Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T08:15:03.532Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some Issues in the Philosophy of Archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael B. Schiffer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

Abstract

This paper identifies a domain of inquiry that lies at the interface between archaeology and the philosophy of science. I argue that in the recent past archaeology has contributed little to the philosophy of science. This situation can change if archaeologists succeed in calling those issues or controversies that have genuine philosophical import to the attention of philosophers. This paper provisionally explores two such areas: first, the use of ecological principles to explain human behavior; and second, problems of confirmation in ethnoarchaeology.

Type
Forum
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Bayard, Donn 1972 A non-quantitative non-law in anthropology; a reply to Carneiro. American Antiquity 37:447-449.Google Scholar
Bennett, John W. 1976 The ecological transition: cultural anthropology and human adaptation. Pergamon, New York.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1968a Archeological perspectives. In New perspectives in archeology, edited by Sally R. Binford and Lewis R. Binford, pp. 5-32. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1968b Some comments on historical versus processual archaeology. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 24:267-275.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1978a Dimensional analysis of behavior and site structure: learning from an Eskimo hunting stand. American Antiquity 43:330-361.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1978b Nunamiut ethnoarchaeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Carneiro, Robert L. 1970 A quantitative law in anthropology. American Antiquity 35:492-494.Google Scholar
Coles, John 1973 Archaeology by experiment. Scribner's, New York.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1975 On causes and consequences of ancient and modern population changes. American Anthropologist 77:505-525.Google Scholar
Donnan, Christopher B., and William Clewlow, C. Jr. (editors) 1974 Ethnoarchaeology. University of California at Los Angeles, Institute of Archaeology, Monograph 4.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1968 Archeological systems theory and early Mesoamerica. In Anthropological archeology in the Americas, edited by Betty J. Meggers, pp. 67-87. Archeological Society of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1972 The cultural evolution of civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3:399-426.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V. 1973 Archeology with a capital S. In Research and theory in current archeology, edited by Charles L. Redman, pp. 47-58. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Fritz, John M. 1972 Archaeological systems for indirect observation of the past. In Contemporary archaeology, edited by Mark, P. Leone, pp. 135-157. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Fritz, John M., and Fred, Plog 1970 The nature of archaeological explanation. American Antiquity 35:405-412.Google Scholar
Gall, Patricia L., and Arthur A., Saxe 1977 The ecological evolution of culture: the state as predator in succession theory. In Exchange systems in prehistory, edited by Timothy K. Earle and Jonathon E. Ericson, pp. 255-268. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Glassow, Michael A. 1972 Changes in the adaptations of southwestern Basketmakers: a systems perspective. In Contemporary archaeology, edited by Mark, P. Leone, pp. 289-302. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Gould, Richard A. 1980 Living archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gould, Richard A. (editor) 1978 Explorations in ethnoarchaeology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Gumerman, George J., and David, A. Phillips Jr. 1978 Archaeology beyond anthropology. American Antiquity 43:184-191.Google Scholar
Hardesty, Donald L. 1977 Ecological anthropology. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Harris, Marvin 1966 The cultural ecology of India's sacred cattle. Current Anthropology 7:51-66.Google Scholar
Hassan, Fekri A. 1978 Demographic archaeology. In Advances in archaeological method and theory (vol. 1), edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 49-103. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingersoll, Daniel, John, E. Yellen, and William, MacDonald (editors) 1977 Experimental archaeology. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Jochim, Michael A. 1979 Breaking down the system: recent ecological approaches in archaeology. In Advances in archaeological method and theory (vol. 2), edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 7-117. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kramer, Carol (editor) 1978 Ethnoarchaeology: implications of ethnography for archaeology. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Kuhn, Thomas 1970 The structure of scientific revolutions (second ed). University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Lee, Richard B., and Irven, DeVore (editors) 1968 Man the hunter. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Leeds, Anthony, and Andrew, Vayda (editors) 1965 Man, culture and animals: the role of animals in human ecological adjustments. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Levin, Michael D. 1973 On explanation in archaeology: a rebuttal to Fritz and Plog. American Antiquity 38:387-395.Google Scholar
Levin, Michael D. 1976 On the ascription of functions to objects, with special reference to inference in archaeology. Philosophy of Social Science 6:227-234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNett, Charles W. Jr. 1979 The cross-cultural method in archaeology. In Advances in archaeological method and theory (vol. 2), edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 39-76. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Margalef, Ramon 1968 Perspectives in ecological theory. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Martin, Paul S. 1971 The revolution in archaeology. American Antiquity 36:1-8.Google Scholar
