Pragmatic Archaeology: Theory in Crisis? 9780860544418, 9781407317823

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Copyright
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
CONTRIBUTORS
PREFACE
PRAGMATIC ARCHAEOLOGY: THEORY IN CRISIS?
PRAGMATIC AND DIDACTIC: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGY
PRAGMATISM: A WORKING PHILOSOPHY
THEORY AND METHOD: SOME OBSERVATIONS FROM A SCIENTIST
PERIPATETIC POTTERS, POTS OR PROVISION - THE INTERPRETATION OF POTTERY FABRIC DATA
THE QUANTIFICATION OF VESSEL FRAGMENTS
PRACTICALITY AND REALISM IN ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
ARCHAEOGEOPHYSICS AND THE SITE: OHM SWEET OHM?
ROMANO-BRITISH VILLAS: PRACTICAL LESSONS FOR TACTICAL FIELDWORK
CAN WE HAVE A PRAGMATIC INTEGRATED ARCHAEOLOGY?
A MANIFESTO FOR PRAGMATIC ARCHAEOLOGY
AGAINST OBJECTIVITY

Citation preview

Pragmatic Archaeology Theory in Crisis?

edited by Christopher F. Gaffney and Vincent L. Gaffney

BAR British Series 167 1987

B.A.R.

5, Centremead, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 ODQ, England.

GENERAL EDITORS A.R. Hands, B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil. D.R. Walker, M.A.

B.A.R. 167, 1987: 'Pragmatic Archaeology: Theory in Crisis?' © The Individua l Authors, 1987 The authors’ moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9780860544418 paperback ISBN 9781407317823 e-book DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9780860544418 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available at www.barpublishing.com

C ONTENTS

P age T he c ontributors P reface

v ii

P ragmatic A rchaeology: 1 .

t heory i n c risis?

1

P ragmatic a nd D idactic: s ome t houghts o n t he c hanging s tructure o f B ritish A rchaeology

5

F .P ryor 2 .

3 .

P ragmatism: a w orking p hilosophy C .F.Gaffney T heory a nd M ethod:

1 1

s ome o bservations

f rom a s cientist

1 7

R .M.Yorston 4 .

P eripatetic

p otters,

p ots o r p rovision - t he

i nterpretation

2 7

o f p ottery f abric d ata P .Wardle 5 .

T he q uantification o f v essel

f ragments

3 5

W .Fletcher a nd M .P.Heyworth 6 .

P racticability a nd a nd

r ealism i n A rchaeozoological a nalysis

4 7

i nterpretation

J .Rackham 7 .

A rchaeogeophysics a nd

t he

s ite:

o hm s weet o hm?

7 1

C .P.Heron a nd C .F.Gaffney 8 .

R omano-British v illas: f ieldwork

p ractical

l essons

f or t actical

8 3

E .Scott a nd V .L.Gaffney 9 .

1 0.

C an w e h ave a p ragmatic R .Hingley A M anifesto

i ntegrated A rchaeology?

f or P ragmatic A rchaeology

8 9

1 07

R .Yorston w ith C .F.Gaffney a nd V .L.Gaffney 1 1.

A gainst O bjectivity: R .B radley

a n o verview

1 15

Dedicated

to

the memory o f

i v

P ercy

Toward

C ONTRIBUTORS

R ichard B radley D epartment o f A rchaeology, U niversity o f R eading. W endy F letcher U ndergraduate S chool o f

S tudies i n A rchaeological

U niversity o f B radford. C hris G affney P ostgraduate S chool o f P hysics, U niversity o f B radford. V ince G affney F orge M ill M useum, R edditch. C arl

H eron

D epartment o f A rchaeology, U niversity o f C ardiff. M ichael H eyworth P ostgraduate S chool

o f P hysics,

U niversity o f B radford. R ichard H ingley D epartment o f A rchaeology, U niversity o f O xford. F rancis P ryor F enland A rchaeological A ssociates. J ames R ackham D epartment o f A rchaeology, U niversity o f D urham. E leanor S cott D epartment o f A rchaeology, U niversity o f N ewcastle. P eter W ardle G lamorgan a nd G went A rchaeological T rust, C arleon. R on Y orston I STEL L imited, R edditch.

S ciences,

P REFACE O n

f ace

v alue,

t he e diting o f a v olume s panning

t he

' broad c hurch '

t hat c onstitutes a rchaeology i n t he e ighties c ould f ill t he h earts o f i nexperienced e ditors w ith m uch f ear a nd t repidation. T he e xperience w as, h owever, m ost r ewarding. T he e ditors w ould l ike t o t hank t he m any f riends a nd c olleagues w ho f reely g ave a dvice a nd p ractical h elp, e nsuring t hat t he e xperience w as l ess d aunting t han i t f irst a ppeared. A lthough o ur d ebt t o s o m any p eople w ill a ppear o bvious, i t s eems a ppropriate t hat w e s hould i ndividually t hank c ertain p eople. I n p articular, w ithout t he s terling w ork o f J ean B rown ( University o f B radford P hotographic U nit), C aitlin B uck, M ike H eyworth, J im L ewthwaite, A nn M acSween, C olin M errony a nd S ue W ard t his v olume w ould h ave t aken f ar l onger t o p roduce.

v ii

P RAGMATIC ARCHAEOLOGY:

" Pantheist?" " No e mpiricist

a s

I r emember.

T HEORY I N C RISIS?

B ad G uy.

C ompletely r ejected H egel o r

a ny d ialectical m ethodology." " One o f t hose?" " Yeah. H e u sed t o b e a d rummer w ith a j azz t rio. T hen h e g ot h ooked o n l ogical p ositivism. W hen t hat f ailed h e t ried p ragmatism." M r B ig. W oody A llen

