Confronting Scale in Archaeology

Confronting Scale in Archaeology PDF Author: Gary Lock
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387757018
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
Without realizing, most archaeologists shift within a scale of interpretation of material culture. Material data is interpreted from the scale of an individual in a specific place and time, then shifted to the complex dynamics of cultural groups spread over time and place. This book discusses the cultural, social and spatial aspects of scale and its impact on archaeology, and shows how an improved awareness of scale offers new and exciting interpretations.

Confronting Scale in Archaeology

Confronting Scale in Archaeology PDF Author: Gary Lock
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387757018
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
Without realizing, most archaeologists shift within a scale of interpretation of material culture. Material data is interpreted from the scale of an individual in a specific place and time, then shifted to the complex dynamics of cultural groups spread over time and place. This book discusses the cultural, social and spatial aspects of scale and its impact on archaeology, and shows how an improved awareness of scale offers new and exciting interpretations.

Unit Issues in Archaeology

Unit Issues in Archaeology PDF Author: Ann Felice Ramenofsky
Publisher: University of Utah Press
ISBN: 9780874805482
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
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.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World PDF Author: Paul Graves-Brown
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191663948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 852

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Book Description
It has been clear for many years that the ways in which archaeology is practised have been a direct product of a particular set of social, cultural, and historical circumstances - archaeology is always carried out in the present. More recently, however, many have begun to consider how archaeological techniques might be used to reflect more directly on the contemporary world itself: how we might undertake archaeologies of, as well as in the present. This Handbook is the first comprehensive survey of an exciting and rapidly expanding sub-field and provides an authoritative overview of the newly emerging focus on the archaeology of the present and recent past. In addition to detailed archaeological case studies, it includes essays by scholars working on the relationships of different disciplines to the archaeology of the contemporary world, including anthropology, psychology, philosophy, historical geography, science and technology studies, communications and media, ethnoarchaeology, forensic archaeology, sociology, film, performance, and contemporary art. This volume seeks to explore the boundaries of an emerging sub-discipline, to develop a tool-kit of concepts and methods which are applicable to this new field, and to suggest important future trajectories for research. It makes a significant intervention by drawing together scholars working on a broad range of themes, approaches, methods, and case studies from diverse contexts in different parts of the world, which have not previously been considered collectively.

Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology

Theory and Practice in Mediterranean Archaeology PDF Author: Richard M. Leventhal
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
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.

Exploring the Role of Analytical Scale in Archaeological Interpretation

Exploring the Role of Analytical Scale in Archaeological Interpretation PDF Author: James R. Mathieu
Publisher: BAR International Series
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
These eight papers, plus an introduction and two final discussions, grew from a symposium held at the Society for Americal Archaeology in Philadelphia in 2000, which discussed the effect on analytical scale on the interpretation of the archaeological record. In other words, the contributors debate the validity of archaeologists' choices regarding the limits of their research area, such as geographical and temporal limitations, and the size of the material discussed, ranging from a complete castle or settlement to a few finds. The case studies are broad in their range, including early European farming, the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, the uses of archaeometry, early Anglo-Saxon East Anglia, Late Antique Volterra and early medieval European cities.

Side-by-Side Survey

Side-by-Side Survey PDF Author: Susan Alcock
Publisher: Oxbow Books
ISBN: 1785704745
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 661

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Book Description
Twenty years ago, John Cherry looked forward to the day when archaeological survey projects working around the Mediterranean region (the 'Frogs round the pond') would begin to compare and synthesize the information they had collected. He anticipated researchers tackling big questions of interregional scope in new and interesting ways, working at a geographical scale considerably larger than that of the individual survey. Was his optimism misplaced? Despite the extraordinary growth of interest in field survey projects and regional analysis, and despite the developments in survey methodology that have been discussed and implemented in the past two decades, few scholars have attempted to use survey data in a comparative mode and to answer the broad-scale questions confronting social historians. In this volume, which is the outcome of an advanced Workshop held at the University of Michigan in 2002, a number of prominent archaeologists return to the question of comparability. They discuss the potential benefits of working in a comparative format, with evidence from many different Mediterranean survey projects, and consider the practical problems that present roadblocks to achieving that objective. From mapping and manuring to human settlement and demography, environment and culture, each addresses different questions, often with quite different approaches; together they offer a range of perspectives on how to put surveys "side-by-side". Contributors include Susan E Alcock, John Cherry, Jack L Davis, Peter Attema, Martijn van Leusen, James C Wright, Robin Osborne, David Mattingly, T J Wilkinson, and Richard E Blanton.

Effects of Scale on Archaeological and Geoscientific Perspectives

Effects of Scale on Archaeological and Geoscientific Perspectives PDF Author: Julie K. Stein
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813722837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description


Archaeology in Environment and Technology

Archaeology in Environment and Technology PDF Author: David Frankel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134626088
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Environments, landscapes, and ecological systems are often seen as fundamental by archaeologists, but how they relate to society is understood in very different ways. The chapters in this book take environment, culture, and technology together. All have been the focus of much attention; often one or other has been seen as the starting point for analysis, but this volume argues that it is the study of the inter-relationships between these three factors that offers a way forward. The contributions to this book pick up different strands within the tangled web of intersections between environment, technology, and society, providing a series of case studies which explore facets of this common theme in different settings and circumstances and from different perspectives. As well as addressing themes of theoretical and methodological interest, these case studies draw on primary research dealing with time periods from the late Pleistocene glacial maximum to the very recent past, and involve societies of very different types. Running through all the contributions, however, is a concern with the archaeological record and the ways in which scales of observation and availability of evidence affect the development of questions and explanations. The diversity of the chapters in this volume demonstrates the inherent weakness in any attempt to prioritise environment, technology, or society. These three factors are all embedded in any human activity, as change in one will result in change in the others: social and technical changes alter relations with the environment–and indeed the environment itself—and as environmental change drives changes in society and technology. As this book shows, it is possible to consider the relationship between the three factors from different perspectives, but any attempt to consider one or even two in isolation will mean that valuable insights will be missed.

The Archaeologist's Laboratory

The Archaeologist's Laboratory PDF Author: Edward B. Banning
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030479927
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
This second edition of the classic textbook, The Archaeologist’s Laboratory, is a substantially revised work that offers updated information on the archaeological work that follows fieldwork, such as the processing and analysis of artifacts and other evidence. An overarching theme of this edition is the quality and validity of archaeological arguments and the data we use to support them. The book introduces many of the laboratory activities that archaeologists carry out and the ways we can present research results, including graphs and artifact illustrations. Part I introduces general topics concerning measurement error, data quality, research design, typology, probability and databases. It also includes data presentation, basic artifact conservation, and laboratory safety. Part II offers brief surveys of the analysis of lithics and ground stone, pottery, metal artifacts, bone and shell artifacts, animal and plant remains, and sediments, as well as dating by stratigraphy, seriation and chronometric methods. It concludes with a chapter on archaeological illustration and publication. A new feature of the book is illustration of concepts through case studies from around the world and from the Palaeolithic to historical archaeology.The text is appropriate for senior undergraduate students and will also serve as a useful reference for graduate students and professional archaeologists.

Quantifying Archaeology

Quantifying Archaeology PDF Author: Stephen Shennan
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 148329594X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
This book introduces archaeologists to the most important quantitative methods, from the initial description of archaeological data to techniques of multivariate analysis. These are presented in the context of familiar problems in archaeological practice, an approach designed to illustrate their relevance and to overcome the fear of mathematics from which archaeologists often suffer.