Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology

Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology

Author: Robert Chapman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-10-06

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 147252893X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How do archaeologists work with the data they identify as a record of the cultural past? How are these data collected and construed as evidence? What is the impact on archaeological practice of new techniques of data recovery and analysis, especially those imported from the sciences? To answer these questions, the authors identify close-to-the-ground principles of best practice based on an analysis of examples of evidential reasoning in archaeology that are widely regarded as successful, contested, or instructive failures. They look at how archaeologists put old evidence to work in pursuit of new interpretations, how they construct provisional foundations for inquiry as they go, and how they navigate the multidisciplinary ties that make archaeology a productive intellectual trading zone. This case-based approach is predicated on a conviction that archaeological practice is a repository of considerable methodological wisdom, embodied in tacit norms and skilled expertise – wisdom that is rarely made explicit except when contested, and is often obscured when questions about the status and reach of archaeological evidence figure in high-profile crisis debates.


Book Synopsis Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology by : Robert Chapman

Download or read book Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology written by Robert Chapman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do archaeologists work with the data they identify as a record of the cultural past? How are these data collected and construed as evidence? What is the impact on archaeological practice of new techniques of data recovery and analysis, especially those imported from the sciences? To answer these questions, the authors identify close-to-the-ground principles of best practice based on an analysis of examples of evidential reasoning in archaeology that are widely regarded as successful, contested, or instructive failures. They look at how archaeologists put old evidence to work in pursuit of new interpretations, how they construct provisional foundations for inquiry as they go, and how they navigate the multidisciplinary ties that make archaeology a productive intellectual trading zone. This case-based approach is predicated on a conviction that archaeological practice is a repository of considerable methodological wisdom, embodied in tacit norms and skilled expertise – wisdom that is rarely made explicit except when contested, and is often obscured when questions about the status and reach of archaeological evidence figure in high-profile crisis debates.


Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology

Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology

Author: Robert Chapman

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-10-06

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1472534697

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How do archaeologists work with the data they identify as a record of the cultural past? How are these data collected and construed as evidence? What is the impact on archaeological practice of new techniques of data recovery and analysis, especially those imported from the sciences? To answer these questions, the authors identify close-to-the-ground principles of best practice based on an analysis of examples of evidential reasoning in archaeology that are widely regarded as successful, contested, or instructive failures. They look at how archaeologists put old evidence to work in pursuit of new interpretations, how they construct provisional foundations for inquiry as they go, and how they navigate the multidisciplinary ties that make archaeology a productive intellectual trading zone. This case-based approach is predicated on a conviction that archaeological practice is a repository of considerable methodological wisdom, embodied in tacit norms and skilled expertise – wisdom that is rarely made explicit except when contested, and is often obscured when questions about the status and reach of archaeological evidence figure in high-profile crisis debates.


Book Synopsis Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology by : Robert Chapman

Download or read book Evidential Reasoning in Archaeology written by Robert Chapman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do archaeologists work with the data they identify as a record of the cultural past? How are these data collected and construed as evidence? What is the impact on archaeological practice of new techniques of data recovery and analysis, especially those imported from the sciences? To answer these questions, the authors identify close-to-the-ground principles of best practice based on an analysis of examples of evidential reasoning in archaeology that are widely regarded as successful, contested, or instructive failures. They look at how archaeologists put old evidence to work in pursuit of new interpretations, how they construct provisional foundations for inquiry as they go, and how they navigate the multidisciplinary ties that make archaeology a productive intellectual trading zone. This case-based approach is predicated on a conviction that archaeological practice is a repository of considerable methodological wisdom, embodied in tacit norms and skilled expertise – wisdom that is rarely made explicit except when contested, and is often obscured when questions about the status and reach of archaeological evidence figure in high-profile crisis debates.


Material Evidence

Material Evidence

Author: Robert Chapman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-12-05

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 1317576225

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How do archaeologists make effective use of physical traces and material culture as repositories of evidence? Material Evidence takes a resolutely case-based approach to this question, exploring instances of exemplary practice, key challenges, instructive failures, and innovative developments in the use of archaeological data as evidence. The goal is to bring to the surface the wisdom of practice, teasing out norms of archaeological reasoning from evidence. Archaeologists make compelling use of an enormously diverse range of material evidence, from garbage dumps to monuments, from finely crafted artifacts rich with cultural significance to the detritus of everyday life and the inadvertent transformation of landscapes over the long term. Each contributor to Material Evidence identifies a particular type of evidence with which they grapple and considers, with reference to concrete examples, how archaeologists construct evidential claims, critically assess them, and bring them to bear on pivotal questions about the cultural past. Historians, cultural anthropologists, philosophers, and science studies scholars are increasingly interested in working with material things as objects of inquiry and as evidence – and they acknowledge on all sides just how challenging this is. One of the central messages of the book is that close analysis of archaeological best practice can yield constructive guidelines for practice that have much to offer archaeologists and those in related fields.