D espite t he r ecent i ncrease i n p ublished a rchaeological w orks, w e h ave n ot w itnessed a s imilar i ncrease i n i nnovative a rchaeological p roblems. I ndeed, a rchaeology i s s till d edicated t o e lucidating s ome v ery b asic q uestions a bout h ow p eople l ived. C onsequently i t i s v ery d ispiriting t o r ealise t o w hat d epths t he m orale o f t he d iscipline a ppears t o h ave s unk r egarding i ts a chievements a nd p otential. T he h eady, e uphoric d ays o f t he s ixties, a nd t he o ptimism o f t he s eventies, w hen w e f elt t hat a ll h uman b ehaviour w as r educible t o a s eries o f f undamental s tatements o r l aws, h as d ied. T he f uneral w as n ot w ell a ttended b ut t he o ffspring h ave b een s quabbling a bout t he i nheritance e ver s ince. T he c ynic m ight q uestion w hether w e c an r emember w hat w e w ere a rguing a bout i n t he f irst p lace. T he p ost p rocessual d ebate a ppears t o h ave s plit t he d iscipline i nto t wo a rmed c amps, o ne b ristling w ith p aradigms a nd t he o ther a rmed w ith m attocks, " Ivory c astles a nd e mpirical b arricades". W e h ave t he e thereal h ill t op c amp, w here " groundless, b ut e legant, s peculation" h as b een c onsidered l ittle m ore t han t he w ay t o t he t op ' with m aximum s peed'" ( Pryor 1 983, p .99). T he mutterings f rom t he h eavily d efended t renches a t t he b ottom o f t he h ill c alling f or a r eturn t o " common s ense" ( Hope S impson 1 983), o ften c arry t he t aint o f p arochialism o r i nferential s pinelessness. W hat w ent w rong? W as a rchaeology, t hat b road c hurch, d oomed t o s terile d ivisiveness r ather t han c omplementary d iversity? A n ote o f r ealism b ecame a pparent i n t he l ate 1 970's w hen i t w as t hought t hat t he o perationalisation o f ' middle r ange t heories' w ould b e t he l ink b etween t he t wo c amps. U ndoubtedly f or t he o rdinary a rchaeologist t his w as y et a nother m eeting o f m inds, r ather t han t hat o f i deas a nd d ata.

1

I n 1 985 w hen t he i dea o f a T .A.G . s ession o n p ragmatism w as f irst d iscussed s everal l eading p rinciples w ere c onsidered. I nitially w e f elt t hat, w hether a rchaeologists l iked i t o r n ot, w e l ived i n a t heoretical w orld. T here w as n o r etreating t o s ome c omfortable ( and p robably i maginary) p eriod b efore t heory, w hen " facts w ere f acts". T he w hole o f a rchaeological r eality w as b ound b y a c hain o f t heory f rom t he p rinciples o f s tratigraphy u pwards, a nd w henever w e s ought t o r ationalise a rchaeological f acts w e c ould o nly r ely u pon t heory t o c onnect o ur f inds w ith w hatever i nterpretation w e f avoured ( fantastic o r o therwise). H owever e ndless s peculative t heory i n a d iscipline w hich, i n t he l ong r un w as t rying t o p lace t he i ndian, a nd w ork o ut t he p rocesses, b ehind t he p ot w as, a t i ts w orst, p ointless. M oreover i n a p eriod w hen r esearch f unding w as, a nd i s, b ecoming i ncreasingly s carce i t i s d oubtful w hether a rchaeology c an a fford s uch s ophistry. T his i s n ot a n a rgument t o s ay t hat s uch e soteric p ursuits s hould n ot e xist. H owever a rchaeologists p robably d o n ot a dd v ery much t o t he s ubstance o f s uch d ebate. T o c laim t hat s uch d ebates a re " relevant" t o a rchaeological a ims j ust b ecause a rchaeologists i ndulge i n t hem i s n o j ustification a t a ll. N B t he m onotonous d ebate c oncerning " scientific s tatus" ( Watson e t a l 1 970 f or o ne v iew ; L ewthwaite 1 986, Y orston, t his v olume f or a nother). T he a im i n 1 985, t herefore w as i nitially t o g ather t ogether a g roup o f p eople w ho f elt t hat t hey w ere w orking w ith t heory, i .e. p ragmatically s olving p articular p roblems, a nd a ttempt t o r efine f rom t hese a ccounts t he s pheres i n w hich t heory " worked". F rom t his c ore o f o pinion, w ith t he a ddition o f p apers b y F letcher a nd H eyworth, a nd R ackham, s ome a ttempt h as b een m ade t o i solate a reas o f i nterest i n t his v olume. T he p apers d ivide i nto f our p rincipal g roupings. I n t he f irst, P ryor, G affney a nd Y orston c onsider t he " problem" f rom a n umber o f a ngles, P ryor a nalyses a nd v oices t he d isquiet t hat m any f eel a bout t he p resent a rchaeological s ituation. Y orston e xamines c ritically o ne s pecific a rchaeological p anacea, t he s cientific m ethod a nd f inds i t, a nd a rchaeological e xpectations, w anting. G affney a ttempts t o t race t he e volution o f a n a lternative p ragmatic a pproach w ithin a s ister d iscipline a nd c onsiders i ts i mplications f or a rchaeology. T he p roblem o f r elevance a nd j ustification i n a n u ncertain w orld a ppears t o b e a r ecurring t heme i n t hese p apers. T he f ollowing

t wo

s ections d eal w ith t he m arket p lace o f a rchaeology

w here t he v alue o f t heory i s t ested. W ardle, F letcher a nd H eyworth a nd R ackham c onsider t he a nalysis o f s pecific t ypes o f a rtefacts a nd e cofacts. A s t he b uilding b locks o f a rchaeology i t i s s urely o f c ritical i mportance t hat o ur a ssumptions a bout t he b asic f acts a re c orrect. I f w e c annot q uantify a rtefacts u sefully ( Fletcher a nd H eyworth, t his v olume), o r t he a ssumptions w e m ake a bout t he i ntrinsic n ature o f t raded c ommodities a re u ncertain, h ow c an w e j ustify t he f antastic s ocial s chemes t outed b y i nnumerable s ynthesists? I n s ome c ases t he d ata b ase m ay p rove t o b e a s m ythical a s m any h ypothesised l ineages. L ikewise R ackham 's d iscussion o f a rchaeozoological d ata p rovides g rounds f or c oncern a bout o ur p resent a bility t o r econstruct p ast e conomies. M uch o f t he e soteric a rgument p resent w ithin c ontemporary d ebate m ay b e a c ase o f r unning b efore w e c an w alk .

i n

H eron a nd G affney, S cott a nd G affney a nd H ingley d evelop t he d ebate t he l arger f ield. T he u se o f g eophysics i n a n a nalytical r ole i s

d iscussed b y H eron a nd G affney a nd c an b e s een a s a r eaction a gainst t he r estrictive n ature o f p ast g eophysical w ork a nd a n a ppeal f or a c ontextual r ole f or g eophysics. T he l ack o f a rchaeological c ontext f or

