BANC 134: Fundamentals of Archaeological Anthropology

TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT

(TMA)

Course Code: BANC 134

Assignment Code: BANC 134/ASST/TMA/ 2021-2022
Total Marks: 100
There are three Assignments. All questions are compulsory.

Assignment I

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each. 20x2= 40

1. What is Archaeological Anthropology? Describe the history of development of

prehistoric archaeology in India.
2. What is Dating Method? Briefly discuss any two Relative dating methods.

Assignment II

Answer the following questions in about 250 words each. 10 x3=30

3. Cenozoic Era and its importance in human evolution.

4. Briefly describe different Lower Palaeolithic stone tools with suitable diagrams
5. Briefly comment on stone tool making techniques of Middle Palaeolithic culture.

Assignment – III

Answer the following questions in about 100 words each. 5x6=30

6. Neolithic culture
7. Attirampakkam
8. Excavation
9. Pluvials and Interpluvials
10. Pleistocene Epoch
11. Three Age system

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ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIAL (2021-22)

BANC-134

Fundamentals of Archaeological Anthropology

Assignment I

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each.

Q1. What is Archaeological Anthropology? Describe the history of development of prehistoric

archaeology in India.

Ans. Archaeological Anthropology is variously defined as “anthropology of the dead”, “the

ethnography of extinct societies (palaeo-ethnography)”, “study of extinct cultures”, “past tense of
cultural anthropology” or simply the study of human past based on past material objects recovered by
systematic explorations and excavations which are classified, analyzed, described and interpreted
based on various scientific methods and theories. Archaeology has been defined by Brian Fagon
(2016) as “a special form of anthropology that uses material remains to study extinct human
societies”. However Oxford English Dictionary defined Archaeology as the “study of human history
and prehistory through the excavation of sites and analysis of physical remains.” Major goals of this
specialization is timeless and space less, the final aim is to generalize about all human beings in all
times and all places. Very specifically three major goals are there: (i) the construction of cultural
chronologies, (ii) the reconstruction of extinct life ways and (iii) the search for bio-cultural processes.

History of development of prehistoric archaeology in India

Many scholars have contributed to the development of Prehistory in India through the discovery of
prehistoric sites. Some of the studies are discussed below.

Colonel Meadows Taylor of the early nineteenth century was one of the earliest to show interest in
archaeology of India. His interest, however, remained more concentrated on the south Indian
Megaliths. Alexander Cunningham in 1861 and Robert Bruce Foote in 1863 began their explorations
and recording of prehistoric antiquities in the subsequent period. Alexander Cunningham concentrated
on the historic period, but Robert Bruce Foote was more inclusive in his interest which was extended
to even the earliest Stone Age period.

Robert Bruce Foote discovered the first Palaeolithic stone tool, a handaxe at the site called
Pallavaram near Chennai in India. Hence Robert Bruce Foote has been called as the “Father of Indian
Prehistory”. Later A. C. Carlleyle discovered microliths in the rock shelters of Mirzapur along with
Mesolithic cave paintings during 1863 - 1865.

Q2. What is Dating Method? Briefly discuss any two Relative dating methods.

Ans. Dating method is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such
object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is
commonly known as a "dating method". Several dating methods exist, depending on different criteria
and techniques, and some very well known examples of disciplines using such techniques are, for
example, history, archaeology, geology, paleontology, astronomy and even forensic science, since in

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the latter it is sometimes necessary to investigate the moment in the past during which the death of a
cadaver occurred. These methods are typically identified as absolute, which involves a specified date
or date range, or relative, which refers to dating which places artifacts or events on a timeline relative
to other events and/or artifacts. Other markers can help place an artifact or event in a chronology, such
as nearby writings and stratigraphic markers.

Relative dating methods

1) Stratigraphy

It is one of the oldest and the simplest relative dating methods. Stratigraphy is a branch of geology
that is concerned with stratified soils and rocks, i.e. soils and rocks that are deposited as layers.
Stratigraphy is basically the study of the sequence, composition and relationship of stratified soils and
rocks. If we go to the countryside where there are some hills, we can see different layers of rocks
which may be horizontal or inclined. Each layer can be differentiated from the other layer on account
of the difference in colour, chemical composition or texture. Each layer represents a time period when
the process of deposition of sediments continued uninterrupted in one manner. The next layer
represents a change in the process of deposition. There are two fundamental principles of stratigraphy:
uniformitarianism and superposition.

