Posing Questions for a Scientific Archaeology
Published on 30. June 2001
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-0-89789-753-2 (ISBN)
Description
Although many believe that archaeological knowledge consists simply of empirical findings, this notion is false; data are generated with the guidance of theory, or some sense-making system acting in its place whether researchers recognize this or not. Failure to understand the relationship between theory and the empirical world has led to the many debates and frustrations of contemporary archaeology.
Despite years of trying, the atheoretical, empiricist foundations of archaeology have left us little but a history of storytelling and unsatisfying generalizations about historical change and human diversity. The present work offers promising directions for building theoretically defensible results by providing well-designed case studies that can be used as guides or exemplars. Evolutionary theory, in at least some form, is the foundation for a scientific archaeology that will yield scientific explanations for historical change.
Despite years of trying, the atheoretical, empiricist foundations of archaeology have left us little but a history of storytelling and unsatisfying generalizations about historical change and human diversity. The present work offers promising directions for building theoretically defensible results by providing well-designed case studies that can be used as guides or exemplars. Evolutionary theory, in at least some form, is the foundation for a scientific archaeology that will yield scientific explanations for historical change.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
685 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-89789-753-2 (9780897897532)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Terry L. Hunt | Carl P. Lipo | Sarah L. Sterling
Posing Questions for a Scientific Archaeology
E-Book
06/2001
1st Edition
Praeger Publishers Inc
€82.99
Available for download
Persons
TERRY L. HUNT is Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii./e
CARL P. LIPO is a systems architect at Intemap Network Services and Affiliate Graduate Faculty at University of Hawaii./e
SARAH L. STERLING is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Washington./e
CARL P. LIPO is a systems architect at Intemap Network Services and Affiliate Graduate Faculty at University of Hawaii./e
SARAH L. STERLING is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Washington./e
Content
Preface Posing Questions for a Scientific Archaeology by Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, and Sarah L. Sterling Building Components of Evolutionary Explanation: A Study of Wedge Tools from Northern South America by Kimberly D. Kornbacher The Engineering and Evolution of Hawaiian Fishhooks by Michael T. Pfeffer Building the Framework for An Evolutionary Explanation of Projectile Point Variation: An Example from the Central Mississippi River Valley by Kris H. Wilhelmsen Social Complexity in Ancient Egypt: Functional Differentiation Reflected in the Distribution of Standardized Ceramics by Sarah L. Sterling Community Structures in Late Mississippian Populations of the Central Mississippi Valley by Carl P. Lipo Dietary Variation and Village Settlement in the Ohio Valley by Diana M. Greenlee Resource Intensification and Late Holocene Human Impacts on Pacific Coast Bird Populations: Evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound Avifauna by Jack Broughton Evolutionary Bet-Hedging and the Hopewell Cultural Climax by Mark E. Madsen Index