2

s pecialist

p ackages w ithin t he a rchaeological

f ramework i s a n otorious

p roblem. T oo m any p owerful t echniques o f a nalysis u sed b y a rchaeologists n ever f ulfill t heir p otential s imply b ecause a rchaeologists d on 't u nderstand t hem. T he r ole o f t he s pecialist w ill r emain a p roblem a rea f or a rchaeology a s l ong a s a ccountability a re m aintained. s pecialists d ue t o t his p roblem w ill w ill

c hange

w ell

a s

( Kenwood

T he r ole o f G affney

i n

' Historical

r econstruction?

s ettlement d ata a nd c oncentrating

i n

s pecific

t he m ost R ecord',

a

o r

T he

s ampling

e legance o f method T he f inal a rguments i ts

s ection a ttempts

t ogether

H owever

v ery

e tc.,

o f

t he

many

W hatever o ne's v iewpoint i t

t he

i mplementation

must

b e r ealised

o f t hat

i s n ot e nough.

n ature

t o d raw t he

i n a " manifesto

a s Y orston e t a l c omment, B y

r eflective o f

r esearch d esigns,

s trategies,

A ge

T he

t o a rchaeologists.

t he r igour o f g ood

p robabilistic

a

i n

I ron

a spect

t he i nquiry d emands a c ritical a ppraisal

c oncerning

o f

c ontextual

i mplications o f

o pen

h indrance

t heme i n t hese p apers.

t heory

o ptions

s ignificant

a nd

t heory a nd s ettlement d ata

i nterpretative a nalytical

a

h elp

t heory i s e ssentially

c ontext.

i s

i s d ebated b y S cott

i ntegration

o n t he r elationship o f

r egional

i nformation a s

t raditionalist o f s pheres,

H ingley's

i nterpretative

w ork,

g overning

i rritation o f t his s ituation

w ould b e m ost w elcome.

a s a n a rtefact

c ontext o f o ne o f T he

a rchaeological

' rules'

T he a dded a rchaeological r elations,

t he w ritten w ord

t he

v illa s tudies.

a

1 983).

t he c hange i n w orking

t he

T he i ncreasing s urely m ean t hat

i s n ot,

p ragmatism

t hreads

f rom

s ome

f or p ragmatic a rchaeology".

a nd n ever c an b e, c an

n ever

a f inal

a chieve

o f

t he T his,

s tatement.

s uch p recision.

i t d oes b egin t o d efine w hat w e a s a rchaeologists

s hould e xpect

f rom a h umanistic s tudy s uch a s a rchaeology. T he s hort c ontribution b y B radley i s a n a cknowledgement t hat t he i deas e xpressed i n t he v olume h ave

t o b e j udged b y o thers.

B IBLIOGRAPHY

K enwood,H., p ublications

1 983 - " Who b lows t he w histle? R efereeing a nd e diting o f i n e nvironmental a rchaeology" C ircaea V ol.1, p p.34-7.

L ewthwaite,J.G.,

1 986 - " Archaeologists i n

a cademe:

a n

i nstitutional

c onfinement?", p p.52-87 i n J .L.Bintliff & C .F.Gaffney ( Eds) A t T he I nterface. B AR S 300, O xford. P ryor,F., V ol.2(2),

1 983 - " Talking p p.98-100.

W atson,P.S., A rchaeology : P ress,

H eads"

S cottish

A rchaeology

A rchaeological

R eview,

L eBlanc,S.A . a nd R edman,C.L., 1 971 - E xplanation i n a n E xplicitly S cientific A pproach. C olumbia U niversity

N ew Y ork & L ondon.

3

P RAGMATIC AND D IDACTIC:

S OME T HOUGHTS O N T HE

C HANGING S TRUCTURE O F B RITISH ARCHAEOLOGY

F rancis P ryor

I w ill s tart w ith a n i nvented e xample o f a t ype o f l etter t hat I a m r eceiving w ith i ncreasing f requency. Y ou must i magine i t s crawled i n s mudgy b allpoint o n a t orn-off l eaf

f rom a n e xercise b ook.

"Archaeology D ept., T he U niversity, B orchester. ( No d ate) D ear M iss P rior, I w ill b e t aking my f inals n ext y ear a nd r equire f our w eeks o f f ield e xperience i n o rder t o g raduate.

Iw ondered w hether

I c ould

p eriod w orking a t y our N eolithic

s pend

t his

s ite a t E ton.

I

d o n ot e nclose a s tamped a ddressed e nvelope.

Y ours e tc." M y

n ormal

r eply

f or a m inimum o f c orrespondence.

t o s uch e nquiries

s ix w eeks - a nd H and-in-hand w ith

s tates t hat w e o nly t ake p eople

t hat i nvariably t erminates t he l etters o f t his s ort w e h ave

w itnessed a g rowing n umber o f ' no s hows' p roject, b ut t hen n ever t urn u p), a nd d ifficult t he

t o a ttract g ood,

f act

t hat

a rchaeologically, b read I

o ur

( people w ho a gree t o j oin t he i n g eneral a re f inding i t more

e xperienced e xcavators s ites

a re

b ecoming

a nd

b etter

a nd o ur r ates o f p ay a re i mproving

t his a nd

d espite b etter

( to j ust b elow t he

l ine). h ave

d iscussed

t his

p roblem

5

w ith

o ther

p rofessional

f ield

a rchaeologists, T heoretical

s ome o f w hom a ttribute

A rchaeology.

N ow

i t

b efore

l argely y ou

t o

t he

g rowth

o f

s lam t he b ook s hut w ith a

j ustifiable s nort o f d erision, l et u s e xamine t his p oint more c losely. I f w e s ubstitute a n o ld f ashioned t erm, A rmchair A rchaeology, f or t he m aligned T heory,

t hen t he e xplanation b egins

a ll,

p ossible

p erfectly

h aving

t o

a s

s he

i s

t rue;

i t i s,

a fter

I n f act

I a m d oing

i t

a t

t his

S o l et u s n ow l ook m ore c losely a t A rmchair A rchaeology,

p resently p ractised

f or

t o r ing

s tudy a nd e njoy a rchaeology w ithout e ver

t urn a s od o r w alk a f ield.

v ery i nstant. n ame

t o

t he

p urpose);

( and

I

Iw ill g ive

w ill

A rchaeology a nd h opefully r ound

t hen

t he

h er

c ontrast

a

b etter-sounding

i t

w ith

P ragmatic

t hing o ff w ith a f ew c onclusions.

D idactic A rchaeology H ad t he

t he p athetically s mall l ist o f c urrent e xcavations

n orm

a ppeared

i n t he C BA C alendar i n,

s ay,

1 975,

h ave b een u proar i n m ost u niversity a rchaeology t he

s ilence

t hat n ow g reets t he h andful

c aused b y t he r ise o f T heory a lone? c redit.

