Evolutionary and Interpretive Archaeologies: A Dialogue (University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications)

362 Pages·2011·4.33 MB·English

by  Ethan Cochrane

EVOLUTIONARY AND
INTERPRETIVE
ARCHAEOLOGIES
Publications of the
Institute of Archaeology, University College London
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EVOLUTIONARY AND
INTERPRETIVE
ARCHAEOLOGIES
A DIALOGUE
Ethan E. Cochrane
Andrew Gardner
Editors
Walnut Creek, California
LEFT COAST PRESS, INC.
1630 North Main Street, #400
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
www.LCoastPress.com
Copyright © 2011 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-59874-426-2 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-59874-427-9 paperback
ISBN 978-1-59874-660-0 electronic
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Evolutionary and interpretive archaeologies : a dialogue / Ethan E. Cochrane,
Andrew Gardner (editors).
p. cm. — (University College London Institute of Archaeology publications)
ISBN 978-1-59874-426-2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-59874-427-9
(pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-59874-660-0 (electronic)
1. Archaeology—Methodology. 2. Archaeology—Philosophy. 3. Social
archaeology. 4. Evolution. 5. Violence. 6. War and civilization. 7. Social
change. I. Cochrane, Ethan E. II. Gardner, Andrew, 1973-
CC75.7.E96 2010
930.1—dc22
2010052551
Printed in the United States of America
∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Contents
List of Illustrations 7
Preface 9
1. Evolutionary and Interpretive Archaeologies: 11
A Dialogue
Andrew Gardner and Ethan E. Cochrane
PART 1: THEORETICAL CONCERNS
2. Units of Transmission in Evolutionary Archaeology 31
and the Role of Memetics
Ethan E. Cochrane
3. Action and Structure in Interpretive Archaeologies 63
Andrew Gardner
4. ‘Style versus Function’ 30 Years On 83
R. Alexander Bentley
5. Intentionality Matters: Creativity and Human 105
Agency in the Construction of the Inka State
Bill Sillar
PART 2: CONTEXTS OF STUDY
6. Interpretive Archaeologies, Violence and 127
Evolutionary Approaches
Simon James
7. Violence and Confl ict: Warfare, Biology and Culture 151
Robert Layton
8. Tribes, Peoples, Ethnicity: Archaeology and 169
Changing ‘We Groups’
Ulrike Sommer
9. Cultural Selection, Drift and Ceramic Diversity at 199
Bog˘azköy-Hattusa
Claudia Glatz, Anne Kandler and James Steele
10. Cultural and Biological Approaches to the Body in 227
Archaeology: Can They Be Reconciled?
Ruth D. Whitehouse
11. Missing Links: Cultures, Species and the Cladistic 245
Reconstruction of Prehistory
Jamshid J. Tehrani
12. The Ambiguity of Landscape: Discussing Points 263
of Relatedness in Concepts and Methods
Sue Hamilton
PART 3: FUTURE DIRECTIONS
13. Contrasts and Conflicts in Anthropology and 281
Archaeology: The Evolutionary/Interpretive
Dichotomy in Human Behavioural Research
Heidi Colleran and Ruth Mace
14. A Visit to Down House: Some Interpretive Comments on 307
Evolutionary Archaeology
Matthew H. Johnson
15. An Evolutionary Perspective on the 325
Goals of Archaeology
Stephen Shennan
Index 345
About the Authors 357
List of Illustrations
FIGURes
Figure 2.1 Simulation depiction from Lipo 44
Figure 2.2 Simulation depiction from Lipo 45
Figure 2.3 Locations of assemblages in the six seriation groups 46
Figure 2.4 Locations of all the Phillips, Ford and Griffi n 47
assemblages analyzed by Lipo
Figure 2.5 Frequency of shell-tempered ceramics in 51
different regions of the Mississippi River Valley
Figure 2.6 Results of a static bend test applied to 53
ceramic test tiles
Figure 4.1 Illustration of the spread of an idea as a fractal 88
growth process
Figure 5.1 Photograph of the surviving central wall of the large 119
Inka building, the ‘Temple of Viracocha’, at Raqchi
