UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO - DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
ANT310Y -
ARCHAEOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA
TERM TEST 3- 5
FEBRUARY 2003
Note: The following answer key provides general
guidelines for the answers to the third term test. The guidelines presented here do not
necessarily represent a perfect answer to the test questions.
Part A: In the spaces provided below, briefly define
and give the archaeological importance of FOUR of the
following terms (4 X 5 = 20 points):
Millingstone horizon Skeena
phase
Elko series points seated
human figure bowls
Owens Valley Kamloops side-notched points
1. Millingstone horizon:
term applied to Late Archaic in southern,
central Calif; several site assemblages dated
5,000-4,000 BP dominated by millingstones, manos (seed grinding); little evidence of intensive salmon
or acorn use; infer a forager pattern
2. Skeena phase:
Kitselas Canyon sequence, 3,600-3,200 BP; chipped
stone assemblage, thought to represent interior Athapaskan
incursion by some; extension of coastal settlement pattern by others.
3. Elko series points:
see Fagan, pp. 262
4. seated human figure bowls:
example of Marpole stone
sculpture, later seen in Fraser Plateau; taken to represent wealth and social stauts differentiation
5. Owens Valley:
located in western Great Basin (eastern Calif.)
; occupied by more complex (collector) hunter-gatherers; example of regional
variability in subsistence (% of fish, plants, game) compared to other areas
6. Kamloops side-notched
points:
small triangular arrow heads, diagnostic of Kamloops horizon, 1,200-200 BP
Part B:
In the space provided, answer TWO of the following
essay questions (15 points):
1. What are the basic similarities and
differences between the Pacific period
(California) and the Plateau Pithouse
tradition? How would you compare
the resource bases that underlie these two cultural systems?
should emphasize AFormative@ characteristics: pithouse
villages, focal or specialized economies, emerging complexity; but absence of
pottery, farming in both; key difference is acorns in Calif,
and uneven distribution of salmon. Resource bases that underlie the two (salmon
vs salmon/acorns) allows intensification (once
population threshold is reached), storage, and ultimately social inequality
2. What is the Desert Archaic? What is the evidence for regional variability
within the Desert Archaic? Can you name
the Desert Archaic Atype site@?
Archaic in the
Great Basin, emphasis on wide variety of desert plants (esp. Pinyon nuts) and small game; high mobility, small flexible
groups, etc; fits with Steward=s ethnographic description of Western
Shoshone; variablity - gradient from east to west,
forager to collector; more reliable water in the western GB allows for greater
complexity; type site, Danger Cave
3. What is the cultural sequence for the Queen
Charlotte Strait of coastal British Columbia?
How have archaeologists accounted for cultural change within this sequence?
Obsidian culture
(4,500-2,500 BP), QCS culture (2,500 BP - ?); should give Mitchell=s
Aculture tradtion@
account of Wakashan spread from homeland (Yuquot) -- chipped stone tools to bone dominated
assemblages, terrestrial hunting to sea mammals and salmon.
4. What is the evidence for cultural complexity
during the Marpole phase? Why did complexity evolve at this time?
should discuss evidence of salmon/storage
economy, and evidence of wealth personal status (shell beads, seated human
figure bowls, etc); should discuss evidence from Beach Grove, Tualdad Altu, Dionisio
Point