User:Jimmydean45/sandbox

Additional Research
Is there...

- pompeii like assemblages?? -- inferences are possible when a site has this kind of assemblage

middle

- critique of the practise of processual archaeologists eg. hill and longacre

- distinguishes differences between systematic and archaeological contexts --> archaeological record can be transformed and distort past cultures

- cultural and non-cultural formation process affect the archaeological contxt distorting it from it's systematic context

= Behavioral Archaeology fix citations =

Behavioral Archaeology is an archaeological theory that expands upon the nature and aims of archaeology. The theory was first published in 1975 by American archaeologist Michael B. Schiffer and his colleagues J. Jefferson Reid, and William L. Rathje. The theory proposes four strategies in which arcaheology could be practised in regards to the fundamental ideas of archaeology.

The theory was developed as a reaction to archaeological thought and practise at the time. It reacted to the increasing number of sub-disciplines emerging within archaeology. It also reacted to the processual and post-processual theories that had emerged in the 1950s and 1970s.(citation?)

In recent years Behavioral Archaeology has been regarded as a significant contribution to the archaeological community.

Background
Behvioral Archaeology was first published by Michael B. Schiffer, J. Jefferson Reid, and William L. Rathje in 1975 in the American Anthropologist journal. Prior to this time, archaeology had begun to break up into various sub-disciplines including ethnoarchaeology, experimental archaeology, and industrial archaeology. This was due to the need of specilisation in various areas and new ideas that were being presented.

Additionally, processual and post-processual ideas within archaeology had become prominent schools of thought within the community(cite/explain more clearly) As a result of this archaeology as a discipline was expanding in its practise and in its theory(?)

Schiffer and his colleagues aimed to explain the aims and nature of archaeology in relation to the new theories and forms of archaeology that were emerging during this time.They show that the fundamental concepts of archaeology can simply be defined as the relationship between material culture and human behaviour. By examining these relationships and asking questions surrounding them, archaeologists can answer questions about human behavioural change for the past, present, and future.

The processes of archaeology diversifying into smaller sub disciplines are "leading to an explanded conception of the nature and aims of archaeology." - Behavioral Archaeology 1975 864

- attempting to explain what archaeology is in regards to the new theories and forms of archaeology that were emerging during this period ''"we show that archaeology can be defined simply as the study of relationships between human behavior and material culture." 864-->'' asking questions about these relationships in order to answer questions about human behaviour

- talk about the lead up of ideas, processualism, post-processualism, differet sub disciplines emerging etc

- 865 "archaeologists have expanded, more by necessity than design"

Theory


The theory of Behavioral Archaeology outlines four strategies in which human behavior and material culture can be examined in order to answer questions associated with archaeological inquiry. There are elements of unique induvidual research and combined research as the four strategies work together to answer questions. Behavioral Archaeology also defines archaeology as a discipline that transcends time and space as it is the study of not only the past, but also of the present and future.

"the study of material objects regardless of time or spce in order to describe and explain human behaviour" (referenced in Schiffer 1975)864

all four strategies work closely together in order to fundamentally answer questions around archaeological thought --> unique induvidual research and unity of combined research 866

''"a synthesis of what archaeologists have done and aspire to do...interrelatedness among the strategies has roots deep in the progressive development of the discipline as a whole." 866''

archaeology can not just be seen as the study of the past but also of the present and futue, a concept that is becoming more and more prevalent in archaeological practise and teaching

change in human behvior --> study of human and material culture --> unique as it disregards time or space

Strategy 1
Strategy 1 as outlined by Schiffer and his colleagues examines how material culture from a past society or cultural group can be used to answer questions about past behaviour. These questions can include ones that involve the population of specific peoples, the occupation of a certain site or the resources that were used by humans at a certain location. Strategy 1 uses behvioral laws this is important because it means they dont rely on other disicplines


 * using maertial culture made in the past to answer questions about the past
 * archaeologists use "behavioral laws to document and explain past events" 864
 * justifying the need/importance for laws in archaeology for archaeologists to abide by, rather than just relying on the laws of other disciplines eg. ethnology

