Near East
What is/are the most common form(s) of ancient writing found by archaeologists?
Economic Documents, Diplomatic Documents, Diaries and/or Letters
What are the languages we covered from the Minoans and Mycenaeans? Which are deciphered?
Linear A --> Undeciphered
Linear B --> Deciphered in the 1950s
Phaistos Disk --> Mostly Deciphered (currently ongoing)
What are Oracle Bones and who was the first to use them (and leave archaeological remains)?
- Shang Dynasty
- Turtle Shells or Oxen shoulder bones
- Ask question, put in fire, examine/read the cracks to get your answer
- the questions asked, the answer, and the actual result were often recorded on the bones providing archaeologists with a lot of information
Who were the Olmec?
Unknown where they originated previously nor what language they spoke
their name is an Aztec word for Rubber People/Men
Worked Latex into rubber
Mounds and Giant Head Sculptures
etc.
- Quipu(s)
- knotted and colored strings to hold messages and numbers
- very specialized knowledge (at least in the Inka Empire)
Who were the Akkadians?
- Early empire
- started by Sargon the Great
-one of the first multinational empires
- built an extensive road system
What are Archaeological Cultures? Give an example.
Cultures that are assigned an arbitrary name by archaeologists typically based on ceramic typologies or other attributes
Mycenaeans
-Traded with the Near East (Mesopotamia and Egypt at the very least)
-Traded with other people to the south in India
-wide and far-reaching trade network
- Non-local materials
- Mesopotamia has written records about it
-Trading seals
What did the Maya and the Aztec have in common?
A Dual calendrical system with 260-day ritual and 365-day regular
Both had written texts
Both practiced human sacrifice and blood rituals
etc.
Textiles
Describe the Great Death Pit, the culture and larger site it was connected to, what was inside, and how it got its name
-Excavated by Sir Woolley in the 1920s
- Ur III Dynasty and the Royal Burials
- Name because there didn't seem to be a royal tomb attached to it
- 74 people were entombed within the pit
- The majority were women with only a few men (guards?)
- All dressed up and had cups as if banqueting
- Mass and/or ritual suicide? Buried within the tomb as retinue in the afterlife?
- One person was dressed similarly to Queen Puabi and might have been a royal
Which level was the most likely candidate for "Homeric" Troy and why?
Level 6 because there was a destruction layer and a lot of Mycenaean material culture found at that layer
What was special about the Terracotta Army? In what context was it found?
Variety of soldiers and animals ready for war with standard mass-produced bodies but individual faces; It was part of the Tomb Complex of Qin Shi Huangdi
Why did Teotihuacan fall, and why did the Maya migrate to the hinterlands?
Internal issues, draught and/or famine
-overextension of the environment; Warfare; possible draught, etc.
Which culture possibly had contact with Amazonia and how do we know?
The Chavin
Iconography that matched the Amazonian region
Describe Jericho, its identifying features, and why it was important
-One of the oldest continuously Occupied sites
- Fortification walls (Thicc)
- Lots of Biblical Archaeology and excavated by many including Dame Kenyon
- Change in architecture and rituals in the PPNB --> Skull/Ancestor Cult
- Plastered Heads under houses
Describe the Minoans, their identifying features, main sites, and how they got their name
Earlier than the Mycenaeans;
Sea-faring people who traded extensively with the Near East and others;
Lots of marine iconography;
Named by Sir Arthur Evans after the Greek myth/Homeric tale of King Minos and the Minotaur;
Located on Crete;
Linear A and maybe the Phaistos Disk
Unknown reason for their disappearance but thought to have either been joined with or conquered by the Mycenaeans
Describe Angkor Wat, its main function(s), and who "found" it.
-Large temple-mausoleum (UNESCO site)
- One of the largest religious complexes in the world
- Illustrated the power and legitimacy of the king
- Extensive Reliefs depicting important myths
- Found by the Portuguese and then the French
What was the Ball Court Game? Where was it found?
The game was played all over Mesoamerica and parts of the SW (North America)
- Reenacted a ritual and was socially important
-people would be sacrificed at the end (which was a good thing because it guaranteed a good afterlife)
Who were the Moche, what was the associated site we covered, and what is the main theory regarding their downfall?
-No evidence of a writing system (aside from the quipus)
- Amazing craftsmanship particularly in jewels and gold
- Independent city-states with a North-South split as well
- Sipan --> Royal Burials
- El Nino and environmental factors
Describe the Assyrians, their identifying features, main sites, etc.
- Assyrian and Neoassyrian Empires = huge and included Egypt at one point
- Very good at war, but no one took them seriously until it was too late --> Know this because of the Amarna Letters
- Deportation Policy to dissuade rebellion but kept families together and sent people where their jobs/skills were in demand for the most part
- very good at administration and logistics
- Once you accepted Assyrian rule, you were granted full citizenship status including the perks and the cons
Describe the Mycenaeans, their identifying features, main sites, and how they got their name
- Named after Mycenae --> based on Homeric lore and Greek Myths
- Grave Circle A (Mycenae), Troy, and Schliemann who thought he found the Mask of Agamemnon (he was wrong)
- Cyclopean walls, architecture, and fortifications
- Eventually expanded their influence across modern-day Greece, Crete, and parts of Asia Minor
- Ancestors of Classical Greece --> similar gods and traditions
- Traded with other "nations"
-Linear B (and maybe the Phaistos Disk)
What evidence has been used to cite the decline and/or end of the Indus River Valley Civilization?
-The disappearance of seals and other forms of written language
-Apparent end of Foreign Trade
-Blockage of and building over of public baths and sewage systems
Describe the Kunz Axe. What was depicted on it? What was its Primary Use?
Called an axe, but actually a votive figurine; Olmec; made of blue-green jade (most valuable); found in ritual contexts; About 50% is dedicated to the head which is highly carved, stylized, and drilled; The lower body is a shallow relief depicting the hands holding something; Might have been dressed in clothes; Human-like being --> possible were-jaguar; located in the AMNH
What are the current requirements for a society/culture to be a "civilization"?
Writing System; Full-time Specialists; Monumental Architecture; Surplus; Social Stratification; Urban Centers; Trade Networks; Ideology (formalized); Administration; Agriculture