Goals of Archaeology (Patty Jo Watson )

1. Goals of Archaeology (Patty Jo Watson) 2/3/06 • Develop Chronology in the Absence of writing ( Culture History) • Reconstruct Past Lifeways ( New Archaeology as Culture Reconstruction) • Explain Culture Change (New Archaeology as Culture Process)

2. PARADIGMS IN ARCHAEOLOGY • CULTURE HISTORY 2.CULTURE PROCESS (BOTH CULTURE RECONSTRUCTION AND CULTURE PROCESS)

3. WHAT IS A PARADIGM Defined by Thomas Kuhn in his famous book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Paradigm: The world view of science during particular periods. Examples: -Ptolomaic cosmology -Copernican cosmology -Darwinian Evolution -Plate Tectonics 3. Anomalies within paradigms that can not be Explained. Causes paradigm shift.

4. Paradigm shifts • Occurs when anomalies Outweigh the prevailing world view • New Paradigms are described as “incommendsurable” with previous paradigm • Paradigm shifts are periods of “revolutionary science” “normal science” operates when paradigm appears adequate

5. CRITIQUES OF KUHNIAN PARADIGM Are paradigms incommensurable? Is the paradigm model of scientific change appropriate for social sciences?

6. CULTURE HISTORY AS A PARADIGM • Defined and well stated goal: establishing chronology in the absence of writing • Methods and techniques used by culture historians developed through archaeological investigations that began in the mid-late 19th century • Developed in academic departments of anthropology. The first was Columbia, under Franz Boas in 1901 • Major investigative procedures included: discovery, mapping, excavation, analysis and inference

7. DIMENSIONS OF ARCHAEOLOGY Time Space Form Because time is a concept and not observable, culture historians constructed chronologies through “constructing” time from the analysis of space and form CH extracted “time” from space and form. Two Critical temporal methods: stratigraphy seriation