Week of 2-6 – Culture History: Construction of Regional chronological sequences sequences in the absence of Writing Constructing Time from the analysis of space and form Stratigraphy Seriation Taking results of both types of analysis and creating Time-Space Charts

STRATIGRAPHY  Definition: the interpretation of the sequence of strata. –Based on the stratification ( strata of depositional units) –Stratum: a coherent layer or depositional unit –Law of superposition: Geological principle established in the 16 th C.  In an undisturbed rock and soil column, the old remains are lower and the more recent on top

Examples of Stratigraphy Geological strata

Application of the Law of Superposition to Archaeology Required knowledge of origin (geological processes) of natural units Cultural materials in those natural strata How cultural material sorted by natural layers Example: Nels Nelson’s work in the Galisteo Basin

Archaeological SERIATION  A wholly archaeological method that operates on styles of artifact  Artifact style ( culture history definition): attributes of a type of artifact ( ceramics or projectile points or building morphology) that is influenced by time. To Culture historians: Such artifacts were called ‘temporal types’ Two requirements to construct a seriation 1.artifact location ( within a single site or several sites) 2.one kind of artifact ( typically you need large samples

The how of seriation Define stylistic artifact units Count the number of artifacts by location Put into a seriation Matrix rows = locations columns = types sitesTypes ABC Seriation Matrix

How to make rows and columns into a seriation? (Or what constitutes a successful seriation) 1.Rearrange rows so that all columns are continuous ( There can be no breaks in the presence of a type once it appears) 2.If working with percentages, the shape of a type curve must be “unimodal” [BATTLESHIP SHAPE]

Examples of Successful Seriations

How does a seriation tell us time: 1.If you have successfully ordered a series of sites or locations in one site (and you have some independent way of knowing time, you know that urn and willow is younger than both cherubs and deaths heads

When there are no calendrical dates to help you out: 1. Use stratigraphy– in this example, we know from stratigraphy that site 1 is oldest and site 5 is most recent. We also know that Type C is younger than both B and A.

Time Space Chart- Germany

Time-Space Charts

Time AD Pecos Classification Western Pueblo (Kidder 1927) Rio Grande Corridor Wendorf (1954) Pueblo V Historic Pueblo IV Classic Pueblo III Coalition 1100 Pueblo II 1000Developmental 900 Southwest Chronology

Assumptions and Method of Time-Space Construction  Artifacts = culture, i.e., “archaeological culture”.  Similar assemblages of artifacts within a region meant same time and same people. Boxes on T-S charts = same culture  Change occur between boxes  How change between boxes occurred  Diffusion of ideas, people or independent invention  Radical change caused by invasion or what culture historians described as “ site unit intrusion  Within regions, cultures became more complex through time

Construction of Time Space Charts Comparison SitesTraits abcde 1xxx 2xxxx 3xxxxx 4xxx 5xxxx 6xxxxx 7xxxxx Temporal Order

STRUCTURE OF CULTURE HISTORY  Methodologically skilled. They knew how to extract time from space and form. And their sequences have lasted more than 100 years  CH was largely empirical. They built chronologies from the ground up.  Viewed themselves as scientists. They were doing science  Science has two major ways of drawing conclusions  INDUCTION: Conclusions are greater than premises  DEDUCTION: Conclusions are subsumed within premises.  WERE CH INDUCTIVE OR DEDUCTIVE?