O n

i ncrease c hanging a nd A

o ther

h and,

i n t he v olume o f

w itnessed t hat

t he

i n

B ritain p opular

i n c ertain c ases

t o

p oint

o ut

p rofession.

r eady t o a ccept

I f ind

m ight

i deas

t he

t hem.

o r

w orld

( and

i s

p aradigms

h ard

c an

t hat

o f

t he

w e t o a

t heory

f or a t l east a d ecade, s eminal

w ork,

t o q uote K uhn I t rust, f loat

t he r elevant

t o

t he d ramatic

r eading)

C ertainly m ost

I d o n ot h ave

- o r

B ut

t hat

s ay t hat

f or l onger ( I t hink o f W .W.Taylor's 1 948).

n ow

1 970's w as a r esponse

t hen h ad b een i n e xistence

t hat

u ntil

d epartments.

t heoretical w riting

S tudy o f A rchaeology o f

u nregarded

c ynic

i n t he m id a nd l ater

( and c ontracting)

b ecame

i s

o f a nnounced e xcavations r eally

I must a dmit

a

t hat

t hen t here w ould

a round

p art o f

T here a re n umerous e xamples o f

l argely

t he w orld - i s

t his

-

p erhaps

G regor M endel's p ioneering w ork o n g enetics i s t he b est-known c ase. T o r eturn t o t he m atter a t h and, h owever, i f o ne i s o nly g oing t o s tudy a s ubject f or t hree y ears a t u niversity, a nd h as n o i ntention o f t aking i t u p p rofessionally ( archaeology i s n ot u nique i n t his r espect: L aw o r E nglish a re o ther g ood b road, g eneralist v iew o f

e xamples), t hen i t m akes s ense t o t ake a v ery t he s ubject. I n s uch c ircumstances i t r eally

d oes n ot matter t oo much i f t his v iew i s r ooted i n d ata - o r n ot. I t i s e ducation ( for L ife) t hat matters; i n t his r egard a rchaeology d oes r ather s lant,

w ell: i t b ut n one

c oincidence S o

i s a h eterogeneous d iscipline w ith a g ood t he l ess c learly s till a h umanity.

t hat o ur

f uture K ing

t o r eturn t o a n e arlier

t o b lame f or r ather

w e

c hose t o r ead

p oint:

t he m alaise a fflicting a re

s eeing

a

T heory a lone ( if a t a ll ? )

e xtent, e ach

t o

t he

s ubject

t here

m ay

b e

e ach o ther's

p urpose a nd

p roblems

n oted

I

a t

i n i t;

s chools

o f a rchaeology,

i ndeed,

i n a c reative f ashion,

r ole; i f

m ixture

i ncludes

s yntheses,

t he

t his

s light

g iven g oodwill i ntegral

s ociology/anthropology

a nd

o f

t hey

i s

t he

p aper.

o f

o n o f t he

t ension

b etween

t he

t wo

t o b e h arnessed

o n b oth s ides.

a nd

i mportant p art r eviews,

s ubject,

i ncreasingly

6

i mpinge

c ause

o f

B ritish u niversities;

t he

t o a n

I s ee n othing v ery

r eleased o ught

r egional/geographical h istory

( D.A .)

t o a m isunderstanding

I a m s ure, o f

i s

p resently t aught a t m ost

d idactic d efined a nd,

t he p oint w here

t his,

s tart

a nd

b etter

t ension d ue

t he e nergy t hus

G eneral T heory f orms a n i s

A t

t here

( P.A .)

b ecoming

s light

t he

s inister

a s i t

a re

m ore mutually e xclusive.

o ther

i s n ot

a rchaeology,

i n t he o rganisation a nd p ractice o f

a rchaeology i n B ritain i n w hich p ragmatic a pproaches

i t a t C ambridge.

p arts o f B ritish f ield

c hange

s cientific I t i s n o

s imple -

a rchaeology

t he r est o f t he

s elected s cience,

s imple

p eriod s imple

p hilosophy.

I ncidentally, I d o n ot w ant t he w ord ' simple' t o b e d erogatory, b ut g iven t he l ength o f t he c ourse, a nything m uch m ore c omplex t han A -level i nvolvement c an ( and s ometimes d oes) l ead t o i mbalance. G iven t he n umber o f a ncillary o r r elated f ields o f k nowledge r equired, ' pure ' a rchaeology, w hether F ield o r T heory c annot b e t aught a t much m ore t han A -level i tself. I n a ddition t o t he l ecture/laboratory w ork, a f ield t rip m ight b e a dded f or g ood m easure, b ut b y a nd l arge a ll s ources o f i nformation a re s econdary. e xcellent e ducation f or L ife,

T his a pproach t o t he s ibject p rovides a n b ut I d o n ot f eel t hat i t i s, b y i tself,

a lways a n a ppropriate t raining f or a p rofessional ( =Pragmatic) a rchaeologist, w ho r equires a g reat d eal m ore s traight f actual b ackground i f h e o r s he i s t o f unction a t a ll a dequately i n t he r eal w orld, w here d ecisions a re h ard a nd f ast a nd w here m istakes c annot r eadily b e r ectified. D idactic u niversities,

a rchaeology h as b een s uccessfully t aught a t B ritish a s w itnessed b y t he s tudent e nrolment f igures a nd t he

