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WBCHSE HS Anthropology study materials
WBCHSE HS Anthropology study resources

WBCHSE HS Anthropology: Archaeological Anthropology and Prehistory: Tools, Culture Periods and Dating

WBCHSE HS Anthropology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Archaeological Anthropology and Prehistory: Tools, Culture Periods and Dating

This domain examines material remains and prehistoric culture periods. The exam tests tool typology, the sequence from Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic, and relative versus absolute dating.

Core concepts

Lithic typology classifies cores, flakes and blades; retouch and technique indicate function and tradition. Lower Palaeolithic industries include choppers and handaxes; Middle Palaeolithic shows flake tools and prepared-core techniques; Upper Palaeolithic adds blades and bone tools. Mesolithic is marked by microliths; Neolithic by ground stone tools, pottery, domestication and settled villages; Chalcolithic by copper use alongside stone.

Relative dating places finds in order using stratigraphy, typology and seriation. Absolute dating gives ages: radiocarbon for organic remains up to about 50,000 years, potassium-argon for volcanic rock, thermoluminescence for heated pottery/flint, and dendrochronology for wood. Calibration matters because radiocarbon years differ from calendar years.

Worked example

At a stratified site, microliths lie below pottery-bearing deposits. Stratigraphy suggests the microlith layer is older; typology supports a Mesolithic attribution. Charcoal from that layer dated by radiocarbon gives an absolute age, but the result must be calibrated before comparison with historical dates.

Traps that cost marks

Do not call every stone tool a “handaxe”. Do not use radiocarbon for inorganic pottery or volcanic rock. Do not mix BC/AD with BP without stating the convention. Do not treat “Neolithic” as only pottery; it includes domestication and settlement. Do not confuse relative with absolute dating.

Key points

  • Tool typology uses cores, flakes, blades, retouch and technique.
  • Palaeolithic-Mesolithic-Neolithic-Chalcolithic is a techno-cultural sequence.
  • Stratigraphy, typology and seriation are relative dating methods.
  • Radiocarbon dates organic material; potassium-argon dates volcanic rock.
  • Calibration converts radiocarbon ages into calendar ages.