2) Fluorine Dating

It is a relative (chemical) dating method that compares the accumulation of fluorine content in bones.
Fluorine dating method probably developed due to the collaborative efforts of Emile Rivière and
Adolphe Carnot in the 1890s (Goodrum and Olson, 2009). But it was not until the 1940s and early
1950s that this method was improved and widely implemented by Kenneth P. Oakley to resolve
several problems in palaeoanthropology (Goodrum and Olson, 2009).

Assignment II

Answer the following questions in about 250 words each.

Q3. Cenozoic Era and its importance in human evolution.

Ans. From an anthropological perspective, Cenozoic Era is very important because, the entire primate
evolution and subsequently the human evolution occurred during this Era. Besides primates, the
evolution and radiation of mammals, birds and most flowering plants and grasses took place during
this phase of Earth’s history. The Cenozoic is divided into three periods, namely the Palaeogene, the
Neogene and the Quaternary, and seven epochs, viz. Palaeocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene,
Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. The Cenozoic is sometimes called the ‘Age of Mammals’,
because the largest land animals,the mammals appeared on earth during that time. The Palaeogene is
subdivided into three epochs: the Palaeocene, the Eocene and the Oligocene. The Neogene is
subdivided into two epochs: the Miocene and Pliocene. The Quaternary is divisible into two epochs:
the Pleistocene and the Holocene.

a) Palaeocene Epoch: The Palaeocene is the first epoch of the Cenozoic, which began at about 66
million year before present (myr). It begins at the end of Cretaceous when large-scale extinctions of
life occurred.

b) Eocene Epoch: The Eocene began at around 56 myr ago and ended at around 34 myr ago lasting
nearly 22 million years, the longest of all the epochs of the Cenozoic Era. For most of the Eocene
Epoch, the global climate was warm and rainy.

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c) Oligocene Epoch: The Oligocene Epoch extends from about 34 myr ago to about 23 myrs. A
cooling trend is prevalent throughout Oligocene. Mammals such as horses, deer, camels, elephants,
cats, dogs, and primates began to dominate continents, except in Australia.

Q4. Briefly describe different Lower Palaeolithic stone tools with suitable diagrams

Ans. Some of the important lower Palaeolithic tools include the following:

A) Pebble Tools

The term literally refers to all tools made on pebble. In usual practice, it applies to a variety of
choppers, scrapers and handaxes, where working edge is made by block-on-block technique. These
tools are big and massive and characteristic of lower Palaeolithic culture of South East Asia (such as
Burma), North West India (such as Sohan) and East Africa.

Two types of pebble tools are normally seen: Chopper and Chopping

i) Choppers are unifacially flaked large massive tools.

ii) Choppings are similar to the choppers except that they are 113 bifacially flaked.

The term Chopper-Chopping was suggested by H. L. Movius in 1944 when he analysed Palaeolithic
tools from India. These tools are used for chopping, scraping and clearing purposes.

B) Biface/Handaxe

These are bifacially flaked core tools, with thick and heavy butt end and thin tapering pointed working
end. They are also called bifaces and coup-de-pong. Boucher de Perthes, a French prehistorian was
the first to find handaxes, following which they were discovered in Europe, Africa, Asia and most
particularly in India.

In terms of its use, the pointed end was probably used for digging, while the sides were used for
cutting or splitting. Because of their multifarious functions, they are also called multi-purpose tools.

Q5. Briefly comment on stone tool making techniques of Middle Palaeolithic culture.

Ans. a) Clactonian Technique

The name of the technique comes from Clacton-on-sea in Essex, England where tools made on large
massive flakes were witnessed. Essentially this is a flake tool technique, that is, a tool made on a large
flake. In this technique, starting with a nodule, a sizeable flake was removed. The flakes would have
been removed either by direct hammer or anvil technique. These flakes show the following
characteristics:

b) Levalloisean Technique

This technique is said to be a more advanced and skilful method of tool preparation in comparison to
the previous techniques. The name of this technique is given after the site of Levallois Peret in France.
Here, unlike the other techniques, the tool (flake) is prepared in advance on the core. Beginning with
the rough trimming of the sides of the core, the technique involves the removal of flakes in such a
way that the core looks are dressed in a rounded form. Finally, from the prepared striking platform, a
blow is given to remove the flake. Thus, this technique has three steps in its preparation:

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Assignment – III

Answer the following questions in about 100 words each.

