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The Powers Phase Project was a multiyear archaeological program
undertaken in southeastern Missouri by the University of Michigan
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The project focused on the
occupation of a large Pleistocene-age terrace in the Little Black
River Lowland-a large expanse of lowlying land just east of the
Ozark Highland-between roughly A. D. 1250 and A. D. 1400. The
largest site in the region is Powers Fort-a palisaded mound center
that - ceived archaeological attention as early as the late
nineteenth century. Archa- logical surveys conducted south of
Powers Fort in the 1960s revealed the pr- ence of numerous smaller
sites of varying size that contained artifact assemblages similar
to those from the larger center. Collectively the settlement
aggregation became known as the Powers phase. Test excavations
indicated that at least some of the smaller sites contained burned
structures and that the burning had sealed household items on the
floors below the collapsed architectural e- ments. Thus there
appeared to be an opportunity to examine a late prehistoric
settlement system to a degree not possible previously. Not only
could the s- tial relation of communities in the system be
ascertained, but the fact that str- tures within the communities
had burned appeared to provide a unique opp- tunity to examine such
things as differences in household items between and among
structures and where various activities had occurred within a
house. With these ideas in mind, James B. Griffin and James E.
It is difficult for today's students of archaeology to imagine an
era when chronometric dating methods were unavailable. However,
even a casual perusal of the large body of literature that arose
during the first half of the twentieth century reveals a battery of
clever methods used to determine the relative ages of
archaeological phenomena, often with considerable precision.
Stratigraphic excavation is perhaps the best known of the various
relative-dating methods used by prehistorians. Although there are
several techniques of using artifacts from superposed strata to
measure time, these are rarely if ever differentiated. Rather,
common practice is to categorize them under the heading
stratigraphic excavation'. This text distinguishes among the
several techniques and argues that stratigraphic excavation tends
to result in discontinuous measures of time - a point little
appreciated by modern archaeologists. Although not as well known as
stratigraphic excavation, two other methods of relative dating have
figured important in Americanist archaeology: seriation and the use
of index fossils. The latter (like stratigraphic excavation)
measures time discontinuously, while the former - in various guises
- measures time continuously. Perhaps no other method used in
archaeology is as misunderstood as seriation, and the authors
provide detailed descriptions and examples of each of its three
different techniques. Each method and technique of relative dating
is placed in historical perspective, with particular focus on
developments in North America, an approach that allows a more
complete understanding of the methods described, both in terms of
analytical technique and disciplinary history. This textwill appeal
to all archaeologists, from graduate students to seasoned
professionals, who want to learn more about the backbone of
archaeological dating.
Anthropology, and by extension archaeology, has had a long-standing
interest in evolution in one or several of its various guises. Pick
up any lengthy treatise on humankind written in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century and the chances are good that the word
evolution will appear somewhere in the text. If for some reason the
word itself is absent, the odds are excellent that at least the
concept of change over time will have a central role in the
discussion. After one of the preeminent (and often vilified) social
scientists of the nineteenth century, Herbert Spencer, popularized
the term in the 1850s, evolution became more or less a household
word, usually being used synonymously with change, albeit change
over extended periods of time. Later, through the writings of
Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, and others, the notion of
evolution as it applies to stages of social and political
development assumed a prominent position in anthropological disc-
sions. To those with only a passing knowledge of American
anthropology, it often appears that evolutionism in the early
twentieth century went into a decline at the hands of Franz Boas
and those of similar outlook, often termed particularists. However,
it was not evolutionism that was under attack but rather
comparativism- an approach that used the ethnographic present as a
key to understanding how and why past peoples lived the way they
did (Boas 1896).
VJver forty years ago Gordon R. Willey (1953b:361) stated that
"[t]he objectives of archeology ...are approached by the study and
manipulation of three basic factors: form, space, and time. " A few
years later, Albert C. Spaulding (1960b:439) repeated this thought
using different words: "[AJrchaeology can be defined minimally as
the study of the interrelation- ship of form, temporal locus, and
spatial locus exhibited by artifacts. In other words,
archaeologists are always concerned with these interrelation-
ships, whatever broader interests they may have, and these
interrelation- ships are the special business of archaeology. "
Many of the means Americanist archaeologists use to examine formal
variation in artifacts and the distribution of that variation
across space and through time were formulated early in the
twentieth century. The analytical tenets, or principles, underlying
the various methods and techniques were formalized and axiomatized
in later years such that by the 1930s they con- stituted the first
formal paradigm for Americanist archaeology-a paradigm commonly
termed culture history. This paradigm began with a very specific
goal-to document the history of the development of prehistoric
cultures in the Americas. Although it fell from favor in the 1960s,
many of its central tenets were carried over to newer paradigms and
thus continue to be fun- damental within Americanist archaeology.