g enerally g ood s howing o f a rchaeology d epartments d uring t he p resent y ears o f C ut a nd R etrenchment. I t s hould r etain i ts b road a ppeal a nd i ts g eneral a pproach , f or w ithout i t t he s ubject w ill s oon l ose i ts s ocial r elevance a nd w ider a ppeal. I t i s n ot, h owever, c onfined t o t he s chool, c ollege, c ampus, c ourt o r q uad: i t m ay b e ' taught' i nformally a nd r eceived w ith e normous p leasure a nd s atisfaction ( and I a m n ot b eing s arcastic), b y m eans o f p opular b ooks, m agazines a nd o ther m edia. I ndeed, p unditry ( of t he T V a nd c offee t able s ort) i s v ery much a p art o f t he D .A . w orld, a nd l ong m ay i t f lourish; a gain, w ithout i t t he s ubject a s a w hole w ill s uffer w here i t c ounts: i n t he m inds o f t he p ublic a t l arge. T here a re, h owever, p roblems a s r egards t he t raining o f p rofessional a rchaeologists-to-be. D idactic A rchaeology i s b y d efinition v ery p ositive a nd o ptimistic i t h as t o b e o r i t w ould s oon v anish f rom t he c urricula o f most i nstitutions. I t l ays e mphasis o n p attern a nd p urpose, t he d evelopment o f s ocial s ystems a nd s o o n. O ne g ets t he i mpression t hat a nything i deologies, r ules o f m arriage, t enurial s ystems - c an b e r ecovered f rom t he s oil p rovided o ne h as e quipped o neself w ith t he r ight m ental model w ell i n a dvance. T aphonomic a nd o ther p roblems o f i nterpretation, s o S chiffer w ould h ave u s b elieve, a re m ere t echnical p roblems t hat c an b e r emoved b y d efinition o f t he a ppropriate t ransform - a nd s o f orth. I n s hort, a rchaeology i s m ade t o s eem e xciting, r elevant, a ttractive, b ut a bove a ll s traightforward. O ne c an a rgue a s much a s o ne l ikes a bout t he f irst t hree, b ut s traightforward i t m ost c ertainly i s n ot. P ragmatic A rchaeology P rofessional a rchaeology i s p ragmatic a rchaeology o r i t i s n othing. T here i s n o c onflict b etween i t ( P.A .) a nd D .A .; t here a re m erely d ifferences o f e mphasis: P .A . s tresses p roblems a nd p itfalls, d istortions a nd d ifficulties; i t e schews n aive o ptimism. I t s ounds p retty g risly, b ut i t i s n ot - a t l east n ot a lways. T he a rchaeological p ragmatist ( and I c are n ot f or t he s trict d efinition o f t he w ord i n o ther c ontexts) i s c oncerned w ith p rimary d ata i n a ll i ts h orror a nd g lory. T o d o t his h e o r s he r equires a s trong t heoretical b ackground a nd a g ood g rounding i n r elated s ciences a nd o ther s pecialist s ubjects. S uperficial k nowledge a nd n aive o ptimism h ave n o p lace h ere. O n s ome p arts o f t he C ontinent ( in H olland f or e xample) a rchaeology i s ( or w as u ntil v ery r ecently) o nly t aught a t a p ost-graduate l evel a nd I t hink t here i s m uch t o b e s aid f or t he s ystem. S peaking f rom p ersonal e xperience, o ur D utch e xcavators b rought a m aturity a nd s anity t o t heir

7

work that was occasionally lacking in one or two of their precocious, high-flying (and sadly know-it -all) British students. archaeology is, of course, far more than field Professional archaeology alone, but I can only write with any conviction of my own experience. For what it is worth, however, good conservators, museum curators, environmental archaeologists and records officers also require a very strong factual background and a down-to-earth, pragmatic view of the subject. In some of these specialities post-graduate special courses are required (eg the Museums Association AMA Examination), but this still does not apply to the f ield archaeologist or the records of f icer (archaeologist). Pragmatic Archaeology differs markedly in its emphasis from Didactic Archaeology, as it is presently taught in Britain. As field projects continue to decline in number, and work experience becomes harder to acquire, professional practices and standards may soon have to be taught at a post-graduate level. If and when such courses come into existence I trust that they will not be devoted to field techniques alone: theory and practice cannot be allowed to march to different drummers, as they sometimes do today. Post-graduate degrees or diplomas in field archaeology would, in effect, be qualifications in pragmatic archaeology - wherein we see the much looked for integration of theory and practice, or as I would sometimes prefer it: the archaeology of the possible. Conclusions I have now argued that in Britain, and I suspect elsewhere (North America perhaps), archaeology already exists in two forms which I have labelled for convenience pragmatic and didactic. Pragmatic more or less equates with professional; didactic with academic and amateur. The coupling of academic and amateur is not meant to imply that the former is in any way inept, but rather that they share a common Incidentally, approach to the subject: broad, generalist, optimistic. the 'amateur' is changing: the stalwart Fell-walking woolly-hatted visitor to remote megaliths or abbeys is still, I am delighted to say, going strong; he or she has now been joined by a vastly bigger group of real Armchair Archaeologists, who take their archaeology from the TV pundits, popular books and so on. The latter group are not satisfied with rubbish: if a TV documentary is bad television, they will reject it; if a book is poorly or inadequately illustrated they will reject it too. They demand that their evidence is properly presented and they see no special merit in walking across ten miles of moor to get it. I can entirely sympathise with them. The two types of 'amateur' differ fundamentally in their commitment to the subject: the woolly hats are stalwarts to the end, the Armchairs are liable to take up something else if the subject loses its appeal. The Armchairs, however, rule the ratings and the marketplace; they therefore ultimately determine the direction of didactic archaeology - even of formally taught didactic archaeology, since student enrolment is necessarily a reflection of current educated opinion. Pragmatic Archaeology is very different in its emphasis, even if certain technical and theoretical aspects are the same. It is far less optimistic, it is deliberately myopic, and can at times seem straight tedious. Yet it is the base upon which didactic archaeology, both formal and informal, is formed. Lose it, and one returns to Ley Lines and similar gibberish.

8

T he p oint o f

t he p aper i s

t hat

t he

t wo b ranches o f

s lowly d rawing a part; t hey w ill n ever, I t rust, l ose a re u nited b y a c ommon i nterest i n T heory, w hich i s b inds

t he

d iffer

i n e mphasis a nd

w hole

t ogether.

A dmittedly

o ptimism,

m any i mportant p oints i n c ommon. I t hink i t i s f ast a pproaching), c ease.

W hen

p ost-graduate A rchaeology.

t hat

h appens,

w orking

w e

t he

t hey must,

a re

t ouch b ecause t he c ement

t hey t hat

t wo v iews o f T heory may n one

t he

l ess,

h ave

T here w ill, h owever, c ome a t ime ( and w hen t he t endency t o d iverge w ill

i t

w ill b ecome e ssential

t o

f ormalise a

t raining i n ( for t he p urposes o f t his p aper) P ragmatic I w ould l ike t o s ee a s cheme b ased o n s andwich c ourses

w here w ork e xperience a nd t his,

b ut

a rchaeology

s hould

h ave

t raining a re p roperly i ntegrated. m ore

f ield

u nits

A llied

t o

a nd u niversity d epartments

t ogether f ar m ore c losely.

