II. Culture Theory and Archaeological Method

 A.  American Indian Cultures

Native Americans include the Yupik, Inuit, and Aleut people of the Arctic in addition to the American Indians from the Subarctic of North America to the Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. American Indians include hunting and gathering people in the Far North and Far West in North America; and in the Pampas and Tierra del Fuego in South America. All of the American Indian people from the Plains, Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands in North America to the Andes, Gran Choco and Brazilian Highlands in South America practiced some kind of farming with CBS ( corn/maize, beans, squash). All of the American Indians in between,  including the Caribbean practiced CBS farming. These 'First Americans' suffered tremendous populations losses, mostly due to European diseases. Europeans have also perpetrated many fallacies about Native Americans. In turn archaeology has more often been able to reveal more accurate information of the 'lost cultures' of the American continent. Many times the archaeological conclusions to findings are controversial, but as a science archaeology has  grown and changed. Native Americans increasingly are working with archaeologists in their quest to learn about and preserve traditional cultures as they continue to thrive in the modern world.

  B. Archaeological Survey, Excavation, & CRM

Archaeology is the study of ancient or past cultures and applies theoretical concepts from cultural anthropology. Our anthropology department has a set of tutorials designed by Dr. O'Neill that may be of some help. Culture is basically the ideas and behaviors humans learn expressed in language, arts and material things humans produce. Thus archaeologists are excavating for evidence of the impact or products humans produce to provide clues to a particular culture's' activity and even thinking. It is like detective work; and rather than focusing on one crime, archaeologists are trying to reconstruct a human groups collective activity in time and geographical space. It gets even more difficult is to reconstruct activity at a place where humans were doing something 10,000 years ago; since the evidence has been dramatically altered by other natural or human forces. A simple outline of  human culture may be useful but remember these elements are integrated into very complex  cultural systems.

Archaeological data tends to provide more information about settlement, economics and expressed form. Language, social organization and world view are more subjective and difficult to elicit. However, certain patterns can be ascertained from archaeological data, especially with well designed strategies of excavation, careful handling and laboratory analysis.

Archaeological fieldwork is the primary method of gathering data. Fieldwork must begin with a research design based upon a need to gain information about an area or site driven by practical and sound goals, with adequate resources and time...as an ideal! Once this preliminary planning unfolds a survey of an area or a known site must be conducted. This establishes the parameters of a site, maps and improved strategies for testing. Initial tests might be samples such as cores, shovel test pits or even 25x25 cm test pits. Trenching an entire site or section was typical in salvage work and earlier excavations for testing. However, this is considered far too intrusive and destructive today. Once the site is tested to confirm parameters a plan is devised to excavate 1x1 m or 1x2m units in a planned or random grid. These units are excavated until levels are reached that are sterile of human impact. Eventually the units are covered and any mitigation or preservation tasks ( CRM- Cultural Resource Management) are carried out. Artifacts must be processed and taken to a lab, cataloged and stored for further research. Other data, such as soil samples, are also taken. The most difficult aspect of the entire process is getting time and resources to store and/or properly analyze the data. Once the data is organized and analyzed a report is generated; and further publications may be produced based upon the impact of the information in terms of anthropological theory and reconstruction of the appropriate cultural tradition. A number of sources are available dealing with archaeology method and theory. Also, the  ANTH 110: Introduction to Archaeology at Palomar College provides an introduction to archaeological method and theory.

Next Lecture: III. Paleo-Indian Traditions

Updated  8/2009

Copyright © by S. J. Crouthamel