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Radical archaeology and middle-range methodology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Dean J. Saitta*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Denver, Denver CO 80208, USA

Extract

Methodologies for learning about the past are currently at issue within archaeology. This paper considers learning from the standpoint of a ‘radical’ archaeology. One strand of a radical archaeology's approach to learning–a Marxist strand–is discussed, and its main methodological challenge identified. This challenge is the development of middle-range frameworks for recognizing what Binford and others term ‘ambiguity’ – unexpected variation in the archaeological record from which fresh insights about the past can be produced. Concepts and ideas for constructing appropriate middle-ranges for a radical archaeology are discussed.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1992

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