A lready b oth P ragmatic a nd i dentities,

b ut

t hey

must

D idactic d epend

o n

a rchaeologists e ach o ther f or

h ave

s eparate

s ustenance a nd

s timulus, e ven i f e ither o r b oth a re t oo i gnorant ( or p ig-headed) t o a ppreciate t he f act. I t w ill b e v ery t edious a nd d estructive i f t hey d rift much f urther a part.

c l

P RAGMATISM:

A W ORKING P HILOSOPHY

C .F.Gaffney

D uring a ny p eriod

o f a pparent a usterity i t

i nstitutions w hich c ontinue t heir

s ituation.

p roblem,

T he

f act

o r r ather a f acet,

p hilosophy

i s

r egarded

a ddress p roblems a nd A lthough

n ot

p hilosophy

t hat

C learly, P roblems',

t he

w ithin

s uggested d efines

o f

a

p articular

T his

a nd

i s

i s

t he

k nowledge

o f

t erms

l aws

o r

t hat

i nvestigation,

s uch

i mplementation

o f

t heories.

' Pragmatists

c oncepts

I n p ragmatism, a re

b asic

r esearch t opics.

i n

o f t heir

t he r esolution

p .515). P refer P ractical

a lthough t his d oes n ot p reclude t he u sefulness o f

g eneral

t hought.

" ...position

i n

t o a djustment a nd

( Beck 1 969,

a dage

l ine

f lexible i deas t hat

a u seful d efinition h as b een

t hat p ragmatism

w ith r eference

u seful

p hilosophy.

t hought,

m eaning

t o

t erm i s o ften u sed l oosely i s a

o f a f lexible

s ituations"

a

t hat b odies o r

b y p ragmatists a s a s et o f r elated s chool

f unction i n e xperience, o f p roblematic

i s o ften s aid

f lourish h ave r eacted " pragmatically" t hat

i ssues

a f ormal

g iven b y B eck, w ho

o r

t o

t o

a s

i n a ny

t he

' abstract'

' scientific'

u nderstanding

a nd

A nyone w ho h as p ragmatic l eanings

t herefore d eals w ith t heoretical n otions w hilst i nvestigating p ractical s ituations

( Frazier

A lthough

t he

1 981,

r oots

w ith E mpiricist T heory,

o f

t he a t

e mpiricist

p ragmatism l ie f irmly i n a d isillusionment

i t may b e a rgued

a n a malgam o f e mpiricsm, e arly p ragmatists,

p .62).

p ositivism,

w orking

t hat,

i n t he S tates a t t he

i nterpretation o f

i deas a nd

r eductive a nalysis o f mental p henomena

t heory

( Thayer

i mportant

1 968).

T his

t urn

w ere

w eak

a rchaeologists. i s

a

n umber

o f

O ne o f t he mixture

o f

a re

c riteria

p illars

o f

1 1

i t i s T o t he

c entury,

t he a ttempt i n

a nd

i nherently

b e

o f

r elevance

p ragmatism

i s

t hat

c oncerning

t hat

i n a n umber o f

' pragmatism '.

d ifficult may

k nowledge a nd e rror;

p hilosophies c arry s imilar s tatements

t he

p oints

d isillusionment r esulted

A lthough t he c oncepts o f p ragmatism a

o f

s ense d ata a nd

s tatements t hat c ollectively a re k nown a s

r edefinable, r eality

i n i ts f inal f orm,

D arwinism a nd H egelianism.

i t i s t he

t rue

t o

c urrent

t hat o ther

u ncertainty

o f

m atters

o f

f act.

t hat t here i s o bservation a nd c ertain i s

O f c ourse

l imitations.

t hat

t his i s a d irect

r eaction t o

t he a rgument

a mechanical u niverse, o ne w here t he g oal o f t he i nterpretation o f d eterministic l aws i s a chieved w ithin T he

s implified a rgument a gainst

t he m ore p recise y our measurement

i rregularities

f rom

t he

l aw,

a nd

t he

t hat

s uch d eterminism

g reater

y ou

w ill

s ee

t he b lur o f measurement i s a

matter o f t he o bserver's l imitation r ather t han t he i nconsistency o f measured m agnitudes ( Schleffler 1 974). O verall t he a rgument s uggests t hat a ny d eviations a re t he r esult o f o ur t hat n ature i tself i s F ollowing

o n

f rom

f allibilistic v iew o f " changes"

i gnorance a nd d o n ot

t he

p ragmatic

k nowledge.

r esulting

i n

a

d efinition

T his

t heory

o f

s uggests

o r

r eality

t hat

t hen t he u nderlying a ssumptions a nd h ypotheses,

c ourse,

s hould

c hecked

a nd

w hen

i s

t he

r eality

p rediction g aining n o p ositive

s upport,

b e

s uggest

i ntrinsically i mperfect.

modifications

a s am atter o f

made w here n ecessary.

I ndeed r esulting f rom t his a cknowledgement i s t hat t here i s n o g uarantee t hat o ne w ill e ver f ormulate t he c orrect a ssumptions a nd h ypotheses r equired t o p redict a ccurately. H owever, s uch a ssumptions c orrect o r n ot, m ay s till f unction i n a n e fficient r ational i nvestigation. B ecause o f t his f allibilty t here i s a n ecessity f or t he c onstant r evaluation o f u nderlying a ssumptions a nd l aws. U ndoubtedly t he m ost i mportant i nterpretational a spect o f p ragmatic t hinking, a nd p robably t he o ne o f m ost u se i n a p ractical s ubject, i s t hat o f c ontextualism.

I t

i s a c oncept

s hould b e c onsciously a dhered w hat

i s

e xperienced a nd h ow,

r elative

t o a

c ontext

c ontextualism a n

o bject t o

i s

s imple,

t oo

e xperience

W hen

t o

t herefore a ll

t o

e xample,

t o

p sychologist

w hilst

a

b e

i s

w hen a p ragmatist i s

s uggest

n o

p roposed

a bout

p roblem.

c onfronted

a nd

A s w ith

t he e xistence

w hat

i t

a ctually

t hat w e

o nly

k now

I t

t hings

b y

O ur e veryday

( Thayer

1 968,

b ut n evertheless

p p.353-354).

