Archaeological Theory in Practice

Description

Many students view archaeological theory as a subject distinct from field research. This division is reinforced by the way theory is taught, often in stand-alone courses that focus more on logic and reasoning than on the application of ideas to fieldwork. Divorcing thought from action does not convey how archaeologists go about understanding the past. This book bridges the gap between theory and practice by looking in detail at how the authors and their colleagues used theory to interpret what they found while conducting research in northwest Honduras. This is not a linear narrative. Rather, the book highlights the open-ended nature of archaeological investigations in which theories guide research whose findings may challenge these initial interpretations and lead in unexpected directions. Pursuing those novel investigations requires new theories that are themselves subject to refutation by newly gathered data. The central case study is the writers’ work in Honduras. The interrelations of fieldwork, data, theory, and interpretation are also illustrated with two long-running archaeological debates, the emergence of inequality in southern Mesopotamia and inferring the ancient meanings of Stonehenge. The book is of special interest to undergraduate Anthropology/Archaeology majors and first- and second-year graduate students, along with anyone interested in how archaeologists convert the static materials we find into dynamic histories of long-vanished people. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1 Explanation, Theory, and the Social Sciences Explanation Common Sense and Worldviews Good Sense and Theories Theories in the Social Sciences Summary General Review 2 The Naco Valley and Us A Bit of Reflexivity The Naco Valley’s Setting Outline of Naco Valley and Mesoamerican Prehistory as Understood in 2018 Research and Theory in the Naco Valley 3 Culture History Scrambling to Fill the Chasm of Prehistory Archaeology and Culture History Summary of Culture Historical Premises Culture History and the Naco Valley Interpretations The Naco Valley, AD 825—As We Saw it in the Early 1980s 4 Processualism Processualism and Modernism Methods Developed by Processualists Summary of Processualist Principles Naco Valley Research and the Processual Paradigm Processualist Influences: 1975–1979 Kirk Anderson’s Geomorphological Study John Douglass’s Hinterland Households Looking Ahead The Naco Valley in AD 825 as Seen Through a Processualist Lens 5 Marxism I: Trade and Power Marxian Premises Marxian Methods Returning to the Naco Valley in 1988: World Systems Theory Setting to Work in 1988: Tying Up Loose Ends, Getting Entangled in New Threads 6 Marxism II: Prestige Goods Theory Prestige Goods Theory How PGT Related to What We Knew in 1988 Grappling with Crafts Evaluating the Hypothesis, 1990–1991 Where We Stood in 1991 The Naco Valley, AD 825—as of the Early 1990s 7 Practicing Power Over Time Hypothesis Testing Continues Crafting in the Hinterland Change Over Time and a Return to Chronology Changing Power Relations in the Naco Valley and Beyond Practice Theory The Naco Valley, AD 825—As Seen from 2018 8 Identity Humanism Posthumanism, Transhumanism, and Antihumanism Processualism and Postprocessualism Identity: Feminism and Ethnicity Sex, Gender, and Archaeological Interpretation Queer Theory Groups and Identity An Archaeological Example Naco and Difference 9 Looking at Meaning: Semiotics Symbols Saussure and Structuralism Peircean Semiotics An Archaeological Example Naco and Semiotics 10 Phenomenology and Experience Edmund Husserl Martin Heidegger Maurice Merleau-Ponty An Archaeological Example The Naco Valley 11 New Materiality Philosophy and New Materiality The Word “Material” New Materiality Itself An Archaeological Example Naco Valley 12 Taking on the State in Southern Mesopotamia Southern Mesopotamia Objects of Biblical Significance Culture History and the Sumerians Processualism and the Rise of the State Cities, Storage, and Power Processualism and the Expansion of Research Designs Processualism and the State Marxism and the State of Power Seizing Power and Wealth with Class Expanding the Analytical Scope: States, Colonies, and Inter-Regional Exploitation Interpretivism: Fragmenting the State Power and Gender Communication Across Theoretical Schools 13 Multiple Views of Stonehenge Stonehenge Today Antiquaries and Stonehenge Addressing History in Context Why was Stonehenge Built? Creating Culture through Experiences of the Material Continuing Contests for Stonehenge Stonehenge and Identity 14 Conclusions What Have We Learned about Naco Valley Prehistory? What Does this Tell Us About the Nature of Archaeological Research? A Few Final Words Suggested Readings Glossary Index