Essential Tensions in Archaeological Method and Theory

by Vanpool, Todd L.; Vanpool, Christine S.

• ISBN13: 9780874807639
• ISBN10: 0874807638
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-07
• Publisher: Univ of Utah Pr

Summary

One size does not fit all in archaeology Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry James M. Skibo, series editor ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY, SOME SAY, seems to have fragmented into a thousand fundamentalisms. By working on a broader set of empirical issues than ever before, archaeologists are indeed applying and refining a variety of perspectives. Yet the editors of this volume make a case that it is appropriate for archaeologists to use a logical variety of theoretical structures to answer different kinds of questions, combining approaches as necessary. In that spirit of plurality, contributors to this volume identify an important theoretical or methodological problem and present an argument regarding its solution. They also provide a critical evaluation of the current state of archaeological method and theory, illustrating that such recurrent issues as the role of agency and the importance of social considerations in the formation of archaeological research dominate current theoretical development. By presenting both the range of important questions and a variety of a

Table of Contents

List of Figures	vii
List of Tables	ix
Introduction: Method, Theory, and the Essential Tension	1	(4)
Christine S. VanPool
Todd L. VanPool
Archaeology as a Discontinuous Domain	5	(6)
Ian Hodder
Archaeology and the Problems of Men	11	(6)
Dean J. Saitta
The Origins of Questions in Historical Archaeology	17	(6)
Mark Leone
Rethinking Style in Archaeology	23	(18)
Jerimy J. Cunningham
Materiality and the Immaterial in Historical-Processual Archaeology	41	(14)
Timothy R. Pauketat
Back to Basics: The Middle-Range Program as Pragmatic Archaeology	55	(12)
Philip J. Arnold III
Biological Evolutionary Theory and Individual Decision-Making	67	(22)
John Kantner
Agency and Evolution: The Role of Intended and Unintended Consequences of Action	89	(26)
Todd L. VanPool
Christine S. VanPool
Resolving Phylogeny: Evolutionary Archaeology's Fundamental Issue	115	(22)
Michael J. O`Brien
R. Lee Lyman
Does Americanist Archaeology Have a Future?	137	(6)
Patty Jo Watson
Essential Tensions	143	(10)
Robert D. Leonard
References Cited	153	(38)
Contributors	191	(2)
Index	193