Combining historical research with a lucid explication of archaeological methodology and reasoning,
Measuring Time with Artifacts examines the origins and changing use of fundamental chronometric techniques and procedures and analyzes the different ways American archaeologists have studied changes in artifacts, sites, and peoples over time.
In highlighting the underpinning ontology and epistemology of artifact-based chronometers—cultural transmission and how to measure it archaeologically—this volume covers issues such as why archaeologists used the cultural evolutionism of L. H. Morgan, E. B. Tylor, L. A. White, and others instead of biological evolutionism; why artifact classification played a critical role in the adoption of stratigraphic excavation; how the direct historical approach accomplished three analytical tasks at once; why cultural traits were important analytical units; why paleontological and archaeological methods sometimes mirror one another; how artifact classification influences chronometric method; and how graphs illustrate change in artifacts over time.
An understanding of the history of artifact-based chronometers enables us to understand how we know what we think we know about the past, ensures against modern misapplication of the methods, and sheds light on the reasoning behind archaeologists' actions during the first half of the twentieth century.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Measuring Time with Artifacts [First Page] [-1], (1) Lines: 0 to ——— * 374.97pt ——— Normal Pag * PgEnds: Pag [-1], (1) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 [-2], (2) Lines: 36 ——— 0.0pt P ——— Normal P PgEnds: [-2], (2) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Measuring Time with Artifacts A History of Methods in American Archaeology [-3], (3) Lines: 41 to ——— 1.47002p ——— Normal Pag * PgEnds: Pag [-3], (3) R. Lee Lyman and Michael J. O’Brien university of nebraska press lincoln and london 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 © 2006 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Acknowledgments for the use of previously published material appear on pages 297–98, which constitute an extension of the copyright page. ⬁ Set in Quadraat by Kim Essman Designed by R. W. Boeche. Printed by Edwards Brothers, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lyman, R. Lee. Measuring time with artifacts : a history of methods in American archaeology / R. Lee Lyman and Michael J. O’Brien. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-8032-2966-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8032-2966-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) isbn-13: 978-0-8032-8052-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-8032-8052-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Archaeology—Research—United States. 2. Archaeology—United States—Methodology. 3. Time measurements. 4. Chronometers—United States—History. 5. Indians of North America—Antiquities. I. O’Brien, Michael J. (Michael John), 1950– . II. Title. cc95.l96 2006 930.1072'073–dc22 2005026723 [-4], (4) Lines: 99 ——— 3.184p ——— Normal P * PgEnds: [-4], (4) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Contents List of Figures and Table vii Preface ix 1. Introduction 1 I. Ontology 27 2.