Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective

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Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1607324946
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective by : Alan P. Sullivan

Download or read book Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective written by Alan P. Sullivan and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective, contributors illustrate the virtues of various ecological, experimental, statistical, typological, technological, and cognitive/social approaches for understanding the origins, formation histories, and inferential potential of a wide range of archaeological phenomena. As archaeologists worldwide create theoretically inspired and methodologically robust narratives of the cultural past, their research pivots on the principle that determining the origins and histories of archaeological phenomena is essential in understanding their relevance for a variety of anthropological problems. The chapters explore how the analysis of artifact, assemblage, and site distributions at different spatial and temporal scales provides new insights into how mobility strategies affect lithic assemblage composition, what causes unstable interaction patterns in complex societies, and which factors promote a sense of “place” in landscapes of abandoned structures. In addition, several chapters illustrate how new theoretical approaches and innovative methods promote reinterpretations of the regional significance of historically important archaeological sites such as Myrtos-Pyrgos (Crete, Greece), Aztalan (Wisconsin, USA), Tabun Cave (Israel), and Casas Grandes (Chihuahua, Mexico). The studies presented in Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective challenge orthodoxy, raise research-worthy controversies, and develop strong inferences about the diverse evolutionary pathways of humankind using theoretical perspectives that consider both new information and preexisting archaeological data. Contributors: C. Michael Barton, Brian F. Byrd, Gerald Cadogan, Philip G. Chase, Harold L. Dibble, Matthew J. Douglass, Patricia C. Fanning, Lynne Goldstein, Simon J. Holdaway, Kathryn A. Kamp, Sam Lin, Emilia Oddo, Zeljko Rezek, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Gary O. Rollefson, Jeffrey Rosenthal, Barbara J. Roth, Sissel Schroeder, Justin I. Shiner, John C. Whittaker, David R. Wilcox

Between Artifacts and Texts

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1475794096
Total Pages : 236 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (757 download)

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Book Synopsis Between Artifacts and Texts by : Anders Andrén

Download or read book Between Artifacts and Texts written by Anders Andrén and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first truly global survey of the relationship between artifacts and texts from historiographical, methodological, and analytical perspectives. It analyzes the crucial relationship between material culture and writing in ancient societies, employing examples from twelve major disciplines in historical archaeology and summarizing their role in five global methodological approaches. It is valuable reading for advanced (under/post) graduate students, and instructors in any historical archaeological subject.

Consumption, Status, and Sustainability

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108836046
Total Pages : 363 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Consumption, Status, and Sustainability by : Paul Roscoe

Download or read book Consumption, Status, and Sustainability written by Paul Roscoe and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-12 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focuses information from across time and culture on the relationships among status competition, consumption, and planetary sustainability.

Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest

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Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1607328852
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (73 download)

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Book Synopsis Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest by : Robert J. Stokes

Download or read book Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest written by Robert J. Stokes and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2019-07-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest presents new research on human organization in the American Southwest, examining families, households, and communities in the Ancestral Puebloan, Mogollon, and Hohokam major cultural areas, as well as the Fremont, Jornada Mogollon, and Lipan Apache areas, from the time of earliest habitation to the twenty-first century. Using historical data, dialectic approaches, problem-oriented and data-driven analysis, and ethnographic and gender studies methodologies, the contributors offer diverse interpretations of what constitutes a site, village, and community; how families and households organized their domestic space; and how this organization has influenced researchers’ interpretations of spatially derived archaeological data. Today’s archaeologists and anthropologists understand that communities operate as a multi-level, -organizational, -contextual, and -referential human creation, which informs their understanding of how people actively negotiate their way through and around community constraints. The chapters in this book creatively examine these interactions, revealing the dynamic nature of ancient and modern groups in the American Southwest. The book has two broad complementary themes: one focusing on household decision-making, identity, and structural relations with the greater community; the other concerned with community organization and integration, household roles within the community, and changes in community organization—violence and destabilization, coalescence and cooperation—over time. Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest weaves a rich tapestry of ancient and modern life through innovative approaches that will be of interest not only to Southwestern archaeologists but to all researchers and students interested in social organization at the household and community levels. Contributors: James R. Allison, Andrew Duff, Lindsay Johansson, Michael Lindeman, Myles Miller, James Potter, Alison E. Rautman, J. Jefferson Reid, Katie Richards, Oscar Rodriguez, Barbara Roth, Kristin Safi, Deni Seymour, Robert J. Stokes, Richard K. Talbot, Scott Ure, Henry Wallace, Stephanie M. Whittlesey

The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317281764
Total Pages : 584 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (172 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies by : Steven L. Kuhn

