3.3: Chapter Three Review

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Test Your Knowledge

What motivated the development of processual archaeology?
How does ethnoarchaeology incorporate ethnographic research into archaeology?
What aspects of processual archaeology led to the development of post-processual archaeology?
Which theory discussed so far appeals most to you and why?
What are the three primary goals of archaeology?
What is the overarching goal of contemporary archaeology?

Terms You Should Know

ethnoarchaeology An approach to archaeological study that uses ethnographic analogy to understand and interpret the archaeological record through observing contemporary peoples.

ethnographic analogy Interpreting past cultures based on similarities observed in ethnographically described living cultures and societies.

experimental archaeology Carefully controlled modern experiments to replicate past conditions and/or events to provide data that can be used to aid in the interpretation of the archaeological record.

lifeways The activities of human life including subsistence, human interaction, social organization, religious beliefs, and the environment they live in.

Middle-range theory (MRT) An approach to integrating theory and empirical research that attempts to apply theories to the archaeological record by linking material remains to the human behavior that created them.

post-processual archaeology An approach to interpreting the archaeological record with a focus on reconstructing the point of view of past peoples and an emphasis on the social factors in their society

processual archaeology An approach to archaeology that uses deductive research and the scientific method to analyze the conditions of cultural change. The emphasis is on applying both descriptive and explanatory models using ecological and materialist views of culture (Ashmore & Sharer, 2014; Fagan, 2006). Sometimes called the cultural process approach.

subsistence How people make their living or acquire food.

systems theory The notion that any organism or organization can be studied by breaking it down into many interacting systems or parts.

A derivative work from

"Digging into Archaeology:A Brief OER Introduction to Archaeology with Activities" by Amanda Wolcott Paskey and AnnMarie Beasley Cisneros, Faculty (Anthropology) at Cosumnes River College & American River College, ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI), 2020, under CC BY-NC 4.0.