Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-7nlkj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-01T23:14:28.381Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Site structures and activities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2015

Nicholas David
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
Carol Kramer
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Get access

Summary

Analyses and interpretations of [site structure] patterns have until lately been based on three assumptions: (1) that activities are spatially segregated …; (2) that activities typically produce characteristic co-variant sets of artifacts and other refuse in proportion to the frequency of performance; and (3) that artifacts and other refuse associated with a particular activity are deposited at or very near the place of performance.

(James O'Connell 1987: 74)

There can be no general theory and no universal method for measuring and interpreting activity residues … we cannot look to ethnoarchaeology to provide the answers.

(Ian Hodder 1987a: 424)

In this chapter we discuss living space and activity areas of peoples, focusing especially on hunter-gatherers and others who do not produce substantial built structures. When approached archaeologically, such situations require that both the living context of the remains be inferred and the activities that took place within and around it. Where there are architectural remains (see chapter 10), artifacts and other debris can be directly related to structures and the spaces between and around them. We begin by sampling the ethnoarchaeological literature on the site structure of hunter-gatherers, the latter term requiring somewhat liberal interpretation, and proceed to survey evidence relating to peoples practicing other subsistence strategies. The chapter ends, rather than concluding, with discussion of studies that consider the extent to which gender is associated with activities, and whether these are likely to be archaeologically identifiable.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×