With Willey's and Spaulding's conceptions as our guide, we
elsewhere reprinted (Lyman et al.
It is difficult for today's students of archaeology to imagine an
era when chronometric dating methods were unavailable. However,
even a casual perusal of the large body of literature that arose
during the first half of the twentieth century reveals a battery of
clever methods used to determine the relative ages of
archaeological phenomena, often with considerable precision.
Stratigraphic excavation is perhaps the best known of the various
relative-dating methods used by prehistorians. Although there are
several techniques of using artifacts from superposed strata to
measure time, these are rarely if ever differentiated. Rather,
common practice is to categorize them under the heading
`stratigraphic excavation'. This text distinguishes among the
several techniques and argues that stratigraphic excavation tends
to result in discontinuous measures of time - a point little
appreciated by modern archaeologists. Although not as well known as
stratigraphic excavation, two other methods of relative dating have
figured important in Americanist archaeology: seriation and the use
of index fossils. The latter (like stratigraphic excavation)
measures time discontinuously, while the former - in various guises
- measures time continuously. Perhaps no other method used in
archaeology is as misunderstood as seriation, and the authors
provide detailed descriptions and examples of each of its three
different techniques. Each method and technique of relative dating
is placed in historical perspective, with particular focus on
developments in North America, an approach that allows a more
complete understanding of the methods described, both in terms of
analytical technique and disciplinary history. This text will
appeal to all archaeologists, from graduate students to seasoned
professionals, who want to learn more about the backbone of
archaeological dating.
The Powers Phase Project was a multiyear archaeological program
undertaken in southeastern Missouri by the University of Michigan
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The project focused on the
occupation of a large Pleistocene-age terrace in the Little Black
River Lowland-a large expanse of lowlying land just east of the
Ozark Highland-between roughly A. D. 1250 and A. D. 1400. The
largest site in the region is Powers Fort-a palisaded mound center
that - ceived archaeological attention as early as the late
nineteenth century. Archa- logical surveys conducted south of
Powers Fort in the 1960s revealed the pr- ence of numerous smaller
sites of varying size that contained artifact assemblages similar
to those from the larger center. Collectively the settlement
aggregation became known as the Powers phase. Test excavations
indicated that at least some of the smaller sites contained burned
structures and that the burning had sealed household items on the
floors below the collapsed architectural e- ments. Thus there
appeared to be an opportunity to examine a late prehistoric
settlement system to a degree not possible previously. Not only
could the s- tial relation of communities in the system be
ascertained, but the fact that str- tures within the communities
had burned appeared to provide a unique opp- tunity to examine such
things as differences in household items between and among
structures and where various activities had occurred within a
house. With these ideas in mind, James B. Griffin and James E.
VJver forty years ago Gordon R. Willey (1953b:361) stated that
"[t]he objectives of archeology ...are approached by the study and
manipulation of three basic factors: form, space, and time. " A few
years later, Albert C. Spaulding (1960b:439) repeated this thought
using different words: "[AJrchaeology can be defined minimally as
the study of the interrelation- ship of form, temporal locus, and
spatial locus exhibited by artifacts. In other words,
archaeologists are always concerned with these interrelation-
ships, whatever broader interests they may have, and these
interrelation- ships are the special business of archaeology. "
Many of the means Americanist archaeologists use to examine formal
variation in artifacts and the distribution of that variation
across space and through time were formulated early in the
twentieth century. The analytical tenets, or principles, underlying
the various methods and techniques were formalized and axiomatized
in later years such that by the 1930s they con- stituted the first
formal paradigm for Americanist archaeology-a paradigm commonly
termed culture history. This paradigm began with a very specific
goal-to document the history of the development of prehistoric
cultures in the Americas. Although it fell from favor in the 1960s,
many of its central tenets were carried over to newer paradigms and
thus continue to be fun- damental within Americanist archaeology.
