Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

Volume 9

1st Edition - January 1, 1986
Editor: Michael B Schiffer
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 1 4 8 4 - 9

Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 9 is a collection of papers that describes protohuman culture, pastoralism, artifact classification, and the use of materials… Read more

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Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 9 is a collection of papers that describes protohuman culture, pastoralism, artifact classification, and the use of materials science techniques to study the construction of pottery. Some papers discuss contingency tables, geophysical methods of archaeological site surveying, and predictive models for archaeological resource location. One paper reviews the methodological and theoretical advances in the archaeological studies of human origins, particularly covering the Plio-Pleistocene period. Another paper explains the historic and prehistoric development of pastoralism through archaeological investigation. One paper traces the three phases of artifact classification, each being a representation of a different attitude and approach. Another paper evaluates pottery artifacts using a number of basic materials-science concepts and analytic approaches, toward the study of their mechanical strength; and also reviews their use in archaeological studies of pottery production and organization. To investigate archaeological intrasites, the archaeologist can use different specialized methods such as seismic, electromagnetic, resistivity, magnetometry, and radar. Another paper describes various empiric correlative models for locational prediction developed in both contexts of cultural resource management and academic research. Sociologists, anthropologist, ethnographers, museum curators, professional or amateur archaeologists will find the collection immensely valuable.

Contributors

1 The First Million Years: The Archaeology of Protohuman Culture

Introduction

Chronology

Terminology and Classification

The Evolutionary Record

The Earliest Archaeological Sites

Studies of Early Technology

Site-Formation Processes: Comparative Models

The Formation of Early Archaeological Sites: Untangling the Web?

Studies of Spatial Configurations

Environmental Reconstruction and Land-Use Patterns

Diet

Social Behavior

Cognition and Intelligence

Conclusion

References

2 Beyond Bones: Toward an Archaeology of Pastoralism

Introduction and Definitions

Old World Domestication

Uses and Limitations of Faunal Analysis

Pastoral Sites and Survey

Excavations of Pastoral Sites

Experimental Archaeology in Pastoral Studies

Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Pastoralism

Conclusions and Recommendations

References

3 Methodological Issues in Americanist Artifact Classification

Introduction

Kinds of Units

A Brief History of American Artifact Classification

Conclusions

References

4 The Use of Materials Science Techniques in the Study of Pottery Construction and Use

Introduction

Ceramic and Clay Studies from the Potter's Perspective: Clay Plasticity and Workability

Sampling in Studies of Archaeological Clays

Ceramic and Clay Studies from the Consumer's Perspective: Durability

Materials Testing: Statistical and Instrumentation Problems

Linking the Laboratory and the Field

An Archaeological Caveat

Conclusions

References

5 The Analysis of Contingency Tables in Archaeology

Introduction

Table Design

Exploratory Pattern Searching

Confirmatory Analyses of Tables

Discrete Data Analysis: Notes on Computing and Future Prospects

References

6 Geophysical Methods of Archaeological Site Surveying

Introduction

A Guide to the Literature

Overview of Geophysical Methods

Seismic Methods

Electromagnetic Methods

Electrical Resistivity Surveying

Magnetic Surveying

Radar Surveying

Summary and Conclusions

References

7 Predictive Models for Archaeological Resource Location

Introduction

Empiric Correlative Models of Location

Deductive Models of Location

Concluding Remarks

Postscript

References

Index

Contents of Previous Volumes