Archaeological theory. an introduction

Shane Kent 111102195

ARCHAEOLOGY THEORYChapters seven

From the Book Archaeological theory: An Introduction by Matthew Johnson


CHAPTER SEVENPostprocessual and Interpretive Archaeologies

• What is Post-Processual Archaeology (a Theory)

• It’s the in which that archaeology as a discipline conducts itself when talking about the past

• How did this come about (is archaeology the same as always?)

• How to read the past is the important thing from Processual archaeology (formerly the New Archaeology) to Post-Processual

• To understand we must track back


PROCESSUAL ARCHAEOLOGY? THE BEGINNING

Grew out of the problem of traditional way of reading archaeology which was

• Culture history approach that emphasises defining historical societies into cultural groupings by their material culture• (today that would be like finding Nike boots and calling a people Nike. ‘Bell-beaker, ect ect• Before the days of C-14 dating and other absolute dating method (pre-1960s)• Cultured could be tracked by its material remains Grave goods, pottery• As a result the spread of said culture could be plotted and tracked by these remains

Ole Worm ‘museum from 1655


(Map of culture diffusion from a core region ‘in purple’ of outer regions in red)

• emphasizes a great deal classification and typologies of material

• Others maps like show movement of peoples that brought their material with them

The Culture/History method lead to explainingCultures by maps like this


PROBLEMS WITH THE CULTURE HISTORY MODEL

• Rooted in study of remains, pottery, weapons, monuments to study the past (too narrow in view)

• The what, where and when question,(but never the why one?)• European nationalism in the 19th century would play a role in development of culture-historical

archaeology.• Its for me a reminder of a collector or antiquarian of 18-19th century (everything has to have a

place/order)• It was formed as a theory during the industrial revolution 17th cen-1960s• (increase use of rational thinking )• ( poor-slighty better off-rich, linked with artefacts, linked to the economic thinking of 18-19cen) • (limited in terms of dating method , no C-14

(limited by lack of absolute dating method)


NEW ARCHAEOLOGY

The ‘New arch’ grew from the seemingly stagnation of traditional archaeology up to 1960s

Gordon Wiley and P. Phillips in 1958 in their work Method and Theory in American Archeology• Call for a greater emphasis on the social aspect of archaeology• Lewis Binford in 1962 (Ian Hodder was a student of his) augured that science and

anthropology be used in the discipline • proposed a ‘New archaeology’ (to use more anthropological ideas within

archaeology)

• ‘New archaeology a challenge to the old (fuelled by the political events of the time, Vietnam, communism ,Anti-nuclear movement’

• (Questioning of stabled order of things)


KEY POINTS TO ‘NEW ARCH Focus on explaining the past, Not descripting it(like a collection

piece) A fresh and positive outlook on an archaeology site Culture evolutionist Cultural Prossess studied by scientific means Which lead to archaeology science, and the Hypothetic/deductive

approach(ask a question, test it, lets see if it correct)Contributions from anthropology, ‘Ethnographic/Partisapant observation(stone tools, live with tribal people that still use them, compare with archaeology record)


KEY POINTS TO ‘NEW ARCH (CONTINUED)

System theory• Looking at culture a whole body with independent parts but functioning together • How groups interact together with their environment (how they use it, how they change it)

• The New archaeology to summarise was • Questioning v Describing• Culture process v Culture history• Deductive v Inductive, (traditional archaeologist saw past as jigsaw, new ones create hypotheses, test it see results• Validation V Authority ( traditional arch, relied on author of a well-know scholar, • new arch on testing models of culture deducting+ result=answer


PROBLEMS WITH NEW ARCHAEOLOGY

It was cold, it could not take into account the human factor

• Gender• Ethnicity• Culture and social identity• Ideology in terms of cultural change

These critic would be taken in in Post-processual Archaeology


POST-PROCESSUAL ARCHAEOLOGY

It grew from the problems of the ‘New archaeology’ from the 1960-80

Influenced by (The godfather of Post-Processual Archaeology)• Ian Hodder (PhD in 1976) and his students like Mike Parker Peason

• Marxism: (French Marxist anthropology and postmodernism) • Interested in other option like gender, Marxism

• Structuralism :Humans are part of a system of living, ecosystem

• Was influenced by scientific ideas and method (but not the be all and end all)

• (a more holistic way of seeing the past)

• Ian Hodder's case study of 1976 was the deal breaker from processualism


DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWOPost Processual disagreed with the idea that using science you can be completely objective

(you can never be completely objective in anything you do!!!!!!!!!!!!)

They reject the idea of the grand narrative in archaeologyThey reject Positivism( the idea that theory and science are separate)

Processual think Material is important not ideas ( cant study it)

While the traditional archaeologist was looking at thing as an idealist, the new arch through material and logical eyes without the human factor, ‘symbols, religion, gender post-processualists argued the position that you should interpreted both materialist and idealist

• (in other words, take a bit of both ways of thinking)

• Try to put the feeling in Archaeology




Key ideas

• The individual is active (humans are not passive) Hodders work in Nuba Women should only dumb wood ash in inside compound, but they broke that cultural rule)

• Material culture is like a book. (it can be read, you just need to know how to)

• Interpretation is Hermeneutic (a person will put a meaning on an object even if they know it or not)

• Looking at values of the past i.e. ideology and religion (these to past people were very important)

• Context of a find (i.e. a burial, how is it buried, grave good, believe of the dead person)

• The meaning we (as archaeologist give to finds is in the here and now) the past is dead



To finishThey try to add meaning back to ArchaeologyProcessuals tended to pigeon-hole people, to make them neatHumans to Post-processualist,=don’t fellow the rules at times (cant be quantified)

Don’t fallow society's rules all the time, (I.E nuba)Knowledge is subject to change (key idea in post-processual Archaeology)

(open in how they do and work at Archaeology)

Documents

Archaeological theory. an introduction