Q6. Neolithic culture

Ans. The Neolithic period (New Stone Age) was the period following the Mesolithic when profound
changes took place in human history. Agriculture and domestication of animals, manufacture of
pottery, and grinding and polishing technique were newly introduced in this period. Domestication of
plants developed in more than one centre in the world: the Near East, South-East Asia and Meso-
America. The impact of agriculture and domestication was tremendous. Communities became more or
less settled and due to a regular food supply life became more secured. There was well-regulated
community life, growth of specialization and division of labour such as weaving and pottery. Concept
of property also developed leading to the system of ownership of land, cattle and tools etc. in the later
phase of Neolithic culture, which ultimately leads to conflicts, quarrels and wars. Agricultural
advances were further intensified by domestication of animals.

Q7. Attirampakkam

Ans. Though the site was discovered earlier by Robert Bruce Foote and subsequently worked upon by
the members of Yale Cambridge expedition and Archaeological survey of India but since the year
1990 the site was extensively explored, excavated and dated by the members of Sharma Institue of
Heritage Studies under the leadership of Shanti Pappu.

The Site

Robert Bruce Foote, a British geologist is considered as the father of Indian prehistory because in
1863 he had discovered the first stone tool of Palaeolithic period from India from a site called
Pallavaram near the erstwhile Madras city.

Q8. Excavation

Ans. In most of the cases evidences for prehistoric Archaeology is spread out in the sites. Exploration
starts with systematic site survey. Search for sites which had experienced human activities in earlier
times is an important part of Prehistoric Archaeology. Such places are known as prehistoric sites.
Looking for prehistoric sites is known as exploration or site survey. Sites vary in their type. A site
may be a place where people camped/ lived or just came to procure food and other materials or
prepared tools, bury their dead or may be a rock surface on which prehistoric men drew, painted or
engraved pictures etc. A systematic survey in a scientific way is carried out for understanding of
prehistoric archaeology of a given area. Such survey for finding out remains of prehistoric men is
known as exploration. Exploration is surface survey for studying the importance of associated
prehistoric materials. Exploration points out the importance of the site and determines subsequent
need for future excavation.

Q9. Pluvials and Interpluvials

Ans. When the arctic temperate and sub-temperate regions were experiencing glacial and interglacial
phases, the tropical and subtropical regions were passing through pluvial or wet and inter-pluvial or
dry periods. These have left their evidences in the form of river terraces and lake deposits.

1) River Terrace: A river terrace also provides evidence of pluvial phase followed by an inter-pluvial
phase. It is also formed in the same principle as mentioned above. The deposits are marked by
alternating deposit of gravel and silt. With higher amount of rainfall volume and velocity of water in

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the river increases. The rocks and other materials carried by river are turned into gravels. With the
onset of dry condition, that is with reduced amount of rainfall river loses its capacity to carry loads
and instead of gravels silt is deposited.

Q10. Pleistocene Epoch

Ans. This epoch is the first epoch of the Quaternary Period that started about 2.58 myr ago and lasted
up to 11700 years before present. The Pleistocene was a relatively short span of geologic time, which
was a time of great global cooling, commonly known as “Ice Age”. During the epoch, immense
glaciers and ice sheets occurred at the North and South Poles and at all high altitudes. The cold
periods or glacial were interspersed with warmer phases or interglacial. The evolution of anatomically
modern humans (Homo sapiens) took place during the Pleistocene, who then spread to different parts
of the Earth. In addition to the woolly mammoth, mammals such as sabre-toothed cats (Smilodon),
giant ground sloths (Megatherium) and mastodons roamed the Earth during this period. By the end of
this epoch, a major extinction event of large mammals (e.g. mammoths, mastodons, sabre-toothed
cats, ground sloths, cave bears, etc.) occurred ( probably due to over hunting by humans and climate
change ) and continued into the Holocene.

Q11. Three Age system

Ans. During the nineteenth century, prehistoric artefacts and other collections poured into museums.
During this time it was the work of Danish Antiquarian Christian Jurgensen Thomsen who was given
the job of cataloguing collections for the newly founded National Museum of Antiquity in
Copenhagen. He systematically classified the collections into three periods; the Stone Age, the Bronze
Age, and the Iron Age-based on the material on which the artifacts were manufactured. Thomsen had
arranged these periods chronologically, with the Stone Age being the earliest and the Iron Age the
latest. This Three Age system formed the basis for all the Old World Archaeology. His guidebook to
the National Museum was published in 1836, which introduced the idea of three age system to the
academic world. However, the three age system was already accepted and used by the leading
Scandinavian archaeologists by the time it was published. Thomsen divided Stone Age into Old and
New Stone Age.

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