With Willey's and Spaulding's conceptions as our guide, we
elsewhere reprinted (Lyman et al.
Anthropology, and by extension archaeology, has had a long-standing
interest in evolution in one or several of its various guises. Pick
up any lengthy treatise on humankind written in the last quarter of
the nineteenth century and the chances are good that the word
evolution will appear somewhere in the text. If for some reason the
word itself is absent, the odds are excellent that at least the
concept of change over time will have a central role in the
discussion. After one of the preeminent (and often vilified) social
scientists of the nineteenth century, Herbert Spencer, popularized
the term in the 1850s, evolution became more or less a household
word, usually being used synonymously with change, albeit change
over extended periods of time. Later, through the writings of
Edward Burnett Tylor, Lewis Henry Morgan, and others, the notion of
evolution as it applies to stages of social and political
development assumed a prominent position in anthropological disc-
sions. To those with only a passing knowledge of American
anthropology, it often appears that evolutionism in the early
twentieth century went into a decline at the hands of Franz Boas
and those of similar outlook, often termed particularists. However,
it was not evolutionism that was under attack but rather
comparativism- an approach that used the ethnographic present as a
key to understanding how and why past peoples lived the way they
did (Boas 1896).
Americanist Culture History reprints thirty-nine classic works of
Americanist archaeological literature published between 1907 and
1971. The articles, in which the key concepts and analytical
techniques of culture history were first defined and discussed, are
reprinted, with original pagination and references, to enhance the
use of this collection as a research and teaching resource. The
editors also include an introduction that summarizes the rise and
fall of the culture history paradigm, making this volume an
excellent introduction to the field's primary literature.
Combining historical research with a lucid explication of
archaeological methodology and reasoning, "Measuring Time with
Artifacts" examines the origins and changing use of fundamental
chronometric techniques and procedures and analyzes the different
ways American archaeologists have studied changes in artifacts,
sites, and peoples over time.
In highlighting the underpinning ontology and epistemology of
artifact-based chronometers--cultural transmission and how to
measure it archaeologically--this volume covers issues such as why
archaeologists used the cultural evolutionism of L. H. Morgan, E.
B. Tylor, L. A. White, and others instead of biological
evolutionism; why artifact classification played a critical role in
the adoption of stratigraphic excavation; how the direct historical
approach accomplished three analytical tasks at once; why cultural
traits were important analytical units; why paleontological and
archaeological methods sometimes mirror one another; how artifact
classification influences chronometric method; and how graphs
illustrate change in artifacts over time.
An understanding of the history of artifact-based chronometers
enables us to understand how we know what we think we know about
the past, ensures against modern misapplication of the methods, and
sheds light on the reasoning behind archaeologists' actions during
the first half of the twentieth century.
Combining historical research with a lucid explication of
archaeological methodology and reasoning, "Measuring Time with
Artifacts" examines the origins and changing use of fundamental
chronometric techniques and procedures and analyzes the different
ways American archaeologists have studied changes in artifacts,
sites, and peoples over time.
In highlighting the underpinning ontology and epistemology of
artifact-based chronometers--cultural transmission and how to
measure it archaeologically--this volume covers issues such as why
archaeologists used the cultural evolutionism of L. H. Morgan, E.
B. Tylor, L. A. White, and others instead of biological
evolutionism; why artifact classification played a critical role in
the adoption of stratigraphic excavation; how the direct historical
approach accomplished three analytical tasks at once; why cultural
traits were important analytical units; why paleontological and
archaeological methods sometimes mirror one another; how artifact
classification influences chronometric method; and how graphs
illustrate change in artifacts over time.
An understanding of the history of artifact-based chronometers
enables us to understand how we know what we think we know about
the past, ensures against modern misapplication of the methods, and
sheds light on the reasoning behind archaeologists' actions during
the first half of the twentieth century.
This comprehensive contribution to the large part Irish and
Irish-Americans played in the American Revolution covers genealogy,
battles, fraternal organizations, and Irish friendship with George
Washington.It is a refutation of Bancroft and Lodge by the
historiographer of the American Irish Historical Society, with
analysis of early Irish emigration to the colonies, the sympathies
of the Irish with the Revolution, and the role played by the Irish
in the Revolution. The appendix lists first officers, then
non-commissioned officers of the American Army and Navy of the
Revolution of Irish birth and descent.
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