Book Synopsis Material Evidence by : Robert Chapman

Download or read book Material Evidence written by Robert Chapman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do archaeologists make effective use of physical traces and material culture as repositories of evidence? Material Evidence takes a resolutely case-based approach to this question, exploring instances of exemplary practice, key challenges, instructive failures, and innovative developments in the use of archaeological data as evidence. The goal is to bring to the surface the wisdom of practice, teasing out norms of archaeological reasoning from evidence. Archaeologists make compelling use of an enormously diverse range of material evidence, from garbage dumps to monuments, from finely crafted artifacts rich with cultural significance to the detritus of everyday life and the inadvertent transformation of landscapes over the long term. Each contributor to Material Evidence identifies a particular type of evidence with which they grapple and considers, with reference to concrete examples, how archaeologists construct evidential claims, critically assess them, and bring them to bear on pivotal questions about the cultural past. Historians, cultural anthropologists, philosophers, and science studies scholars are increasingly interested in working with material things as objects of inquiry and as evidence – and they acknowledge on all sides just how challenging this is. One of the central messages of the book is that close analysis of archaeological best practice can yield constructive guidelines for practice that have much to offer archaeologists and those in related fields.


Debating Archaeological Empiricism

Debating Archaeological Empiricism

Author: Charlotta Hillerdal

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-03-05

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1317800745

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Debating Archaeological Empiricism examines the current intellectual turn in archaeology, primarily in its prehistoric and classical branches, characterized by a return to the archaeological evidence. Each chapter in the book approaches the empirical from a different angle, illuminating contemporary views and uses of the archaeological material in interpretations and theory building. The inclusion of differing perspectives in this collection mirrors the conceptual landscape that characterizes the discipline, contributing to the theoretical debate in archaeology and classical studies. As well as giving an important snapshot of the practical as well as theoretical uses of materiality in archaeologies today, this volume looks to the future of archaeology as an empirical discipline.


Book Synopsis Debating Archaeological Empiricism by : Charlotta Hillerdal

Download or read book Debating Archaeological Empiricism written by Charlotta Hillerdal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-05 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debating Archaeological Empiricism examines the current intellectual turn in archaeology, primarily in its prehistoric and classical branches, characterized by a return to the archaeological evidence. Each chapter in the book approaches the empirical from a different angle, illuminating contemporary views and uses of the archaeological material in interpretations and theory building. The inclusion of differing perspectives in this collection mirrors the conceptual landscape that characterizes the discipline, contributing to the theoretical debate in archaeology and classical studies. As well as giving an important snapshot of the practical as well as theoretical uses of materiality in archaeologies today, this volume looks to the future of archaeology as an empirical discipline.


Debating Archaeology

Debating Archaeology

Author: Lewis R Binford

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-09-16

Total Pages: 677

ISBN-13: 1315430630

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this volume, the founder of processual archaeology, Lewis R. Binford collects and comments on the twenty-eight substantive papers published in the 1980's, the third in his set of collected papers (also Working at Archaeology and An Archaeological Perspective). This ongoing collection of self-edited papers, together with the extensive and very candid interstitial commentaries, provides an invaluable record of the development of "The New Archaeology" and a challenging view into the mind of the man who is certainly the most creative archaeological theorist of our time. A new (2009) foreword allows further reflections on his work.


Book Synopsis Debating Archaeology by : Lewis R Binford

Download or read book Debating Archaeology written by Lewis R Binford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, the founder of processual archaeology, Lewis R. Binford collects and comments on the twenty-eight substantive papers published in the 1980's, the third in his set of collected papers (also Working at Archaeology and An Archaeological Perspective). This ongoing collection of self-edited papers, together with the extensive and very candid interstitial commentaries, provides an invaluable record of the development of "The New Archaeology" and a challenging view into the mind of the man who is certainly the most creative archaeological theorist of our time. A new (2009) foreword allows further reflections on his work.


Archaeological Thinking

Archaeological Thinking

Author: Charles E. Orser

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2023-07-18

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 1538177242

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the second edition of Archaeological Thinking, Charles E. Orser, Jr. provides an updated guide to the critical thinking skills archaeologists use to unravel the stories of history’s buried past.