Figure 8.1 Distribution of Middle Neolithic cultures in central 177
Europe
Figure 8.2 Chronology of the Early and Middle Neolithic 178
in central Europe
Figure 8.3 Location of key sites mentioned in the text 180
Figure 9.1 Map of site location and approximate extent 201
of the Hittite empire
Figure 9.2 A sample simulation of the effects of drift on 204
assemblage diversity
Figure 9.3 Plan of Bog˘azköy-Hattusa 206
Figure 9.4 Upper City ceramic bowl repertoire 210
Figure 9.5 Percentages of each bowl type in the Upper 211
City rim sherd assemblages
Figure 9.6 Proportional frequencies of bowls of all types and 216
the correlation between changing abundance ranking
and change in average diameter of bowl variants
Figure 11.1 Branching lineages drawn by Darwin, 246
Schleicher and Balfour
Figure 11.2 Character cladogram for a Turkmen rug ornament 250
known as gul
Figure 11.3 Example of a character matrix and the cladogram 251
derived from it using parsimony
Figure 11.4 Reticulated phylogeny of cornets 253
Figure 11.5 Kroeber’s ‘The tree of life and the tree of the 257
knowledge of good and evil—that is, of human
culture’
Figure 15.1 Fluctuations in the proportion of wild animals 334
through time in faunal assemblages from the Swiss
Neolithic
Figure 15.2 Relative abundance of small game types during five 334
phases of Natufian occupation at Hayonim Cave
Figure 15.3 Map of the distribution of the archaeobotany 336
assemblage sample sites
Figure 15.4 Evolutionary tree of early Neolithic archaeobotanical 336
assemblages from southwest Asia and Europe
Figure 15.5 The actual diversity values of early Neolithic 338
ceramic assemblages from southwestern Germany
Figure 15.6 The neutral diversity and actual diversity values for 339
each site plotted against the sequence of phases
Tables
Table 2.1 Pottery type abundances from a section at the 41
Tano Ruins of San Cristobal, New Mexico
Table 8.1 Possible explanations for the rise of Hinkelstein 182
culture
Table 9.1 Contexts associated with the Bog˘azköy-Hattusa 207
Upper City phases
Table 9.2 Frequencies of rim sherds of the main bowl 213
groups in each of the four wares, by phase
Table 9.3 Frequencies of rim sherds of different ware types 214
Table 9.4 Linear regression analysis of the effects of bowl 215
variant characteristics
Table 9.5 Estimates of annual pottery consumption and 217
potters in the Upper City of Bog˘azköy-Hattusa
Preface
This volume originated in a seminar series held at the Institute of
Archaeology, University College London, organised by the editors in the
spring term of 2007. In each seminar over 10 weeks, a pair of speak-
ers presented interpretive and evolutionary perspectives on a particu-
lar problem or theme, followed by an extended discussion. This was an
effective format for seminar debate, repeated in a much shorter time at
the Theoretical Archaeology Group annual meeting in York in December
of 2007. In the book, we have asked our authors to fl esh out their contri-
butions with more case studies and more individual engagement with the
contrasting viewpoint. This should enable the chapters to stand alone as
contributions to a wider cross-disciplinary dialogue. Our thanks as edi-
tors go to the contributors to this volume, to the Institute of Archaeology
Publications Committee and committee chairperson Professor Ruth
Whitehouse, and to Mitch Allen and Left Coast Press, Inc., for their sup-
port of the book. We also thank the research groups (Social and Cultural
Dynamics, Complex and Literate Societies, Material Culture and Data
Science) and the AHRC CECD at the Institute of Archaeology that made
the seminar series possible. Finally, we are grateful to the seminar par-
ticipants (both as speakers and in the audience) for the critical discussion
of ideas.
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