Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART I Perspectives
- PART II Foundations
- 3 Geo-archaeology I: basic principles
- 4 Geo-archaeology II: landscape context
- 5 Geo-archaeology III: stratigraphic context
- 6 Geo-archaeology IV: site formation
- 7 Geo-archaeology V: site modification and destruction
- 8 Geo-archaeology VI: human impact on the landscape
- 9 Archaeometry: prospecting, provenance, dating
- 10 Archaeobotany: vegetation and plant utilization
- 11 Zoo-archaeology: faunas and animal procurement
- PART III Synthesis
- References
- Index
7 - Geo-archaeology V: site modification and destruction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART I Perspectives
- PART II Foundations
- 3 Geo-archaeology I: basic principles
- 4 Geo-archaeology II: landscape context
- 5 Geo-archaeology III: stratigraphic context
- 6 Geo-archaeology IV: site formation
- 7 Geo-archaeology V: site modification and destruction
- 8 Geo-archaeology VI: human impact on the landscape
- 9 Archaeometry: prospecting, provenance, dating
- 10 Archaeobotany: vegetation and plant utilization
- 11 Zoo-archaeology: faunas and animal procurement
- PART III Synthesis
- References
- Index
Summary
Cultural transformation of archaeological residues
Archaeological sites, of whatever size and complexity, are functions of human activities and of noncultural agencies, during occupation as well as after occupation. The regional and local geomorphic subsystem provides a landscape setting and contributes to the blend of cultural and noncultural processes that affect a site during its use and subsequently dictate its preservation or destruction. The degree to which such cultural residues provide a representative time slice of human activities (instantaneously fossilized, as it were) is only in part controlled by sedimentation, preservation on a stable surface, or dispersal by erosion. A multiplicity of cultural variables is another part of the same equation, before, during, and after the final phases of human activity related to a particular surface.
A framework for cultural transformations has been outlined by Schiffer (1976:Chapter 3) in terms of systemic versus archaeological context. Such a sophisticated approach is commendable for sociocultural interpretation, but for the purposes of excavation strategy the factors involved can more profitably be considered from three perspectives:
1. Primary cultural deposition. During the original utilization of an activity locus, the various archaeological materials are progressively discarded (partly in refuse areas), lost, or deliberately aggregated in burials, shrines, and caches. During abandonment, higher proportions of functional materials are left behind in areas of manufacture, use, and storage.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Archaeology as Human EcologyMethod and Theory for a Contextual Approach, pp. 98 - 122Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1982