Archaeological Analogy

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Topic 9 Archaeological Analogy Spatial
Inference
Text Chapter 8 Reconstructing the Past
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Inference
reasoning from the known to the unknown
given ? if ? then
Observed ? Assumptions ? Product
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Analogy
inference by comparison of two classes of data
for similarities
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Analogy
founded on premise that if two classes of
phenomena are alike in one respect, they may be
alike in other respects
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observed human behaviour
observed material correlate
observed archaeological material
inferred human behaviour
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Specific Analogy

• historical / homology

• Direct Historical Approach (DHA)

• ethnohistory

• e.g., Jesuit Relations

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Parameters of Specific Analogy

• cultural continuity

• comparability in environment

• similarity of cultural form

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Woolfrey, Chitwood Wagner
Who Made the Pipes?
Jesuit Relations
Women - pots
Men - pipes
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General Analogy

• ethnographic analogy

• ethnoarchaeology

• experimental analogy

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Ethnographic analogy

• based on ethnographic studies of living societies

• e.g., Binford's 'smudge pits'

• Ju/hoansi

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Ethnoarchaeology
archaeologists studying living societies
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Ethnoarchaeology
e.g., Longacre's Skibo's study of Kalinga
pottery

• manufacture

• distribution

• use

• disposal

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Experimental analogy
archaeologists reproducing material culture
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Longhouse Experiments
1. test of hypotheses based on ethnographic
literature
2. test of hypotheses generated from first
experiment
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Middleport Pipe Experiments

• Manufacture

• Use

• Breakage

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Dimensions of Inference
Contextual Dimensions
1. formal
2. spatial
3. temporal
Cultural Dimensions
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Spatial Inference
inference based on provenience context
Assumption variation in space will be random,
unless other factors intervene
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New Tools

• GPS Global Positioning Satellite

• GIS Geographic Information Systems

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Analytical Approaches

• Point-Pattern Analysis

• Cluster Analysis

• Nearest-Neighbour Analysis

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Settlement Systems
1. structures - family
2. sites - community
3. landscape - society