ARCL Research Process and AR Records
schools of thought for models of processual questions
materialist theories and eco-functional theories
Past cultures components
demography, technology, economy, organization, and ideology
components
assemblages from a single later, living floor, or occupation horizon
Types of Data
nominal, ordinal, interval
four key processes of systemic context influence creation of sites
cultural deposition, reclamation process, cultural disturbance, reuse process
taphonomy
assessing how ecofacts came to be preserves and if it was influences by humans, animals, and/or the environment
Phases of Archaeological Research
asking questions, building models, collecting data, analyzing data, evaluating results
Materialist theories
major cultural shaping controlled by materials (technology, resources, etc.)
lithics
stone tools
environment
natural and social milieu in which human societies operate
economy
how people obtain food, water, and resources to sustain life through technology and organization
complexity
more units in society and more integration between those units
ideology
the way people view and understand the world
archaeological record
includes both past materials and context in which they are found
scales
has to do with size, both space and time
attributes
characteristics of artifacts, features, sites, etc including traits, measurements, properties; classified by age, form, technology, and style
features
Immovable structures, layers, pits, and posts in the ground
activity areas
combination of artifacts and features where specific tasks or behaviours occurred
assemblages
a related set of different things
sites
accumulation of artifacts and features; distinguished as surface or buries
nonsite/offsite
area between sites with occasional traces of human activity
regions and landscapes
physical/geographic entity; natural and cultural landscapes
archaeological contexts
buried or surface context in which artifacts/features are found
interpretive theories
similar to behaviorist but believes that the archaeological record gives insight into thoughts
taphonomic theories
theory that questions the information we get from the archaeological record; believes that the past can never be recreated
reactionary theories
believes that the archaeological record is a mirror reflecting ourselves, not the true past
nominal data
categorial, segregated into distinct categories
reuse process
an object moves through series of behavioral settings before it enters the archaeological record
cryoturbation
process in which freeze/thaw activity in soil pushes larger artifacts to the surface of a site
graviturbation
artifacts moved downslope through gravity
Two types of questions
descriptive and processual
Descriptive Questions
what, who, when, where leading to cultural history
Processual Questions
how and why of the cultural history, cultural change, and stability
three basic methods for collecting data
pedestrian survey, test excavations, and remote sensing
iconography
pictorial representations of ideology
artifacts
objects and materials people have made and used
ecofacts
unmodified natural items found in archaeological contexts; organic or inorganic
tradition
continuity of similar artifacts and design through time
residential sites based on size
camp, hamlet, village, town, cities
secondary context
artifacts that have been redeposited or shifted from their original position
behaviorist theories
the idea that suggests that the archaeological record is a snapshot of ancient behavior
ordinal data
categories ordered in a meaningful way
interval data
ratio data; constant interval between categories
operationalization
collecting accurate data to answer our questions
cultural deposition
discard, loss, caching, ritual internment
floralturbation
process in which trees and plants affect distribution of artifacts
argilliturbation
wet/dry cycles push artifacts up as sediment swells (mainly in clay)
Eco-functional theories
human adaption shaped by environment
ceramics
utensils
demography
study of human populations in the past
technology
interface. between human society and their environment; includes tools, facilities, etc., can appear in a region through invention, diffusion, or migration
organization
how social relationships are arranged and how interaction occurs
form of archaeological record
attributes, artifacts, ecofacts, features, assemblages, sites, regions, or landscapes
horizon
geographic extant of similar artifacts and design
phase
set of sites or assemblages in a certain region
context
immediate matrix, provenience, and association
primary context
original position of discard/deposition
systemic context
a living behavioral system in which artifacts are part of an ongoing system of manufacture, use, reuse, and discard
site formation processes
formation, transformation, cultural, and natural
culture-historical theory
the idea that we can reconstruct cultural history of a location by the superposition of archaeological materials
sample methods
stratified, cluster, random, non-random
reclamation process
human behaviors that result in artifacts moving from archaeological contexts back to systemic context
cultural disturbance
human processes modify artifacts
faunalturbation
process in which animals affect distribution of materials
preservation
one of the primary processes affecting the formation of an archaeological site