Download or read book Defining and Measuring Diversity in Archaeology written by Metin I. Eren and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2022-07-18 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Calculating the diversity of biological or cultural classes is a fundamental way of describing, analyzing, and understanding the world around us. Understanding archaeological diversity is key to understanding human culture in the past. Archaeologists have long experienced a tenuous relationship with statistics; however, the regular integration of diversity measures and concepts into archaeological practice is becoming increasingly important. This volume includes chapters that cover a wide range of archaeological applications of diversity measures. Featuring studies of archaeological diversity ranging from the data-driven to the theoretical, from the Paleolithic to the Historic periods, authors illustrate the range of data sets to which diversity measures can be applied, as well as offer new methods to examine archaeological diversity.
Download or read book Quantifying Diversity in Archaeology written by Robert D. Leonard and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1989-04-25 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantifying Diversity in Archaeology aims to examine what we mean by diversity.
Download or read book Unit Issues in Archaeology written by Ann Felice Ramenofsky and published by University of Utah Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume emphasizes one aspect of scientific method: units of measure and their construction as applied to archaeology. Attributes, artifact classes, locational designations, temporal periods, sampling universes, culture stages, and geographic regions are all examples of constructed units.
Download or read book Measuring Time with Artifacts written by R. Lee Lyman and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combining historical research with a lucid explication of archaeological methodology and reasoning, Measuring Time with Artifacts examines the origins and changing use of fundamental chronometric techniques and procedures and analyzes the different ways American archaeologists have studied changes in artifacts, sites, and peoples over time. In highlighting the underpinning ontology and epistemology of artifact-based chronometers?cultural transmission and how to measure it archaeologically?this volume covers issues such as why archaeologists used the cultural evolutionism of L. H. Morgan, E. B. Tylor, L. A. White, and others instead of biological evolutionism; why artifact classification played a critical role in the adoption of stratigraphic excavation; how the direct historical approach accomplished three analytical tasks at once; why cultural traits were important analytical units; why paleontological and archaeological methods sometimes mirror one another; how artifact classification influences chronometric method; and how graphs illustrate change in artifacts over time. An understanding of the history of artifact-based chronometers enables us to understand how we know what we think we know about the past, ensures against modern misapplication of the methods, and sheds light on the reasoning behind archaeologists' actions during the first half of the twentieth century.
Download or read book Diversity in Archaeology written by Elifgül Doğan and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-09-01 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 30 papers explore a wide range of topics such as women’s voices in archaeological discourse; researching race and ethnicity across time; use of diversified science methods in archaeology; critical ethnographic studies; diversity in the archaeology of death, heritage studies, and archaeology of ‘scapes’.
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.
Download or read book Something Out of the Ordinary Interpreting Diversity in the Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik and Beyond written by Luc Amkreutz and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2016-04-26 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 7000 years ago, groups of early farmers (the Linearbandkeramik, or LBK) spread over vast areas of Europe. Their cultural characteristics comprised common choices and styles of execution, with a central meaning and functionality attached to ‘doing things a certain way’, over an enormous geographical area. However, recent evidence suggests that the reality was much more varied and diverse. The central question of this book is the extent to which notions of ‘uniformity’ and ‘diversity’ have caused a wider shift in archaeological perspective. Using the LBK case study as a starting point, the volume brings together contributions by international specialists tackling the notion of cultural diversity and its explanatory power in archaeological analysis more generally. Through discussions of the domestic architecture, stone tool inventory, pottery traditions, landscape use and burial traditions of the LBK, this book provides a crucial reappraisal of the culture’s potential for adaptability and change. Papers in the second part of the volume are devoted to archaeological case studies from around the globe in which the tension between diversity and uniformity has also proved controversial, including the Near Eastern Halaf culture, the North American Mississippian, the Pacific expansion of the Lapita culture, and the European Bell Beaker phenomenon. All provide exciting theoretical and methodological contributions on how the appreciation of cultural diversity as a whole can be moved forward. These papers expose diversity and uniformity as cultural strategies, and as such provide essential reading for scholars in archaeology and anthropology, and for anyone interested in the interplay between material culture and human social change.
Download or read book Lithic Technological Systems and Evolutionary Theory written by Society for American Archaeology. Annual Meeting and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-22 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays brings together several different evolutionary perspectives to demonstrate how lithic technological systems are a byproduct of human behavior. The essays cover a range of topics, including human behavioral ecology, cultural transmission, phylogenetic analysis, macroevolution, and various applications of evolutionary ecology.
Download or read book Archaic Societies written by Thomas E. Emerson and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 895 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essential overview of American Indian societies during the Archaic period across central North America.
Download or read book The Archaeology of Ethnicity written by Siân Jones and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-11-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The question of ethnicity is highly controversial in contemporary archaeology. Indigenous and nationalist claims to territory, often rely on reconstructions of the past based on the traditional identification of 'cultures' from archaeological remains. Sian Jones responds to the need for a reassessment of the ways in which social groups are identified in the archaeological record, with a comprehensive and critical synthesis of recent theories of ethnicity in the human sciences. In doing so, she argues for a fundamentally different view of ethnicity, as a complex dynamic form of identification, requiring radical changes in archaeological analysis and interpretation.