Download or read book The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies written by Steven L. Kuhn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-14 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Evolution of Paleolithic Technologies provides a novel perspective on long-term trajectories of evolutionary change in Paleolithic tools and tool-makers. Members of the human lineage have been producing stone tools for more than 3 million years. These artefacts provide key evidence for important evolutionary developments in hominin behaviour and cognition. Avoiding conventional approaches based on progressive stages of development, this book instead examines global trends in six separate dimensions of technological behaviour between 2.6 million and 10,000 years ago. Combining these independent trends results in both a broader and a more finely punctuated perspective on key intervals of change in hominin behaviour. To draw this picture together, the concluding section explores behavioural, cognitive, and demographic implications of developments in material culture and technological procedures at seven key intervals during the Pleistocene. Researchers interested in Paleolithic archaeology will find this book invaluable. It will also be of interest to archaeologists researching stone tool technology and to students of human evolution and behavioural change in prehistory.

The Usage of Ochre at the Verge of Neolithisation from the Near East to the Carpathian Basin

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Publisher : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1803273372
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (32 download)

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Book Synopsis The Usage of Ochre at the Verge of Neolithisation from the Near East to the Carpathian Basin by : Julia Kościuk-Załupka

Download or read book The Usage of Ochre at the Verge of Neolithisation from the Near East to the Carpathian Basin written by Julia Kościuk-Załupka and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2023-03-23 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the cultural meaning of ochre among the societies of the Late Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic from the Levant to the Carpathian Basin.

The Archaeology of Native North America

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351588249
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (515 download)

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Book Synopsis The Archaeology of Native North America by : Dean R. Snow

Download or read book The Archaeology of Native North America written by Dean R. Snow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Archaeology of Native North America presents the ideas, evidence, and debates regarding the initial peopling of the continent by mobile bands of hunters and gatherers and the cultural evolution of their many lines of descent over the ensuing millennia. The emergence of farming, urban centers, and complex political organization paralleled similar developments in other world areas. With the arrival of Europeans to North America and the inevitable clashes of culture, colonizers and colonists were forever changed, which is also represented in the archaeological heritage of the continent. Unlike others, this book includes Mesoamerica and the Caribbean, thus addressing broad regional interactions and the circulation of people, things, and ideas. This edition incorporates results of new archaeological research since the publication of the first edition a decade earlier. Fifty-four new box features highlight selected archaeological sites, which are publicly accessible gateways into the study of North American archaeology. The features were authored by specialists with direct knowledge of the sites and their broad importance. Glossaries are provided at the end of every chapter to clarify specialized terminology. The book is directed to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students taking survey courses in American archaeology, as well as other advanced readers. It is extensively illustrated and includes citations to sources with their own robust bibliographies, leading diligent readers deeper into the professional literature. The Archaeology of Native North America is the ideal text for courses in North American archaeology.

The Oxford Handbook of Southwest Archaeology

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199978433
Total Pages : 832 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (999 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Southwest Archaeology by : Barbara Mills

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Southwest Archaeology written by Barbara Mills and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American Southwest is one of the most important archaeological regions in the world, with many of the best-studied examples of hunter-gatherer and village-based societies. Research has been carried out in the region for well over a century, and during this time the Southwest has repeatedly stood at the forefront of the development of new archaeological methods and theories. Moreover, research in the Southwest has long been a key site of collaboration between archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, linguists, biological anthropologists, and indigenous intellectuals. This volume marks the most ambitious effort to take stock of the empirical evidence, theoretical orientations, and historical reconstructions of the American Southwest. Over seventy top scholars have joined forces to produce an unparalleled survey of state of archaeological knowledge in the region. Themed chapters on particular methods and theories are accompanied by comprehensive overviews of the culture histories of particular archaeological sequences, from the initial Paleoindian occupation, to the rise of a major ritual center in Chaco Canyon, to the onset of the Spanish and American imperial projects. The result is an essential volume for any researcher working in the region as well as any archaeologist looking to take the pulse of contemporary trends in this key research tradition.

The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351030612
Total Pages : 768 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology by : Christopher J. Knüsel

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology written by Christopher J. Knüsel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-04-29 with total page 768 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Archaeothanatology spans the gap between archaeology and biological anthropology, the field and laboratory, and between francophone and anglophone funerary archaeological approaches to the remains of the dead and the understanding of societies, past and present. Interest in archaeothanatology has grown considerably in recent years in English-language scholarship. This timely publication moves away from anecdotal case studies to offer syntheses of archaeothanatological approaches with an eye to higher-level inferences about funerary behaviour and its meaning in the past. Written by francophone scholars who have contributed to the development of the field and anglophone scholars inspired by the approach, this volume offers detailed insight into the background and development of archaeothanatology, its theory, methods, applications, and its most recent advances, with a lexicon of related vocabulary. This volume is a key source for archaeo-anthropologists and bioarchaeologists. It will benefit researchers, lecturers, practitioners and students in biological anthropology, archaeology, taphonomy and forensic science. Given the interdisciplinary nature of these disciplines, and the emphasis placed on analysis in situ, this book will also be of interest to specialists in entomology, (micro)biology and soil science.

