Archeology in Cultural Systems

Sally R. Binford, Lewis Roberts Binford

Transaction Publishers - Social Science - 373 pages

Archeology shares with other anthropological sciences the goal of explaining differences and similarities among cultural systems. Sally R. Binford and Lewis R. Binford, therefore are concerned with theory and arguments which treat problems of the interrelationship of cultural variables with explanatory value. Archeology in Cultural Systems is devoted to four different aspects of archeology.

This book progresses from theoretical-methodological discussions to specific consideration of archeological materials. It focuses on the analysis of archeological remains from a single site. Its concern is primarily with recognizing, measuring and explaining variability in the form and distribution of a site's cultural remains. The authors argue that internal variability derives from the composition and distribution of societal segments represented at the site. The work then shifts to study of archeological components (or their attributes) and seeks explanations for observed differences and similarities. A final section of the volume comments and discusses materials in the volume.

Archeology in Cultural Systems is not a monolithic presentation of any particular school of archeological thought. There are common interests and many points of agreement among the authors, but there is also diversity of opinion on several points. These points are the focus of research here.

Lewis R. Binford is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He is the author of In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record and Constructing Frames of Reference: An Analytical Method for Archaeological Theory Building Using Hunter-Gatherer and Environmental Data Sets.

Sally R. Binford was professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She is the author of Stone Tools and Human Behavior.

Contents

• ARCHEOLOGICAL THEORY AND METHOD: 2
• Variability and Change in the Near Eastern Mousterian: 49
• Method and Theory of Upper Paleolithic Archeology: 61
• Patterns of Form and Function James N Hill: 103
• Computer Analysis of Archeological Data from Teotihuacan Mexico: 143
• Archeological Lessons from an Apache Wickiup: 151
• Investigations of Late Prehistoric Social Organization in New York State: 223
• Evidence of Social Organization from Western Iran 80004000 B C: 245
• Social and Economic Systems in Formative Mesoamerica: 267
• Woodland SubsistenceSettlement Systems in the Lower Illinois: 285
• PostPleistocene Adaptations Lewis R Binford: 313
• Comments: 327
• CONTRIBUTORS: 363

Bibliographic information

• Title: Archeology in Cultural Systems
• Authors: Sally R. Binford, Lewis Roberts Binford
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers
• ISBN: 0202364208, 9780202364209
• Length: 373 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Archaeology