Download or read book Heritage of Value Archaeology of Renown written by Clay Mathers and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays urge archaeologists to reexamine and to change their basic assumptions about how we assign value to cultural places and, beyond that, how we should understand and manage our heritage throughout much of the world. At the heart of the complex field of cultural resource management is the work archaeologists do to determine the significance of a particular site. On a daily basis, they often face the question of what should be protected for future generations, salvaged in the face of impending destruction, or allowed to be destroyed without record. Frequently, their assessments are at odds with segments of society whose culturally conditioned values conflict with the practical management of resources. The book addresses such topical issues as public controversy over national memorials, land ownership, repatriation, and the protection of cultural heritage in war and peace. It sets the concerns of native peoples and minorities in the context of worldwide tensions between national and local identities, and it explores the overt goal of many countries to promote and appreciate cultural diversity. It also addresses the philosophical separation of heritage management and research within the archaeological discipline itself. The contributors propose that in both developing and developed nations the theoretical underpinning of policies must be examined, and new preservation, protection, and research strategies must be developed. Drawing on a broad base of international expertise, the book highlights new theoretical and pragmatic approaches to archaeological value and significance being applied currently by professionals in North America, Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia. The book raises concerns of interest not only to archaeologists but also to those in law, politics, anthropology, environmental studies, and related fields. It revives the critical debate concerning significance and value while emphasizing innovations in both theory and practice in what has become in the 21st century an increasingly diverse discipline. Clay Mathers is the geographic information systems coordinator for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Albuquerque District, New Mexico. He is the coeditor of Trends and Patterns in Cultural Resource Significance, Cultural Resource Significance Evaluation, and Development and Decline in the Mediterranean Bronze Age.
Download or read book Archaeology by Design written by Stephen L. Black and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2003-03-19 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeology doesn't just happen. With large numbers of people involved, the complex logistics of fieldwork, funding needed for projects of any size, and a bewildering set of legal regulations and ethical norms to follow, a well-run archaeological project requires careful and detailed planning. In this reader-friendly guide, Black and Jolly give novice researchers invaluable practical advice on the process of designing successful field projects. Encompassing both directed academic and directed CRM projects, they outline the elements needed in your professional toolkit, show step-by-step how an archaeological project proceeds, focus on developing appropriate research questions and theoretical models, and address implementation issues from NAGPRA regulations down to estimating the number of shovels to toss into the pickup. Sidebars explain important topics like the Section 106 process, the importance of ethnology and geology to archaeologists, OSHA requirements, and how to assess significance. Archaeology by Design is an ideal starting point for giving students and novices the big picture of a contemporary archaeological project.
Download or read book Critical Approaches to Fieldwork written by Gavin Lucas and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work takes as its starting point the role of fieldwork and how this has changed over the past 150 years. The author argues against progressive accounts of fieldwork and instead places it in its broader intellectual context to critically examine the relationship between theoretical paradigms and everyday archaeological practice. In providing a much-needed historical and critical evaluation of current practice in archaeology, this book opens up a topic of debate which affects all archaeologists, whatever their particular interests.
Download or read book Analytical Archaeology written by David L. Clarke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-24 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study was well-established as a pioneer work on archaeological methodology, the theoretical basis of all archaeological analysis whatever the period or era. The first edition of the book presented and evaluated the radical changes in methodology which derived from developments in other disciplines, such as cybernetics, computer science and geography, during the 1950s and ‘60s. It argued that archaeology was a coherent discipline with its own methods and procedures and attempted to define the entities (attributes, artefacts, types, assemblages, cultures and culture groups) rigorously and consistently so that they could be applied to archaeological data. The later edition continued the same general theory, which is unparalleled in its scope and depth, adding notes to help understanding of the advances in method and theory to support the student and professional archaeologist. Review of the original publication: "One might venture that this is the most important archaeological work for twenty or thirty years, and it will undoubtedly influence several future generations of archaeologists." The Times Literary Supplement
Download or read book Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology written by Dries Daems and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-02-22 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Complexity and Complex Systems in Archaeology turns to complex systems thinking in search of a suitable framework to explore social complexity in Archaeology. Social complexity in archaeology is commonly related to properties of complex societies such as states, as opposed to so-called simple societies such as tribes or chiefdoms. These conceptualisations of complexity are ultimately rooted in Eurocentric perspectives with problematic implications for the field of archaeology. This book provides an in-depth conceptualisation of social complexity as the core concept in archaeological and interdisciplinary studies of the past, integrating approaches from complex systems thinking, archaeological theory, social practice theory, and sustainability and resilience science. The book covers a long-term perspective of social change and stability, tracing the full cycle of complexity trajectories, from emergence and development to collapse, regeneration and transformation of communities and societies. It offers a broad vision on social complexity as a core concept for the present and future development of archaeology. This book is intended to be a valuable resource for students and scholars in the field of archaeology and related disciplines such as history, anthropology, sociology, as well as the natural sciences studying human-environment interactions in the past.
Download or read book Investigating Archaeological Cultures written by Benjamin W. Roberts and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-06-10 with total page 393 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.
Download or read book Latin American Antiquity written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