Landscapes of Ritual Performance in Eastern North America

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Publisher : Oxbow Books
ISBN 13 : 1789259304
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (892 download)

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Book Synopsis Landscapes of Ritual Performance in Eastern North America by : Cheryl Claassen

Download or read book Landscapes of Ritual Performance in Eastern North America written by Cheryl Claassen and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2023-02-23 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the long history of documenting the material culture of the archaeological record, meaning and actions of makers and users of these items is often overlooked. The authors in this book focus on rituals exploring the natural and made landscape stages, the ritual directors, including their progression from shaman to priesthood, and meaning of the rites. They also provide comments on the end or failure of rites and cults from Paleoindian into post-DeSoto years. Chapters examine the archaeological records of Cahokia, the lower Ohio Valley, Aztalan Wisconsin, Vermont, Florida, and Georgia, and others scan the Eastern US, investigating tobacco/datura, color symbolism, deer symbolism, mound stratigraphy, flintknapping, stone caching, cults and their organization, and red ochre. These authors collectively query the beliefs that can be gleaned from mortuary practices and their variation, from mound construction, from imagery, from the choice of landscape setting. While some rituals were short-lived, others can be shown to span millennia as the ritual specialists modified their interpretations and introduced innovations.

Investigating Archaeological Cultures

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1441969705
Total Pages : 394 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (419 download)

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Book Synopsis Investigating Archaeological Cultures by : Benjamin W. Roberts

Download or read book Investigating Archaeological Cultures written by Benjamin W. Roberts and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-06-04 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Defining "culture" is an important step in undertaking archaeological research. Any thorough study of a particular culture first has to determine what that culture contains-- what particular time period, geographic region, and group of people make up that culture. The study of archaeology has many accepted definitions of particular cultures, but recently these accepted definitions have come into question. As archaeologists struggle to define cultures, they also seek to define the components of culture. This volume brings together 21 international case studies to explore the meaning of "culture" for regions around the globe and periods from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age and beyond. Taking lessons and overarching themes from these studies, the contributors draw important conclusions about cultural transmission, technology development, and cultural development. The result is a comprehensive model for approaching the study of culture, broken down into regions (Russia, Continental Europe, North America, Britain, and Africa), materials (Lithics, Ceramics, Metals) and time periods. This work will be valuable to all archaeologists and cultural anthropologists, particularly those studying material culture.

Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation

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Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN 13 : 0812203259
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (122 download)

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Book Synopsis Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation by : Charles E. Orser, Jr.

Download or read book Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation written by Charles E. Orser, Jr. and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-04-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars who investigate race—a label based upon real or perceived physical differences—realize that they face a formidable task. The concept has been contested and condoned, debated and denied throughout modern history. Presented with the full understanding of the complexity of the issue, Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation concentrates on the archaeological analysis of race and how race is determined in the archaeological record. Most archaeologists, even those dealing with recent history, have usually avoided the subject of race, yet Charles E. Orser, Jr., contends that its study and its implications are extremely important for the science of archaeology. Drawing upon his considerable experience as an archaeologist, and using a combination of practice theory as interpreted by Pierre Bourdieu and spatial theory as presented by Henri Lefebvre, Orser argues for an explicit archaeology of race and its interpretation. The author reviews past archaeological usages of race, including a case study from early nineteenth-century Ireland, and explores the way race was used to form ideas about the Mound Builders, the Celts, and Atlantis. He concludes with a proposal that historical archaeology—cast as modern-world archaeology—should take the lead in the archaeological analysis of race because its purview is the recent past, that period during which our conceptions of race developed.

Exploring a Terra Incognita on Crete

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Publisher : INSTAP Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 1623034221
Total Pages : 167 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (23 download)

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Book Synopsis Exploring a Terra Incognita on Crete by : Konstantinos Chalikias

Download or read book Exploring a Terra Incognita on Crete written by Konstantinos Chalikias and published by INSTAP Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-12-31 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together for the first time scholars working on the Bronze Age settlement patterns and material culture of the southern Ierapetra Isthmus, a region that actively participated in the coastal and maritime trade networks of East Crete. During the past few decades, while various archaeological projects focused on the northern isthmus, the Ierapetra area remained largely neglected and unknown, a terra incognita. Yet, new excavations at Gaidourophas, Anatoli Stavromenos, Chryssi Island, Bramiana, and the ongoing research at the site of Myrtos Pyrgos are showing that the coastal area of Ierapetra was a vibrant and thriving settlement landscape during the Bronze Age. Far from being simply on the periphery of the major Minoan centers, the southern Ierapetra Isthmus played important roles in the cultural dynamics of Crete. Aiming to be the first building block in the development of an archaeological understanding of the region of the southern Ierapetra Isthmus, this book presents the status of the discipline and indicates future research trajectories.

Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology

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Publisher : Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN 13 : 1938770293
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (387 download)

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Book Synopsis Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology by : Richard M. Leventhal

Download or read book Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology written by Richard M. Leventhal and published by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. This book was released on 2003-12-31 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology: Old World and New World Perspectives brings together leading scholars from the Old World and the Americas to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing archaeology today. These topics include archaeology and text, the future of large-scale archaeological fieldwork at individual sites, interpretation and preservation of archaeological sites and landscapes, past trajectories and new approaches to regional survey, and debates surrounding landscape and settlement archaeology. Essays by Old World archaeologists provide an overview of these themes, as well as a history of research over the last hundred years. These scholars review the major successes and shortcomings of that work, identifying critical issues that determine and define the field. These essays serve as a springboard for discussion and response by archaeologists working in the Americas and in other parts of the world. The combination of an Old World focus with responses from New World archaeologists provides a uniquely broad assessment of contemporary archaeological theory, methods, and practice throughout the world.

The Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic in the Eastern Fertile Crescent

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Author :
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
ISBN 13 : 1000813347
Total Pages : 455 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis The Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic in the Eastern Fertile Crescent by : Tobias Richter

Download or read book The Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic in the Eastern Fertile Crescent written by Tobias Richter and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together the latest results and discussions from research carried out in the eastern Fertile Crescent, the so-called hilly flanks, and adjacent regions, as well as providing key historical perspectives on earlier fieldwork in the region. The emergence of sedentary food producing societies in southwest Asia ca. 10,000 years ago has been a key research focus for archaeologists since the 1930s. This book provides a balance to the weight of work undertaken in the western Fertile Crescent, namely the Levant and southern Anatolia. This preference has led to a heavy emphasis on these regions in discussions about where, when and how the transition from hunting and gathering to plant cultivation and animal domestication occurred. Chapters assess the role of the eastern Fertile Crescent as a key region in the Neolithization process in southwest Asia, highlighting the key and important contributions people in this region made to the emergence of sedentary farming societies. This book is primarily aimed at academics researching the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture in southwest Asia. It will also be of interest to archaeologists working on this transition in other parts of Eurasia.

The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 9780306436451
Total Pages : 340 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (364 download)

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Book Synopsis The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning by : Ellen M. Kroll

Download or read book The Interpretation of Archaeological Spatial Patterning written by Ellen M. Kroll and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1991-02-28 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigations of archaeological intrasite spatial patterns have generally taken one of two directions: studies that introduced and explored methods for the analysis of archaeological spatial patterns or those that described and analyzed the for mation of spatial patterns in actuaiistic-ethnographic, experimental, or natu ral-contexts. The archaeological studies were largely quantitative in nature, concerned with the recognition and definition of patterns; the actualistic efforts were often oriented more toward interpretation, dealing with how patterns formed and what they meant. Our research group on archaeological spatial analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been working for several years on both quantitative and interpretive problems. Both lines of investigation are closely related and are important complements. In order to demonstrate the convergence of archaeological and actualistic studies for the understanding of intrasite spatial patterns, we organized a sympo sium at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archaeology in Toronto, Canada, in May 1987. The symposium, titled "The Interpretation of Stone Age Archaeological Spatial Patterns," was organized into two sessions. The six papers presented in the morning session, five of which comprise Part I of this volume, focused on ethnoarchaeological and experimental research. Michael Schiffer was the discussant for this half of the symposium. Our intention for the ethnoarchaeological contributions to the symposium and volume was the delin eation of some of the significant accomplishments achieved thus far by actualistic studies regarding the formation of spatial patterns.

Archaeology After Interpretation

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315434245
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (154 download)

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Book Synopsis Archaeology After Interpretation by : Benjamin Alberti

Download or read book Archaeology After Interpretation written by Benjamin Alberti and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new generation of archaeologists has thrown down a challenge to post-processual theory, arguing that characterizing material symbols as arbitrary overlooks the material character and significance of artifacts. This volume showcases the significant departure from previous symbolic approaches that is underway in the discipline. It brings together key scholars advancing a variety of cutting edge approaches, each emphasizing an understanding of artifacts and materials not in terms of symbols but relationally, as a set of associations that compose people’s understanding of the world. Authors draw on a diversity of intellectual sources and case studies, paving a dynamic road ahead for archaeology as a discipline and theoretical approaches to material culture.