On Tool-Class Use Lives and the Formation of Archaeological Assemblages
Tóm tắt
The importance of tool-class use lives in the formation of archaeological assemblages is established both in theory and empirically, and accurate inference from the material record requires that use lives be measured or estimated with confidence. Unfortunately, no method of measuring use lives directly from archaeological remains has been developed. However, this important quantity may be related to elementary properties of tool classes such as size and weight, properties which are themselves directly measurable. Ethnographic data on ceramic vessels, in which use life is related to such properties, is described and analyzed. Using!Kung San and Ingalik data, a similar analysis is performed for a variety of nonceramic tools and objects, although few of the stone-tool classes common to archaeological assemblages are included. There, use life is related most strongly to manufacturing cost and curation rate, an archaeological measure of which is proposed. Neither is an elementary property, but they can be estimated accurately for many tool classes. These results are noteworthy but not definitive, and they underscore the continued value of museum ethnographic collections and ethnoarchaeological research.
Từ khóa
Tài liệu tham khảo
Schiffer, 1976, Behavioral Archaeology.
Miller, 1980, Archaic Prehistory on the Prairie-Plains Border,, 107
Shott, 1986a, Settlement Mobility and Technological Organization among Great Lakes Paleo-Indian Foragers. Ph. D. dissertation
Hearne, 1958, A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771 and 1772.
Goodyear, 1982, Toolkit Entropy and Bipolar Reduction : A Study of Interassemblage Lithic Variability among Paleo-Indian Sites in the Northeastern United States. Ms. on file
Yellen, 1977, Archaeological Approaches to the Present : Models for Reconstructing the Past.
Hayden, 1977, Stone Tools as Cultural Markers : Change, Evolution and Complexity,, 178
DeBoer, 1985, Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics,, 347
Pauketat, 1987, A Functional Consideration of a Mississippian Vessel Assemblage, Southeastern Archaeology, 6, 1
Longacre, 1985, Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics,, 334
Johnson, 1981, Lithic Procurement and Utilization Trajectories : Analysis, Yellow Creek Nuclear Power Plant Site, Tishomingo County, Mississippi. Archaeological Papers No. 1.
Frison, 1978, Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains.
Seeman, 1984, Lithic Resource Procurement : Proceedings from the Second Conference on Prehistoric Chert Exploitation,, 7
Gallagher, 1977, Contemporary Stone Tools in Ethiopia : Implications for Archaeology, Journal of Field Archaeology, 4, 407
Fitting, 1966, Rim Diameter and Vessel Size in Wayne Ware Vessels, Wisconsin Archaeologist, 47, 208
Lee, 1979, The IKung San : Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society.
Nissen, 1974, Ethnographic Data and Wear Pattern Analysis : A Study of Socketed Eskimo Scrapers, Tebiwa, 17, 67
Binford, 1973, Interassemblage Variability— The Mousterian and the ‘Functional’ Argument, The Explanation of Culture Change : Models in Prehistory,, 227
Grimes, 1985, Flakeshavers : Morphometric, Functional and Life-Cycle Analyses of a Paleoindian Unifacial Tool Class, Archaeology of Eastern North America, 13, 35
Mallouf, 1982, An Analysis of Plow-Damaged Chert Artifacts : The Brookeen Creek Cache (41HI86), Hill County, Texas, Journal of Field Archaeology, 9, 79
Hoffman, 1985, For Concordance in Archaeological Analysis : Bridging Data Structure, Quantitative Technique, and Theory,, 566
de la Torre, 1982, Houses Built on Scattered Poles : Prehistory and Ecology in Negros Oriental, Philippines,, 177
Clark, 1981, Modern Material Culture : The Archaeology of Us,, 303
Tindale, 1965, Stone Implement Making among the Nakako, Ngadadjara and Pitjandjara of the Great Western Desert, Records of the South Australian Museum, 15, 131
Mason, 1981, Great Lakes Archaeology.
Janes, 1983, Archaeological Ethnography among Mackenzie Basin Dene, Canada. Technical Paper No. 28
Wilson, 1899, Report of the United States National Museum for the Year Ending June 30, 1897,, 811
Whallon, 1969, Rim Diameter, Vessel Volume, and Economic Prehistory, Michigan Academician, 2, 89
Osgood, 1940, Ingalik Material Culture.
Odell, 1986, Experiments with Spears and Arrows on Animal Targets, Journal of Field Archaeology, 13, 195
Torrence, 1983, Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistory : A European Perspective,, 11
Hayden, 1979, Paleolithic Reflections : Lithic Technology and Ethnographic Excavation among Australian Aborigines.
Schiffer, 1975, The Cache River Project,, 265
Binford, 1977, Stone Tools as Cultural Markers : Change, Evolution and Complexity,, 24
Oswalt, 1976, An Anthropological Analysis of Food-Getting Technology.
Ebert, 1979, Ethnoarchaeology : Implications of Ethnography for Archaeology,, 59