F or

i t m ay b e a s timulus o bject o r a p hallic

t o a t heoretical

s ubatomic

p articles.

d escribed w ithin c ertain t here

a rgument

' pen'

a ' pen', many d ifferent,

w ill

w hat i s

t he

t hat w e k now i s e xperience.

d escribe

v iews

o f

c lassic

i nvolves f amiliarity w ith o bjects a nd p ortions o f t he w orld.

a sked

s ymbol,

t hat

i s d ependent u pon e xperience a nd c ontext.

a nd n egative,

a nd

i s a rgued

a re u nderstandable

t hen h e o r s he w ill a cknowledge

c orrect,

g roup

T he

H ow t hat o bject i s i nterpreted

t he p ragmatist

e xperience

i ntuitively c orrect a nd

s aid a nd h ow,

1 968).

r eality may b e,

s uch a s a p en,

t he o bject.

means

w hat i s

( Thayer

t hat i s

V ia c ontextualism i t

i n t he p ragmatic l iterature i s o f

f allibilistic a s o f

t o.

p hysicist i t m ay b e a r andomly o riented A ssuming

' specialists'

p roof o f a ' falsehood'

t hat

c ontexts,

t he

i n e very c ontext.

i mportant p ragmatically i s n ot a

o bject

t hen

w orthless

may

w e

m ay

b e

a ssume

I n s uch a c ase,

d ebate

c oncerning

t he ' best f it' b etween c ontexts, b ut r ather w hat t he g rounds a re, a nd h ow a ssumptions a re p roved t o b e v alid, w ithin r espective c ontexts. C learly

i f i t

i s a bsurd

t o

t hink i n

t erms o f a ' correct'

c ontext,

t hen

t he s ystem o r c ontext o ne c hooses t o w ork w ithin must s imply b e a f unction o f o ne o r o ther o f o ur o verall p urposes a nd i nterests. P ragmatically, t he o verall i deology, o r ' controlling m odel' t hat i s o f i nterest

t o

t he

i nteractionalist m anner

r esearch

w orker,

i s i mmaterial;

i n w hich t he

t heory i s

what

p roposed

b e

i t

i s

i mportant,

s tructuralist, m arxist, h owever,

i s

a nd h ow a t a p ractical l evel

o r t he a ny

h ypotheses a re t ested. A s t he c ontext, a nd h ence t he p arameterisation, i s i ntrinsically t heory d ependant, i t i s u ltimately t he c areful c hoice o f c ontext w hich i s i mportant.

1 2

I n t he e xecution o f p ractical p roblem s olving

w e

must

t ake

g reat

c are i n a voiding c onfusing c ontexts; t he a pproaches a nd p arameters t hat a re r elevant a nd j ustified p ragmatically f or a p articular c ontext may b ear n o r elationship t o t hose t hat a re j ustified i n a nother. W hen i t i s s uggested t hat w e must e fficiently p arameterise h ypotheses, o ne must n ot

i magine

t hat

t he

p ragmatist

w ill

s imply l ocate d ata t hat w ill

u phold h is o r h er i deas. R ather, e fficient p arameterisation i nvolves t he c areful c hoosing o f c ontexts a nd t he e xperience, o r k nowledge, c oncerning t he f orm t hat i nformation must b e c ollected i n i f s uch d ata w ill o ffer i nsights t o o ur p roblem. D ata t hat i s c ollected f or d iscussion o f a t opic w ithin a s pecific c ontext m ay h ave n o r elevance t o a nother c ontext. I n t he p ragmatic j argon, i f u nsuitable d ata i s w edged i nto a c urrent t heory, t hen a ' confusion o f c ontexts' i s s aid t o r esult. I n many w ays t he a pparent j ustification o f c ommonsense b y p ragmatists m ay a ppear t rivial. T he s tatements o n e xperience a nd c ontext a re p art o f a p ositive a pproach t o r ealism. I t c an b e a rgued t hat t he a bility t o a ccount f or e xperience i n a c onsistent a nd u seful m anner i s n ot o nly w orthwhile,

b ut i s n ecessary t o c onduct r igorous a nd

e fficient r esearch. W ithin t raditional p ragmatic p hilosophy i t i s a rgued

t hat

t he

s o-

c alled s cientific m ethod p rovides t he m ost l ucrative a venues f or t heory v alidation. I ncreasingly s uch a m ethod h as b een a ttacked a s u nrepresentative o f s cientific r esearch ( see Y orston, t his v olume). W hilst t he a cceptance o f s uch a n a rgument m ay h ave s erious i mplications f or a rchaeology ( Gaffney 1 986), s uch a b elief s imply c hanges t he p ragmatic v iew r ather t han d estroys i ts a pplicability. A fter a ll, t he s cientific m ethod i s o nly c onsidered a s t he ' best' m ethod t o d ate; p ragmatism s hould b e c apable o f r esponding t o a ny m ethod, a s i t i s t o a ny i deology. F lexibility i s a k ey c oncept w ithin a p hilosophy t hat w orks i n p ractice r ather t han t heory. A c ase s tudy i n p ragmatism: " The q uestion o f m ethods o f d istinctly

s econdary.

I

C hicago s ociology u nder R .E.Park i nvestigation t hink

w e

i s

s hould

i mportant,

b ut

i t

i s

a ssume t hat w e c an s tudy

a nything i n r egard t o w hich w e n eed k nowledge. I t i s i mportant t hat w e e mploy t he b est m ethods s uch a s t hey a re... . if w e a re t o s ucceed i n g etting a m ore a ccurate, o bjective, i ntelligible s tatement a bout t he m atter t han a nyone e lse, w e m ay c ount t he r esults o f o ur i nvestigations a s s cience. S cience i s n ot a c eremonial matter, a s s ome r everent s ouls s eem t o t hink." ( R .E.Park q uoted i n M atthews

1 977,

p 179)

T he s eminal w ork i n p ractical p ragmatic t erms w as d one i n C hicago i n t he 1 920's, w hen, u nder R obert P ark, a n umber o f e thnographic s tudies o f C hicago w ere u ndertaken. I n k eeping w ith t he r eligious f unding o f A merica 's f irst s ociology d epartment, P ark h ad e xperience o f r eformist g roups, w orking i n S outhern B lack r ights, a s w ell a s b eing a n i nvestigative j ournalist. I t w as a s a j ournalist t hat P ark h ad e xperimented w ith d istribution m aps, w hich w ere t aken u p a s a m ajor r esearch t ool. " The o utcome o f t he a ccumulating k nowledge o f t his s ort w as a s eries o f c orrelative s tudies u sing a bstracted q uantitative d ata, n ot t he m anner o f c onceptualisation a nd r esearch w hich a nthropologists u sually f avour. I n S ociological u rban e cology, s uch m ethodology b ecame i ncreasingly d ominant, n ot c hanging f undamentally, a s l ater s cholars t ried t o r econstruct t he p erspective s o a s t o a void s ome e arly C hicago e rrors." ( Hannerz 1 980, p .29). O f c ourse, t his i s n ot t rue i n t erms o f e xplicit t heory, n or s hould i t b e.

