The Quality Of The Archaeological Record

Author : Charles Perreault
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022663096X
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Quality of the Archaeological Record written by Charles Perreault and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paleobiology struggled for decades to influence our understanding of evolution and the history of life because it was stymied by a focus on microevolution and an incredibly patchy fossil record. But in the 1970s, the field took a radical turn, as paleobiologists began to investigate processes that could only be recognized in the fossil record across larger scales of time and space. That turn led to a new wave of macroevolutionary investigations, novel insights into the evolution of species, and a growing prominence for the field among the biological sciences. In The Quality of the Archaeological Record, Charles Perreault shows that archaeology not only faces a parallel problem, but may also find a model in the rise of paleobiology for a shift in the science and theory of the field. To get there, he proposes a more macroscale approach to making sense of the archaeological record, an approach that reveals patterns and processes not visible within the span of a human lifetime, but rather across an observation window thousands of years long and thousands of kilometers wide. Just as with the fossil record, the archaeological record has the scope necessary to detect macroscale cultural phenomena because it can provide samples that are large enough to cancel out the noise generated by micro-scale events. By recalibrating their research to the quality of the archaeological record and developing a true macroarchaeology program, Perreault argues, archaeologists can finally unleash the full contributive value of their discipline.

Author : Charles Perreault
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022663101X
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Quality of the Archaeological Record written by Charles Perreault and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paleobiology struggled for decades to influence our understanding of evolution and the history of life because it was stymied by a focus on microevolution and an incredibly patchy fossil record. But in the 1970s, the field took a radical turn, as paleobiologists began to investigate processes that could only be recognized in the fossil record across larger scales of time and space. That turn led to a new wave of macroevolutionary investigations, novel insights into the evolution of species, and a growing prominence for the field among the biological sciences. In The Quality of the Archaeological Record, Charles Perreault shows that archaeology not only faces a parallel problem, but may also find a model in the rise of paleobiology for a shift in the science and theory of the field. To get there, he proposes a more macroscale approach to making sense of the archaeological record, an approach that reveals patterns and processes not visible within the span of a human lifetime, but rather across an observation window thousands of years long and thousands of kilometers wide. Just as with the fossil record, the archaeological record has the scope necessary to detect macroscale cultural phenomena because it can provide samples that are large enough to cancel out the noise generated by micro-scale events. By recalibrating their research to the quality of the archaeological record and developing a true macroarchaeology program, Perreault argues, archaeologists can finally unleash the full contributive value of their discipline.

Author : Stephen Weiner
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139487310
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Microarchaeology written by Stephen Weiner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The archaeological record is a combination of what is seen by eye, as well as the microscopic record revealed with the help of instrumentation. The information embedded in the microscopic record can significantly add to our understanding of past human behaviour, provided this information has not been altered by the passage of time. Microarchaeology seeks to understand the microscopic record in terms of the type of information embedded in this record, the materials in which this information resides, and the conditions under which a reliable signal can be extracted. This book highlights the concepts needed to extract information from the microscopic record. Intended for all archaeologists and archaeological scientists, it will be of particular interest to students who have some background in the natural sciences as well as archaeology.

Author : Michael B. Schiffer
Publisher : Me-Int
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record written by Michael B. Schiffer and published by Me-Int. This book was released on 1996 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Synthesizes the most important principles of cultural and environmental formation processes for both students and practicing archaeologists.

Author : Willem Willems
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 1782975705
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.00/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Quality Management in Archaeology written by Willem Willems and published by . This book was released on 2007-06-25 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quality Management in Archaeology deals with the effects of the profound changes that have had an impact on the discipline of archaeology all over the world. In North America, in Europe and increasingly in other parts of the world, new legislation and international treaties have changed its position in society. What was once a university based research activity by a limited number of academics has become a socially relevant field with many practitioners that are mostly employed in some branch of archaeological resource management. Archaeology has been successful in persuading governments and the general public that more should be done to preserve archaeological heritage and to investigate it where it will be irretrievably lost. The scale and frequency of archaeological work has increased vastly, at considerable cost to society. Consequently, there is pressure to do the work efficiently and economically. At the same time, academic standards have to be maintained to assure that the end result will be the relevant knowledge about the past that society pays for. Different countries have found different approaches and solutions to deal with this dilemma. Sometimes commercial archaeology is allowed, sometimes it is not, but in every national context quality has to be managed in some way. This book presents a survey by specialists from the US, Canada, and several European countries on how this is done, what the principles are, and also the priorities. It will be useful for anyone interested in archaeological resource management.

Author : Lewis R. Binford
Publisher : University of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520303407
Total Pages : 583 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Constructing Frames of Reference written by Lewis R. Binford and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many consider Lewis Binford to be the single most influential figure in archaeology in the last half-century. His contributions to the "New Archaeology" changed the course of the field, as he argued for the development of a scientifically rigorous framework to guide the excavation and interpretation of the archaeological record. This book, the culmination of Binford's intellectual legacy thus far, presents a detailed description of his methodology and its significance for understanding hunter-gatherer cultures on a global basis. This landmark publication will be an important step in understanding the great process of cultural evolution and will change the way archaeology proceeds as a scientific enterprise. This work provides a major synthesis of an enormous body of cultural and environmental information and offers many original insights into the past. Binford helped pioneer what is now called "ethnoarchaeology"—the study of living societies to help explain cultural patterns in the archaeological record—and this book is grounded on a detailed analysis of ethnographic data from about 340 historically known hunter-gatherer populations. The methodological framework based on this data will reshape the paradigms through which we understand human culture for years to come.

Author : Gavin Lucas
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Understanding the Archaeological Record written by Gavin Lucas and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Walter Willard Taylor
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book A Study of Archeology, By Walter W. Taylor written by Walter Willard Taylor and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Catherine M. Cameron
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521433334
Total Pages : 470 pages
Book Rating : 4.39/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Abandonment of Settlements and Regions written by Catherine M. Cameron and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1993-07-08 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Groups of people abandoned sites in different ways, and for different reasons. And what they did when they left a settlement or area had a direct bearing on the kind and quality of cultural remains that entered the archaeological record, for example, whether buildings were dismantled or left standing, or tools buried, destroyed or removed from the site. Contributors to this unique collection on site abandonment draw on ethnoarchaeological and archaeological data from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Near East.

Author : Douglas D. Scott
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN 13 : 0806189576
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Uncovering History written by Douglas D. Scott and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2013-03-13 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost as soon as the last shot was fired in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the battlefield became an archaeological site. For many years afterward, as fascination with the famed 1876 fight intensified, visitors to the area scavenged the many relics left behind. It took decades, however, before researchers began to tease information from the battle’s debris—and the new field of battlefield archaeology began to emerge. In Uncovering History, renowned archaeologist Douglas D. Scott offers a comprehensive account of investigations at the Little Bighorn, from the earliest collecting efforts to early-twentieth-century findings. Artifacts found on a field of battle and removed without context or care are just relics, curiosities that arouse romantic imagination. When investigators recover these artifacts in a systematic manner, though, these items become a valuable source of clues for reconstructing battle events. Here Scott describes how detailed analysis of specific detritus at the Little Bighorn—such as cartridge cases, fragments of camping equipment and clothing, and skeletal remains—have allowed researchers to reconstruct and reinterpret the history of the conflict. In the process, he demonstrates how major advances in technology, such as metal detection and GPS, have expanded the capabilities of battlefield archaeologists to uncover new evidence and analyze it with greater accuracy. Through his broad survey of Little Bighorn archaeology across a span of 130 years, Scott expands our understanding of the battle, its protagonists, and the enduring legacy of the battlefield as a national memorial.