Digging Up the Past Paleoanthropology and Archaeology Lecture

Digging Up the Past: Paleoanthropology and Archaeology

Lecture Objectives Identify the importance of fossil in understanding the behavior and anatomy of ancient hominins. Identify the differences between paleoanthropology and archaeology. Compare the similarities and differences between relative and chronometric dating. Be able to identify and describes examples of relative and chronometric dating.

Paleoanthropology and Fossils

Paleoanthropology Biological anthropology focus: study of earlier hominids, including 1. 2. 3. 4. Highly _______

What do paleoanthropologists examine? �FOSSILS Remember Cuvier – he recognized that fossils were once living organisms BUT fossils were not important in the realm of science until William Smith (engineering surveyor)

Why Fossils? What information do they hold? Provide direct _______ Study of fossil centered on two factors Time Environment

Taphonomy & Fossilization Commonly bones and teeth sources (comprise 99 % of fossil record) Taphonomy 1. 2.

Dating Methods

Dating – Why Bother? Placing sites and fossils into a time frame Dating techniques Relative Dating Chronometric Dating (numerical dating) What is the numerical age? Isotope Dating rate at which various ________________________

Relative Dating Tells the paleoanthropology that something is older or younger than something else Does provide: 1. 2. Does not provide: 1. 2.

Relative Dating #1: Stratigraphy Study of _____________ Variety of locations can be compared via chemical, physical and other properties Law of ________ Lower stratum (layer) is older than a higher stratum Problems Earth distributions Length of time to accumulate stratum

Relative Dating #2: Biostratigraphy Employs the associations of fossils in strata to determine each _________ Aim is ________ Why? Demonstrates that a particular geological section in one location represents the ________ as another geological section at some other section

Relative Dating #2: Biostratigraphy �Index Fossils – ___________ �Example of Irish Elk (died out: 10, 600 y. BP in Europe)

Relative Dating #2: Seriation �Typological sequences of artifacts � Assumption: � Frequency __________ of co-occurrence of artifacts in specific contexts � ___________ � Indicator of __________

Relative Dating #2: Seriation �Example: Contextual seriation �Pottery -style rather than function

Numerical Dating technique that gives an estimate in actual numbers of years ____________ We will cover both isotopic and non-isotopic methods: Radiocarbon Radiopotassium Argon-Argon

Numerical Dating #1: Radiometric �Carbon isotopes: Ratio of 14 C to 12 C is measured �Baseline for start of clock – death of organism By calculating the ratio of 14 C to 12 C one can determine _______________ �Used for material younger than 50, 000 – not the best for primate and human evolution � Archaeologists NOT _________

Numerical Dating #2: Radiopotassium �Non-organic material (e. g. igneous (volcanic) rock) K decays slowly from its unstable form to a stable gas, 40 Ar _____________ � 40 �Dates material older than _________ �Note – cannot date sedimentary rock �First used at __________

Numerical Dating #3: Argon-Argon Ar – 39 Ar: volcanic rock is bombarded with “fast” neutrons in a nuclear reactor 40 Advantage: _______________ • Example: ___________

Numerical Dating #3: Argon-Argon