Strategy 2
Strategy 2 looks at how present material culture can provide archaeologists with information regarding past human behaviour. Questions within this strategy become experimentally charged as they are not confined to a specific time. These questions concern themselves with... Due to the nature of this questioning, this strategy relates to the sub-disicplines of experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology. During the time in which this theory was developed, experimental archaeology was being tested. However, in the 21st century experimental archaeology has been throughouly tested and is seen as a useful means of inquiry about the past within archaeological practise (FIND SOURCE)

Strategy 2 came about as a means of testing cultural change. Rather than interdisciplinary borrowing, Schiffer suggests that the archaeological record itself can be used in order to examine these processes.


 * "general questions in present material culture in order to acquire laws useful for the study of the past"
 * questions with this theory are not contained to specific time-space rules rather they become experimental laws
 * strategy 2 can all fall under the sub-disciplines of experimental archaeology, and ethnoarchaeology.
 * at the time of writing this article research around strategy was being tested however in modern archaeology the ideas surrounding strategy 2 have been tested and verified (possibly find a source for this?)
 * behavioural laws are needed to answer questions about the past
 * came about as a means of testing the processes of cultural change --> solution 1 interdisciplinary borrowing --> solution 2 arachaeological record in itself can be used to discover cultural change processes, "these laws could then explain and predict contemporary behavioural change"
 * strategy 2 and this realisation of being able to use data from the past to answer questions about processes leads to strategy 3

Strategy 3
Strategy 3 concerns itself with studying past material culture in order to answer questions about past and present human behaviour.


 * "study of past material remains to derive behavioral laws that illuminate past as well as present human behavior."
 * ancient laws are relevant to modern social problems and issues
 * 866 --> theme of social relevance, inspired by writings of Paul S. Martin
 * "in exploring the relationships between archaeological principles and material culture, they have discovered that archaeology ca make contributions to the understanding of present human behavior..."

Strategy 4

 * study of present material culture in ongoing culture and contexts to explain present human behavior.
 * industrial and non- industrial societies
 * asks specific questions about ongoing socities
 * good to understand and promote archaeological relevance and the explanation of modern behaviours

'Pompeii Premise'

 * maybe move to applications of archaeology?
 * first proposed by Ascher in 1961
 * the idea that what an archaeologist discovers is not the remains of a group of people frozen at a certain point in time --> this is known as the 'pompeii premise' 196 binford
 * rather than a 'preserved past' the archaeological record is a scattering of material culture over various points in time 196
 * binford suggests to avoid this one can apply behavioral archaeology in a way that links material culture to the dynamics in order to answer questions about the past197
 * "if the human participants...completely halt their actions, as does the operation of the behavioral system, what remains is the closest approximation of a 'fossil' of a cultural system" 199 Schiffer 1976
 * cultural vs non cultural transformation processes
 * distortion of 'systematic' and 'archaeological' contexts 200
 * photo?

Applications in Archaeology
For each application possibly talk about the associated questions

simply "should be the study of the relationship between artifacts and human behaviour at all times and places" 279

taphonomy??

social theories developed through behavioral archaeological studies 280

in a period of "theoretical and methodological diversity"

Strategy 2
- experimental archaeology --> ehtnoarchaeology

- physical and mechanical properties of ceramics 282 --> analytical methods, understanding of calculated choices that potters make

Strategy 4
- garbology?? --> William Rathje started the project 1974 mentioned in their 1975 paper --> still running today at the universtity proving the significance of this strategy and importance to use in fundamental archaeological practise

Contributions to Archaeology
work schiffer himself has done to establish it as a valid theory --> use it in conjunction with other archaeological methods ^^^^

- cnocepts that allow the archaeological record to be characterised --> understand variety to answer important questions -->

- formation of material cultural at a site --> New archaeology did not define specific contexts

- advocates the importance of the scientific process within archaeology 281 --> postmodernism in archaeology --> needs of a scientific basis when constructing a story around human behaviour

- establishing 'laws' around human behaviour and the archeological record --> this is an important process --> identifying across cultures and patterns that occur within the record

- the act of looking at the relationship within itself is a contribution

- 282