2/18/2020 Archaeology of the 20th Century & Today: Shifting Theory Lectures 3 & 4 Anthro 1300 Spring 2020 1 Social Evolutionary Schemes 19th century – Lewis Henry Morgan & Sir Edward B. Tylor Savagery, Barbarism, & Civilization What does this system seem to imply? Assumption of progress Mid 20th century Neoevolutionism Elman Service (1962) Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States 2 1 2/18/2020 How to think about ‘Culture?” What do you think? “Culture… taken in its wide ethnographic sense is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (1871) 3 The Culture Historical Approach (early 20th century) Interest in where ‘cultures’ were and when? Where did they move? How and why did ‘cultures’ change? External influences – diffusion & migration, etc. 4 2 2/18/2020 Maps of “Culture Areas” 5 What is ‘Culture’? • Adaptation? • Ideas and Ideationism? • Living culture? Or Archaeological culture? 6 3 2/18/2020 The Processual Approach (1960’s – the present) An interest in understanding the processes of culture change. Archaeology as science. Objective & unbiased. Adaptationist view of culture. “people” live within a cultural “system” – interacting realms of economy, technology, environment, etc. – change comes from outside. Why would this be attractive? Very little room for the actions of individuals in society. Seeking to find the general laws of culture change processes – cultures as organic systems. A belief in ‘Positivism’. Lewis Binford 7 Ian Hodder The Post Processual Approach (mid 1970’s – the present) A reaction against extreme positivism. What could be wrong with Positivism? Can we know the one true past? Is there only one past? Do all people / groups experience the same world? Took and ideational view of culture. Archaeology is about people in the past – individuals. Also interested in why and how culture changes, BUT interested more in internal change: Individual / group agency; factionalism; social tension Politics and the creation of ideology; dynamics of power. Who owns the past – there are many stakeholders of the past. Archaeology is obviously political – Uses of the past & hunt for federal funding. 8 4 2/18/2020 Ideationist? or Adapationist? Case study: Aztec Sacrifice This is the site of Teotihuacan 9 Adaptationist Michael Harner (1977) “The Ecological Basis for Aztec Sacrifice” 10 5 2/18/2020 Ideational: politics, religion, and ideology 11 What questions do archaeologists ask? The Traditional Questions (Culture Historical and Processual approaches) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Where did people live on the landscape? When? What was the environment like? Resources? How did people ‘make a living’ within the environment? What did people make and what did they consume? How did they interact with others (near and far)? How and why do societies change? 12 6 2/18/2020 Tougher Questions Post-Processual 1. What did people ‘think’ in the past? 2. Religion, ideology, and politics? 3. Social Organization 1. Social stratification? Inequality? & Power? 2. Social production and reproduction Newer Questions? 1. Household archaeology – as opposed to “tombs and temples” approach. 2. Women and Gender relations in the past. 3. Children in the past – previously underrepresented. 4. The archaeology of groups with no history. Giving a voice to traditionally neglected peoples. 13 Next Time: Archaeological Process & Site Survey 14 7