Archaeological Paradigms

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Topic 7 Archaeological Paradigms Text Chapter 3
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Paradigm
a philosophical and theoretical framework of a
scientific school or discipline within which
theories, laws, and generalizations and the
experiments performed in support of them are
formulated
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Paradigm

• theoretical framework

• 'school of thought'

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Materialist vs Ideational etic (outsider's
view) vs emic (insider's view)
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Particularist vs Generalist historical
interpretation vs search for 'law-like'
generalizations
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Current Paradigms

• Culture History

• Processual

• Post-Processual

• Social Agency

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Culture History

• description of archaeological record

• ordering of past events in time space

• i.e, what?, when? where?

• 'normative' generalist

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Processual Archaeology
material conditions of human life determine
culture

• culture process how a cultural system works
  how it changes

• materialist generalist

• i.e, how? (multilinear evolution)

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Post-Processual Archaeology
ideational conditions of human life determine
culture

• understanding the 'meaning' of the past

• ideational particularist

• i.e, why? (symbolic structure)

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Social Archaeology
social conditions of human life determine culture
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Social Agency

• individuals 'negotiate' culture

• ideational particularist

• i.e, why who? (e.g., gender)

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Archaeological Paradigms
Material
Social
Ideational

• Culture history

General

• Processual

Particular

• Social Agency

• Post-processual

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Inference
reasoning from the known to the unknown
given ? if ? then
Observed ? Assumptions ? Product
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Dimensions of Inference
Contextual Dimensions
1. formal
2. spatial
3. temporal
Cultural Dimensions
4. material
5. social
6. ideational
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1 Formal

• recognizing artifacts attributes

• generating analytic units variables values

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2 Spatial
inference based on provenience context
Assumption variation in space will be even,
unless other factors intervene
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3 Temporal
inference based on chronology
Assumption variation through time will be even,
unless other factors intervene
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Culture History

• Is there a formal difference?

• Is there a spatial explanation?

• Is there a temporal explanation?

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4 Material
inference based on the material conditions of
human life

• technology

• subsistence

• exchange

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Processual Archaeology material conditions of
human life

• Is there an environmental explanation for the
  formal anomaly?

• Is there an economic explanation for the anomaly?

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5 Social
inference based on the social conditions of human
life

• family

• community

• society

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Social Archaeology social
conditions of human life

• Is there a social explanation for the formal
  anomaly?

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6 Ideational
inference based on the ideational conditions of
human life

• art

• religion

• language

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Post-Processual Archaeology ideational conditions
of human life

• Is there a symbolic explanation for the formal
  anomaly?