2. Chapter 3 vocabulary

3. ARCHAEOLOGY

4. archaeology The recovery and study of the remains of the past.

5. EXCAVATION

6. excavation The process of digging up the remains of the past.

7. PREHISTORY

8. prehistory The time BEFORE writing close window

9. HISTORY

10. history A record of what happened in the past. The study of the past when there WAS writing

11. ORAL TRADITION

12. artifact A human-made object of archaeological or historical importance

13. Oral Tradition The stories, myths, and legends passed on my word of mouth from generation to generation.

14. PRIMARY SOURCE

15. Primary Source Information about people or events recorded at the time of the people or events

16. SECONDARY SOURCE

17. Secondary Source Information about people or events recorded long after the time of the people or events

18. FOSSIL

19. fossil The remains or imprint of a human, animal, plant, or insect.

20. More fossils

21. RADIOCARBON DATING

22. Radiocarbon Dating A system for determining the age of an artifact based on the fact that carbon decay (diminish) or becomes less at a regular rate.

23. RADIOCARBON DATING

26. Radiocarbon dating limitations More than 1000 years old Less than 60,000 years old

27. How does radiocarbon dating work? All living things (plants / animals) absorb carbon from the atmosphere A small amount of the carbon is radioactive

29. When a plant or animal dies, it stops absorbing carbon. The radioactive carbon absorbed when it was alive, then begins to decay at a known rate.

30. Archaeologists have figured out methods of measuring the amount of radioactive carbon left in objects like bones and wood. Using this information, they can figure out when a plant or animal died.

31. They can even figure out how long ago the tree used to MAKE an artifact lived!!! WOW!!!!!

32. HISTORIAN

33. historian A person who writes or studies history