Essay Questions

Chapter 2: Methods of Studying the Human Past

1. How do relative and absolute dating techniques differ? When would one method be more useful than the other?
   
2. How do fossils and artifacts become altered over time?
   
3. In the original study "Kwäday Dän Ts’inchi," what were the key challenges faced by the archaeologists and physical anthropologists? Address both the physical and ethical challenges.
   
4. After reading the Anthropology Applied inset, compare Canadian federal and provincial legislation governing heritage sites and cultural resources. How important are these laws? Should they be placed on cultural resource management? Which groups are more likely to support it, and which are more likely to oppose it?
   
5. How have Canadian archaeologists contributed to the discipline? How can something like tool usewear patterning, as performed by Chen Shen at the University of Toronto change or add to traditional interpretative techniques?