journal article Oct 01, 1965

Archaeological Systematics and the Study of Culture Process

Abstract
AbstractIt is argued that the normative theory of culture, widely held among archaeologists, is inadequate for the generation of fruitful explanatory hypotheses of cultural process. One obvious shortcoming of this theoretical position has been the development of archaeological systematics that have obviated any possibility of measuring multivariate phenomena and permit only the measurement of unspecified “cultural differences and similarities,” as if these were univariate phenomena. As an alternative to this approach, it is proposed that culture be viewed as a system composed of subsystems, and it is suggested that differences and similarities between different classes of archaeological remains reflect different subsystems and hence may be expected to vary independently of each other in the normal operation of the system or during change in the system. A general discussion of ceramic classification and the classification of differences and similarities between assemblages is presented as an example of the multivariate approach to the study of cultural variability. It is suggested that a multivariate approach in systematics will encourage the study of cultural variability and its causes and thereby enhance the study of culture process.
Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References
28
[2]
Longacre (1963)
[4]
Brew (1946)
[6]
Deetz (1960)
[8]
Cronin (1962)
[9]
Linton (1936)
[10]
Ritchie (1955)
[11]
Willey (1958)
[12]
Caldwell (1958)
[13]
Herskovits (1948)
[14]
Taylor (1948)
[15]
(1964)
[18]
Redfield (1941)
[19]
Rouse (1939)
[20]
Mckern (1935)
[23]
White (1959)
[24]
Caldwell (1962)
[27]
Aberle (1960)
Cited By
272
Journal of Anthropological Archaeol...
American Antiquity
Metrics
272
Citations
28
References
Details
Published
Oct 01, 1965
Vol/Issue
31(2Part1)
Pages
203-210
License
View
Cite This Article
Lewis R. Binford (1965). Archaeological Systematics and the Study of Culture Process. American Antiquity, 31(2Part1), 203-210. https://doi.org/10.2307/2693985
Related

You May Also Like

Archaeology as Anthropology

Lewis R. Binford · 1962

760 citations

The Formation of Flakes

Brian Cotterell, Johan Kamminga · 1987

242 citations