Podcast
Questions and Answers
What do archaeologists deal with?
What do archaeologists deal with?
What does mid-level theory aim to link?
What does mid-level theory aim to link?
Archaeological data to actual behavior
What is one of the main questions in archaeology?
What is one of the main questions in archaeology?
Why is the archaeological record the way it is?
What does uniformitarianism suggest?
What does uniformitarianism suggest?
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What is analogical reasoning?
What is analogical reasoning?
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What are relational analogies based on?
What are relational analogies based on?
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What does the direct historical approach involve?
What does the direct historical approach involve?
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Cautionary remarks on analogies imply that archaeological cases may have clear ethnographic referents.
Cautionary remarks on analogies imply that archaeological cases may have clear ethnographic referents.
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What does taphonomy study?
What does taphonomy study?
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What is the primary focus of ethnoarchaeology?
What is the primary focus of ethnoarchaeology?
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What did Binford study to understand Neanderthal archaeological sites?
What did Binford study to understand Neanderthal archaeological sites?
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Study Notes
Archaeologists
- Study jumbled archaeological sites; analyze objects with uncertain function or meaning.
Mid-level Theory (Middle Range Theory)
- Links static archaeological artifacts to dynamic past behaviors.
- Provides tools to infer behavior from modern archaeological records.
Main Questions in Archaeology
- Investigate the causes of archaeological records by studying living systems.
- Utilize controlled experiments (experimental archaeology) and modern human behavior observations (ethnoarchaeology).
Archaeological Strategies
- Focus on present material culture to understand past human behavior.
Analogy
- Draws comparisons between entities; similar attributes in one suggest similarities in the other.
Uniformitarianism
- Contemporary processes help infer past events; assumes cultural/natural processes had similar effects historically.
- Caution against confusing correlation with causation.
Analogical Reasoning
- Begins with known entities to deduce the unknown.
Kivas
- Key archaeological feature found in the North American Southwest.
Relational Analogies
- Based on cultural similarities; reflect cultural continuity or shared environments.
- Example: Hopi descendants of prehistoric Southwest groups.
Kivas in the American Southwest
- Similar features found in archaeological records; modern Pueblo Indians still utilize kivas.
- Ethnographic research provides insights into kiva functions, such as the ideological significance of the sipapu.
Formal Analogies
- Based on formal attributes whether archaeological and ethnographic entities appear similar.
- Strengthened by multiple ethnographic instances demonstrating consistent patterns.
Bridging Arguments
- Involves logical if-then statements with varying confidence based on studies from ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology.
- Investigates cultural behaviors in their systemic contexts.
Direct Historical Approach
- Observes contemporary groups related to past ones to infer past behaviors.
- Vulnerable to not accounting for cultural shifts over time.
Cautionary Remarks on Analogies
- Archaeological cases may lack direct ethnographic references.
- Cultural changes can obscure the relationship between past and present.
- Analogies are probabilistic; they can be incorrect.
Middle-Level Theory Overview
- Rigorous analogy based on causal relationships; explains artifact attributes' connections to human activity.
- Most complex task for archaeologists; reliant on uniformitarian principles.
Taphonomy
- Studies the natural processes affecting the formation of archaeological sites and material decay.
- Uses contemporary processes to understand archaeological formations.
Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed
- Bone assemblage patterns suggest human involvement in hunting, indicating hunting strategies, group sizes, and food storage.
Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed Case Study
- Investigates a 9,500-year-old site with 500 bison remains and 21 spear points.
Investigating Natural Processes
- Examines how natural occurrences could create patterns similar to those found at the Hudson-Meng site; no cut marks from tools, only carnivore marks observed.
Todd and Rapson's Hypothesis
- Suggested a summer storm-induced prairie fire led bison into a swale; spear points may have been lost post-mortem, following the decomposition of remains.
Experimental Archaeology
- Facilitates understanding ancient behaviors through controlled experimentation, such as flintknapping.
- Provides possible insights rather than definitive answers due to uncontrolled variables in actual life.
Butchering Experiments
- Investigates use-wear patterns resulting from butchering practices.
Ethnoarchaeology
- Observes contemporary societies to understand human behavior and material culture.
- Analyzes patterns in behavior applicable to the archaeological record, recognizing potential cultural changes.
Binford and the Nunamiut
- Studied living hunting communities to correlate their activities with archaeological findings, emphasizing variability in tool and bone assemblages.
Important Considerations
- Acknowledge cultural and behavioral changes over time.
- Recognize the complexity and variability of human behaviors; controlled experiments may not replicate true actions.
- Some historical behaviors may lack modern analogues, complicating interpretation.
Studying That Suits You
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Description
Test your knowledge on key terms and concepts related to archaeology with this set of flashcards from Lecture 10. Learn about the role of archaeologists and the importance of mid-level theory in linking artifacts to historical behaviors.