Book Synopsis Archaeological Thinking by : Charles E. Orser

Download or read book Archaeological Thinking written by Charles E. Orser and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the second edition of Archaeological Thinking, Charles E. Orser, Jr. provides an updated guide to the critical thinking skills archaeologists use to unravel the stories of history’s buried past.


Philosophy and Archaeology

Philosophy and Archaeology

Author: Merrilee H. Salmon

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 1982-12-28

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Studies in Archaeology: Philosophy and Archaeology presents the circumstances under which archeological hypotheses can be considered confirmed or disconfirmed. This book discusses the role of analogy in archeological reasoning, particularly in ascribing functions to archeological items. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the relationship between archeology and philosophy. This text then examines the importance of laws for archeology and discusses some essential features of law statements. Other chapters consider the strong claims for the hypothetico-deductive method of confirmation in various works by archeologists. This book discusses as well the different uses of analogical reasoning in archeology and provides a discussion of the structure of analogical arguments, criteria for evaluating them, and their relations to the Bayesian arguments for confirmation. The final chapter deals with several issues related to the development of a theory of archeology. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and philosophers.


Book Synopsis Philosophy and Archaeology by : Merrilee H. Salmon

Download or read book Philosophy and Archaeology written by Merrilee H. Salmon and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1982-12-28 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Studies in Archaeology: Philosophy and Archaeology presents the circumstances under which archeological hypotheses can be considered confirmed or disconfirmed. This book discusses the role of analogy in archeological reasoning, particularly in ascribing functions to archeological items. Organized into seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the relationship between archeology and philosophy. This text then examines the importance of laws for archeology and discusses some essential features of law statements. Other chapters consider the strong claims for the hypothetico-deductive method of confirmation in various works by archeologists. This book discusses as well the different uses of analogical reasoning in archeology and provides a discussion of the structure of analogical arguments, criteria for evaluating them, and their relations to the Bayesian arguments for confirmation. The final chapter deals with several issues related to the development of a theory of archeology. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and philosophers.


Archaeology After Interpretation

Archaeology After Interpretation

Author: Benjamin Alberti

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-06-16

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 1315434237

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A new generation of archaeologists has thrown down a challenge to post-processual theory, arguing that characterizing material symbols as arbitrary overlooks the material character and significance of artifacts. This volume showcases the significant departure from previous symbolic approaches that is underway in the discipline. It brings together key scholars advancing a variety of cutting edge approaches, each emphasizing an understanding of artifacts and materials not in terms of symbols but relationally, as a set of associations that compose people’s understanding of the world. Authors draw on a diversity of intellectual sources and case studies, paving a dynamic road ahead for archaeology as a discipline and theoretical approaches to material culture.


Book Synopsis Archaeology After Interpretation by : Benjamin Alberti

Download or read book Archaeology After Interpretation written by Benjamin Alberti and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-16 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new generation of archaeologists has thrown down a challenge to post-processual theory, arguing that characterizing material symbols as arbitrary overlooks the material character and significance of artifacts. This volume showcases the significant departure from previous symbolic approaches that is underway in the discipline. It brings together key scholars advancing a variety of cutting edge approaches, each emphasizing an understanding of artifacts and materials not in terms of symbols but relationally, as a set of associations that compose people’s understanding of the world. Authors draw on a diversity of intellectual sources and case studies, paving a dynamic road ahead for archaeology as a discipline and theoretical approaches to material culture.


Re-constructing Archaeology

Re-constructing Archaeology

Author: Michael Shanks

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780415088701

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


Book Synopsis Re-constructing Archaeology by : Michael Shanks

Download or read book Re-constructing Archaeology written by Michael Shanks and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


Interpreting Archaeology

Interpreting Archaeology

Author: Alexandra Alexandri

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-19

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1317799461

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume provides a forum for debate between varied approaches to the past. The authors, drawn from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, represent many different strands of archaeology. They address the philosophical issues involved in interpretation and a desire among archaeologists to come to terms with their own subjective approaches to the material they study, a recognition of how past researchers have also imposed their own value systems on the evidence which they presented.


Book Synopsis Interpreting Archaeology by : Alexandra Alexandri

Download or read book Interpreting Archaeology written by Alexandra Alexandri and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-11-19 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides a forum for debate between varied approaches to the past. The authors, drawn from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, represent many different strands of archaeology. They address the philosophical issues involved in interpretation and a desire among archaeologists to come to terms with their own subjective approaches to the material they study, a recognition of how past researchers have also imposed their own value systems on the evidence which they presented.