Social Studies #296 Thematic Unit-Archaeology 72 @1994 Teacher
Created Materials, Inc.
This list may be used as a
beginning study guide for students. Add to it throughout the archaeology unit.
Archaeologist: A
scientist who studies how people lived hundreds and thousands of year ago.
Artifacts: Objects
made by humans, e.g., coins, clothing, tools.
Archaeological
Site: A place where ancient people lived, worked, or left things
they made-e.g., the pyramids
of Egypt.
Culture: The total
way of life of a particular group including its art, literature, religion,
philosophy, sports, clothing, politics, and customs.
Cultural
Dating: The process used by archaeologists when they compare
objects they find with information they already have.
Cultural
Diffusion: The process in which different cultures come in contact
with one another and exchange goods and ideas.
Dendrochronology: The
oldest form of scientific dating; tree-ring counting.
Digs: Places
where archaeologists dig to search for ancient artifacts, buildings, and
cities.
Excavation: The
process of digging up the remains of the past.
Fossils: The
remains or imprints of once-living plants and animals.
Midden: Ancient
people's rubbish:
Oral
Tradition: Legends, myths, and beliefs passed on by word of mouth from
generation to generation.
Potassium-Argon
Dating: The technique used to determine the age of inorganic
material, usually volcanic rocks.
Prehistory: History
before the development of writing.
Primary
Sources: Sources produced during the same time period as the events
they describe.
Radiocarbon
Dating: The technique in which the radioactive carbon content of
an archaeological discovery is measured to determine the object's age.
Secondary
Sources: Materials created at a later time by people who studied
original sources.
Stratigraphy: The study
of the remains that are found in various layers of soil and rock.