Morgan, Charles G. 1973 Archaeology and explanation. World Archaeology 4:259-276.Google Scholar
Morgan, Charles G. 1974 Explanation and scientific archaeology. World Archaeology 6:133-137.Google Scholar
Nagel, Ernest 1961 The structure of science. Harcourt, Brace & World, New York.Google Scholar
Netting, Robert McC. 1977 Cultural ecology. Cummings, Menlo Park, Calif.Google Scholar
Nickles, Thomas 1977 On the independence of singular causal explanation in social science: archaeology. Philosophy of Social Science 7:163-187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osborn, Alan J. 1977 Strandloopers, mermaids, and other fairy tales: ecological determinants of marine resource utilization— the Peruvian case. In For theory building in archaeology, edited by Lewis, R. Binford, pp. 157-205. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred T. 1974 The study of prehistoric change. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, Fred T. 1975 Systems theory in archaeological research. Annual Review of Anthropology 4:207-224.Google Scholar
Rappaport, Roy A. 1968 Pigs for the ancestors: ritual in the ecology of a New Guinea people. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Rappaport, Roy A. 1971 Nature, culture, and ecological anthropology. In Man, culture, and society, edited by Shapiro, H. L., pp. 237-267. Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
Reid, J. Jefferson, Michael, B. Schiffer, and William, L. Rathje 1975 Behavioral archaeology: four strategies. American Anthropologist 77:864-869.Google Scholar
Read, Dwight W” and Steven, A. LeBlanc 1978 Descriptive statements, covering laws, and theories in archaeology. Current Anthropology 19:307-335.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A., Thomas, W. Beale, and Anthony, J. Kurland Jr. 1973 Recent developments in archaeology. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 408:103-118.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H. 1975 Confirmation and explanation in archaeology. American Antiquity 40:459-464.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H. 1976Deductive” versus “inductive” archaeology. American Antiquity 41:376-381.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H. 1978 What can systems theory do for archaeology? American Antiquity 43:174-183.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H. 1981 Ascribing functions to archaeological objects. Philosophy of Social Science 11:19-26.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H., and Wesley C., Salmon 1979 Alternative models of scientific explanation. American Anthropologist 81:61-74.Google Scholar
Schaffner, Kenneth F. 1967 Approaches to reduction. Philosophy of Science 34:137-147.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1975 Archaeology as behavioral science. American Anthropologist 77:836-848.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1976 Behavioral archeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1978a A synthetic model of archaeological inference. In Discovering past behavior; experiments in the archaeology of the American Southwest, edited by Paul F. Grebinger, pp. 123-139. Gordon and Breach, London.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1978b Taking the pulse of method and theory in American archaeology. American Antiquity 43:153-158.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1979 A preliminary consideration of behavioral change. In Transformations; mathematical approaches to culture change, edited by Colin, Renfrew and Kenneth, L. Cooke, pp. 353-368. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
SchifferMichael, B. (editor) 1980 Advances in archaeological method and theory (vol. 3). Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, Bruce D. 1977 Archaeological inference and inductive confirmation. American Anthropologist 79:598-617.Google Scholar
Spaulding, Albert C. 1968 Explanation in archeology. In New perspectives in archeology, edited by Sally R. Binford and Lewis R. Binford, pp. 33-39. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Alan P. 1978 Inference and evidence in archaeology: a discussion of the conceptual problems. In Advances in archaeological method and theory (vol. 1), edited by Michael B., Schiffer, pp. 183-222. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Trigger, Bruce 1970 Aims in prehistoric archaeology. Antiquity 44:26-37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuggle, H. # 1972 Review of Patty Jo Watson, Steven A. LeBlanc and Charles L. Redman: Explanation in archeology. Philosophy of Science 39:564-566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuggle, H. David, Alex, H. Townsend, and Thomas, J. Riley 1972 Laws, systems and research designs: a discussion of explanation in archaeology. American Antiquity 37:3-12.Google Scholar
VaydaAndrew, P. (editor) 1969 Environment and cultural behavior. Natural History Press, New York.Google Scholar
Vayda, Andrew P., and Roy A., Rappaport 1968 Ecology, cultural and non-cultural. In Introduction to anthropology, edited by James S., Clifton, pp. 477-497. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.Google Scholar
Watson, Patty Jo 1979 Archaeological ethnography in western Iran. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology 57.Google Scholar
Watson, Patty Jo, Steven A., LeBlanc, and Charles L., Redman 1971 Explanation in archeology. Columbia University Press, New York. Watson, Richard A.Google Scholar
Watson, Patty Jo, Steven A., LeBlanc, and Charles L., Redman 1976 Inference in archaeology. American Antiquity 41:58-66. White, Leslie A.Google Scholar
Watson, Patty Jo, Steven A., LeBlanc, and Charles L., Redman 1949 The science of culture. Grove Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wylie, M. Alison 1978 Analogy in archaeological interpretation. Unpublished ms., State University of New York, Binghamton, N.Y. Google Scholar
Yellen, John E. 1977a Archaeological approaches to the present; models for reconstructing the past. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Yellen, John E. 1977b Cultural patterning in faunal remains: evidence from the !Kung Bushmen. In Experimental archaeology, edited by Daniel, Ingersoll, John E., Yellen, and William, MacDonald, pp. 272-331. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar