ARCS2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Olduvai Gorge, Swiss Armed Forces, Natufian Culture
2 Aug 2018
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Document Summary
Lecture 2: experimental archaeology and the evolution and organisation of lithic technology. Likely a tool-user, made beds, extractive foraging: terrestriality an important pre-adaption for hominins, and use of tools for defence/intimidation. The purpose of experimental archaeology: understanding construction, performance, efficiency and sophistication, reconstruct past technologies and reacquire lost skills, to replicate steps and stages of production as well as debris, test hypotheses about the operation, performance and function. Why do experiments: create middle range theory that links two sets of observations: Patterns in the archaeological record (to know the behaviour behind these patterns) Processes observable in the present: make explicit hypotheses about the link between archaeological patterns and inferred behaviour. Week 2 lecture: do experiments that make those linkages clear. Controlling variables: experiments usually undertaken in an artificial environment. Stress is placed on control of variables and understanding their impact rather than on authenticity of context. Different kinds of replicative experiments: experimental archaeology is concerned with replicating past phenomena.
