Seriation, Stratigraphy, and Index Fossils

2007-05-08 Social Science

Author : Michael J. O'Brien
Release : 2007-05-08
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 68X/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Seriation, Stratigraphy, and Index Fossils by : Michael J. O'Brien

Download or read book Seriation, Stratigraphy, and Index Fossils written by Michael J. O'Brien. This book was released on 2007-05-08. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is difficult for today's students of archaeology to imagine an era when chronometric dating methods were unavailable. However, even a casual perusal of the large body of literature that arose during the first half of the twentieth century reveals a battery of clever methods used to determine the relative ages of archaeological phenomena, often with considerable precision. Stratigraphic excavation is perhaps the best known of the various relative-dating methods used by prehistorians. Although there are several techniques of using artifacts from superposed strata to measure time, these are rarely if ever differentiated. Rather, common practice is to categorize them under the heading `stratigraphic excavation'. This text distinguishes among the several techniques and argues that stratigraphic excavation tends to result in discontinuous measures of time - a point little appreciated by modern archaeologists. Although not as well known as stratigraphic excavation, two other methods of relative dating have figured important in Americanist archaeology: seriation and the use of index fossils. The latter (like stratigraphic excavation) measures time discontinuously, while the former - in various guises - measures time continuously. Perhaps no other method used in archaeology is as misunderstood as seriation, and the authors provide detailed descriptions and examples of each of its three different techniques. Each method and technique of relative dating is placed in historical perspective, with particular focus on developments in North America, an approach that allows a more complete understanding of the methods described, both in terms of analytical technique and disciplinary history. This text will appeal to all archaeologists, from graduate students to seasoned professionals, who want to learn more about the backbone of archaeological dating.

Quantitative Stratigraphy

1985 Stratigraphic correlation

Author : F. M. Gradstein
Release : 1985
Genre : Stratigraphic correlation
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Quantitative Stratigraphy by : F. M. Gradstein

Download or read book Quantitative Stratigraphy written by F. M. Gradstein. This book was released on 1985. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Archaeology

2010-06-17 Social Science

Author : Kevin Greene
Release : 2010-06-17
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 282/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Archaeology by : Kevin Greene

Download or read book Archaeology written by Kevin Greene. This book was released on 2010-06-17. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeology: An Introduction looks behind the popular aspects of archaeology such as the discovery and excavation of sites, the study of human remains and animal bones, radiocarbon dating, museums and 'heritage' displays, and reveals the methods used by archaeologists. It also explains how the subject emerged from an amateur pursuit in the eighteenth century into a serious discipline, and explores changing fashions in interpretation in recent decades. This fifth edition has been updated by a new co-author, Tom Moore, and continues to include key references and guidance to help new readers find their way through the ever expanding range of archaeological publications. It conveys the excitement of new archaeological discoveries that appear on television or in newspapers while helping readers to evaluate them by explaining the methods and theories that lie behind them. Above all, while serving as a lucid textbook, it remains a very accessible account that will interest a wide readership. In addition to drawing upon examples and case studies from many regions of the world and periods of the past, it incorporates the authors' own fieldwork, research and teaching and features a new four-colour text design and colour illustrations plus an additional 50 topic boxes. The comprehensive glossary and bibliography are complemented by a support website hosted by Routledge to assist further study and wider learning. It includes chapter overviews, a testbank of questions, powerpoint discussion questions, web-links to support material for every chapter plus an online glossary and image bank. New to the fifth edition: inclusion of the latest survey techniques updated material on the development in dating, DNA analysis, isotopes and population movement coverage of new themes such as identity and personhood how different societies are defined from an anthropological point of view and the implications of this for archaeological interpretation the impact of climate change and sustainability on heritage management more on the history of archaeology Visit the companion website at www.routledge.com/textbooks/greene for additional resources, including: chapter overviews a testbank of questions PowerPoint discussion questions links to support material for every chapter an online glossary and image bank

Style and Function

2000-10-30 Social Science

Author : Teresa D. Hurt
Release : 2000-10-30
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 324/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Style and Function by : Teresa D. Hurt

Download or read book Style and Function written by Teresa D. Hurt. This book was released on 2000-10-30. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topics of style and function within evolutionary archaeology have been the subject of great debate in the field of archaeology in general over the past two decades. Evolutionary archaeologists have a unique perspective on these concepts-one that has sometimes been misunderstood by archaeologists working within other theoretical perspectives. The dichotomy between style and function was first formulated in the late 1970s by Robert Dunnell and remains axiomatic within the theoretical perspective of evolutionary archaeology. The original definitions of style and function were grounded in biological evolutionary concepts regarding neutral variation versus variation that is subject to natural selection. Several chapters expand upon these concepts, and explore how Darwinian evolutionary theory may be used to understand the archaeological record. Other chapters demonstrate this application through empirical case studies. Dunnell provides a foreword introducing and re-examining his original thesis. This volume is the only text devoted to the topic of style and function within the literature of evolutionary archaeology. It provides not only theoretical discussions and augmentation, but also significant historical background regarding the development of the style/function distinction within archaeology. Moreover, it presents several case studies that provide examples of how evolutionary style and function may be applied to the prehistoric record.

Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity

2010-10-08 Religion

Author : Dermot Anthony Nestor
Release : 2010-10-08
Genre : Religion
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 003/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity by : Dermot Anthony Nestor

Download or read book Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity written by Dermot Anthony Nestor. This book was released on 2010-10-08. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity breaks new ground in the study of ethnic identity in the ancient world through the articulation of an explicitly cognitive perspective. In presenting a view of ethnicity as an epistemological rather than an ontological entity, this work seeks to correct the pronounced tendency towards 'analytical groupism' in the academic literature. Challenging what Pierre Bourdieu has called 'our primary inclination to think the world in a substantialist manner,' this study seeks to break with the vernacular categories and 'commonsense primordialisms' encoded within the Biblical texts, whilst at the same time accounting for their tenacious hold on our social and political imagination. It is the recognition of the performative and reifying potential of these categories of ethno-political practice that disqualifies their appropriation as categories of social analysis.

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