Archaeological Explanations

Explanations in Archaeology

Migrationist and Diffusionist Explanations

• Early archaeology attributed change to external forces like migrations or diffusionism.
• Criticism:
  • Classifications don't always represent real entities.
  • Migrations are hard to document archaeologically.
  • Overemphasis on cultural diffusion.
• Ancient DNA analysis has been able to substantiate some traditional hypotheses.
• Need for greater nuance to explain change as more archaeological material became available.

The Processual Approach

• Seeks to isolate processes within a society.
• Emphasizes relations with the environment and interactions within a society.
• Focus on ecological and social factors.
• Avoids migration or diffusion as primary explanations for change.

Marxist Archaeology

• Renewed interest sparked by New Archaeology.
• Emphasis on internal conflict between classes as a catalyst for change.
• Some differences exist between traditional and neo-Marxist approaches regarding ideology and economics.

Evolutionary Archaeology

• Promotes biological evolution as responsible for culture change.
• Applies Darwinian theory to the archaeological record.
• Currently lacks convincing evidence compared to other approaches.

Explanation: One Cause or Several?

• Monocausal explanations: Single explanations for the origin of the state.
  • Examples: hydraulic hypothesis, internal conflict, warfare, population growth, environmental circumscription, external trade.
• Multivariate explanations: Multiple factors at play. Seeks to deal with multiple variables that altered simultaneously. Classic Maya Collapse
  • Interlocked stresses exacerbated by social and ideological factors included: Droughts, warfare, disease, overpopulation, social unrest, violence, climate change, loss of faith in rulers

Postprocessual or Interpretive Explanations

• Criticism of the processual method.
• Preference for descriptive historical method.
• Focus on ideology and symbols; role of the individual and material culture.
• Material culture results from deliberate actions and makes society work; everyday life is important.

Structuralist Approaches

• Focus on structures of thought guiding human actions.
• Beliefs and concepts, patterns of thought applied across different spheres of life.

Neo-Marxist Thought

• Greater emphasis on ideology.
• Aim to establish deeper historical identity.

Symbols, Ritual, and Interaction

• Cognitive and symbolic aspects; ideology as an active force.
• Role of ritual, religion, and ideology.

Agency

• Role of individuals in promoting change.
• Social institutions and practices.
• Broader impacts of individual or group actions are difficult to determine.

Materiality

• Active role of material culture; interaction between material culture and human agency.
• Dimensions of social identity.
• Focus enables exploration of social change from the bottom-up.

Into the Present

• Ecology and climate change as central concerns.
• Collaboration with climate scientists.
• Postcolonial approaches and ontological turn: exploring different worldviews.
• Insights into human diversity and patterns of long-term change inform research into modern issues.