants and animals. when foods are eaten regularly, those ratios leave imprints in our bones - inferences about relative amounts of prot from marine or terrestrial species. cavities in teeth often assoc with a dependence on agricultural product ie lots of corn brings lots of cavities. looking at teeth is less destructive way to look at diet.

Question 50

What does human waste tell us about diet?

Answer 50

rare, but best and most reliable. commonly found in dry caves. contains remnants of food that was digested.

Question 51

What does human soft tissue tell us about diet?

Answer 51

looking at stomach and intestinal contents. can determine food eaten by looking at food found in stomach and intestines of extremely well preserved human remains. best method to determine diet. ex. study of well preserved iron age bodies recovered from bogs in europe. meals of pork, beef, wheat, barley, oats, peas, bread, blackberries.

Question 52

What does residue analysis tell us about diet?

Answer 52

foods can leave residue on artifacts like a pot or cutting tool. chemical analysis can be done to residues to determine what kind of food was eaten.