1. Week of 2-6 – 2-10-06 Culture History: Construction of Regional chronological sequences sequences in the absence of Writing Constructing Time from the analysis of space and form Stratigraphy Seriation Taking results of both types of analysis and creating Time-Space Charts

2. STRATIGRAPHY  Definition: the interpretation of the sequence of strata. –Based on the stratification ( strata of depositional units) –Stratum: a coherent layer or depositional unit –Law of superposition: Geological principle established in the 16 th C.  In an undisturbed rock and soil column, the old remains are lower and the more recent on top

3. Examples of Stratigraphy Geological strata

4. Application of the Law of Superposition to Archaeology Required knowledge of origin (geological processes) of natural units Cultural materials in those natural strata How cultural material sorted by natural layers Example: Nels Nelson’s work in the Galisteo Basin

5. Archaeological SERIATION  A wholly archaeological method that operates on styles of artifact  Artifact style ( culture history definition): attributes of a type of artifact ( ceramics or projectile points or building morphology) that is influenced by time. To Culture historians: Such artifacts were called ‘temporal types’ Two requirements to construct a seriation 1.artifact location ( within a single site or several sites) 2.one kind of artifact ( typically you need large samples

6. The how of seriation Define stylistic artifact units Count the number of artifacts by location Put into a seriation Matrix rows = locations columns = types sitesTypes ABC 1 2 3 Seriation Matrix

7. How to make rows and columns into a seriation? (Or what constitutes a successful seriation) 1.Rearrange rows so that all columns are continuous ( There can be no breaks in the presence of a type once it appears) 2.If working with percentages, the shape of a type curve must be “unimodal” [BATTLESHIP SHAPE]

8. Examples of Successful Seriations

9. How does a seriation tell us time: 1.If you have successfully ordered a series of sites or locations in one site (and you have some independent way of knowing time, you know that urn and willow is younger than both cherubs and deaths heads

10. When there are no calendrical dates to help you out: 1. Use stratigraphy– in this example, we know from stratigraphy that site 1 is oldest and site 5 is most recent. We also know that Type C is younger than both B and A.

11. Time Space Chart- Germany

12. Time-Space Charts

13. Time AD Pecos Classification Western Pueblo (Kidder 1927) Rio Grande Corridor Wendorf (1954) 1700 1600 Pueblo V Historic 1500 1400 Pueblo IV Classic 1300 1200 Pueblo III Coalition 1100 Pueblo II 1000Developmental 900 Southwest Chronology

14. Assumptions and Method of Time-Space Construction  Artifacts = culture, i.e., “archaeological culture”.  Similar assemblages of artifacts within a region meant same time and same people. Boxes on T-S charts = same culture  Change occur between boxes  How change between boxes occurred  Diffusion of ideas, people or independent invention  Radical change caused by invasion or what culture historians described as “ site unit intrusion  Within regions, cultures became more complex through time

15. Construction of Time Space Charts Comparison SitesTraits abcde 1xxx 2xxxx 3xxxxx 4xxx 5xxxx 6xxxxx 7xxxxx Temporal Order 3-6-7 2 -5 1-4

16. STRUCTURE OF CULTURE HISTORY  Methodologically skilled. They knew how to extract time from space and form. And their sequences have lasted more than 100 years  CH was largely empirical. They built chronologies from the ground up.  Viewed themselves as scientists. They were doing science  Science has two major ways of drawing conclusions  INDUCTION: Conclusions are greater than premises  DEDUCTION: Conclusions are subsumed within premises.  WERE CH INDUCTIVE OR DEDUCTIVE?