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Lévi-Strauss, Poverty Point, and the Misuse of Analogy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Frank Rackerby
Frank Rackerby*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
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Abstract

An analysis is made of an argument from analogy for similarities between the structure of the Poverty Point earthworks and the social organization of the Bororo of Brazil. A valid analogy must be based on demonstrably similar entities. Since some of the data used in Levi-Strauss's argument are not demonstrable as fact, the argument must be judged invalid. Archaeologists are urged to show caution in expressing in writing their inferences and interpretations since their work ultimately may be used by other anthropologists for making cultural generalizations.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , July 1968 , pp. 388 - 390
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1968

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References

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