1 3

T he s chool's w ork c an b e d escribed a s a nalytical r ather t han s imply d escriptive. T he ' model' s ituation t hat t he s chool w as f ortunate e nough t o s tudy g rew o ut o f t he n ew c ity o f C hicago. T he i mmigrant a daption, t he b ehavioural p atterns t hat w ere p art o f t he c ontinuing h ostility a nd t he t ension o f ' competing' e thnic g roups w ere t reated a s o bjective p henomena t hat w ere t o b e e xplained ( Faris 1 967). P ark s tressed t he n eed t o c onceive t heory t hat h ad i mplications i n t he r eal w orld. T he f irst s kill t hat C hicago s ociologists w ere e xpected t o m aster w as " ....to o bserve a nd r ecord t heir o wn o bservations; t o r ead a nd t hen s elect a nd r ecord t he materials w hich a re t he f ruits o f t heir r eadings; t o o rganise a nd u se, i n s hort, t heir o wn e xperience." ( Park a nd B urgess 1 921, p p.5-6). N ot o nly d id t he s chool h ave a ll t he t rimmings o f p ragmatism a s d escribed a bove, b ut t hey s aw t heir w ork a s b eing o f g reat i mportance t o f uture g enerations. F razier ( 1981) h as s uggested t hat t his i s a c lassic a ttribute o f p ragmatism, a lthough i n a rchaeological s pheres s uch i dealistic d ogma o f t he s ixties h as q uickly r eceded a s i t h as b een r ealised h ow l imited m any o f o ur " laws" a re. T he f act t hat t he s chool's w ork w as r egarded a s a nalytical r ather t han d escriptive m ay b e b est u nderstood b y a s mall i llustration. B urgess p ostulated t hat t he C ity o f C hicago m ay b e v iewed a s a s eries o f c oncentric r ings, w ith a b usiness i ndustrial a nd r esidential b elts, t hese a reas.

T hrasher

c ore ( the ' loop') s urrounded b y w ith z ones o f t ransition i n b etween

i nvestigated

B urgess'

i deas

b y

i dentifying

p articular s ocial g roups, i n t his c ase j uvenile g angs, a nd m apping t heir p osition i n C hicago ( Thrasher 1 927). A lthough b y t oday's r igorous

s tandards

T hrasher's r eporting m ethods a re p oor,

i t i s c lear

t hat h e u sed p articipant o bservation ( he g ained t he c onfidence o f t he g angs b y p erforming m agic t ricks) a s w ell a s s patial m apping. T hrasher's r esults, t hat c an b e s een i n F ig.1, s howed t hat t he g angs d id i ndeed f orm o n t he a lleged i nterstitial a reas, a nd t hat B urgess ' r ings h ad a n e mpirical r eality. T hrasher's w ork i s a c lassic o f i ts k ind i n t hat h e u nderstood t he c ontext o f h is p roblem a nd K new w hat d ata w ould b e a ' measure '

o f t he i nterstitial a reas.

P ragmatism a nd A rchaeology W hereas t he o ther c ontributors a re b est a ble t o p oint t o s pecific c ases o f p ragmatic a rchaeology, i t i s f elt t hat s ome g eneral c omments m ay b e m ade c oncerning s ome o f t he m ost o bvious a venues f or p ragmatism. U ndoubtedly a n i mportant n iche e xists f or p ragmatism w ithin t he r anks o f f ull-time f ield a rchaeology. T he p roblems o f a l imited b udget o ften f orce t he a rchaeologist t o c hange t ack, r eassessing p ractical p roblems a nd a ltering c ollection s trategies a ccordingly. T he ' what' a nd ' how ' t hat d efine t heir c ontext i nvolve s uch q uestions a s ' how c an w e g et e nough f unds t o s tart a p roject ? ' a nd ' what c an w e d o g iven c ertain c ash l imits ? '. M any f ield a rchaeologists c ould j ustifiably s ay t hat t hey p ragmatically a pproach t hese p roblems a nd u ndertake p rojects i n t he most e fficient w ay p ossible,

s imply b ecause a t a c ertain l evel

t hey

h ave d efined a nd s olved a p ractical p roblem. A s imilar p ragmatic a pproach may b e s een t o o ccur w hen ' hard' s cientists w ork o n a pparent a rchaeological p roblems. T he main c riticism t hat i s v oiced b y a rchaeologists a bout much o f t his w ork i s t hat, d uring t he s cientist's r esearch, h e o r s he w ill d evelop a t echnique t hat w ill o nly s olve a t echnical p roblem b ut c ontributes l ittle t o m ainstream a rchaeological m ethod o r t heory. A n e xtension o f s uch w ork, i t m ay b e a rgued, i s t he s pecialist ' package ', w hich i s o ften b anished t o a n a ppendix o r t he d readed m icrofiche b ecause a rchaeologist d oes n ot k now w hat u se i t i s.

1 4

t he

F igure 1 - B urgess' c oncentric c ircles a nd C hicago ( shaded) ( After T hrasher 1 963)

t he l ocation o f g angs i n

•

•

• • •

• • • •

• •

•

\ NI 1

% I I

I

ZONE

I N

I ZONE

/ TRANS IT IO L I

WORK ING MEN 'S

. 0 °

L I GHT AREA › ; u J

A sESTRi cTED r /

AL

1 3 . 1 • ••••

1 5

I V OF

'

I

HO ME1

I

RES I DENT IA L" ZONE

V CO M MUTER ZONE

A s a rchaeologists, p roducing

o ur main p roblem a ppears

t heories

t hat

a re

s o

a bstract

t o b e t hat w e a re e ither

t hat t hey c annot b e

t ested

u sing p resent methods o f i nvestigation o r i nference, o r t hat w e c ollect d ata i n s uch a manner t hat i t i s o f l ittle u se t o t heoreticians. W hilst t here s eems l ittle s ense i n a pportioning b lame, i t d oes s eem w orthwhile t o s earch f or t heory t hat h as r eal i mplications i n t he a rchaeological r ecord. I f t his o ccurs t hen p ragmatism c an o ffer a lmost l imitless o pportunities i n t he s earch f or a rchaeologically m eaningful s tatements. t hen

i t

manner. o ther

I f d ata c an g ive i nformation o n s pecific a spects o f t heory

i s

i mportant

t hat w e u se

T he methodological a nd p hilosophies

' truth'

a voided

o f a s ituation a nd h ow

o perational e xists,

a re

i n

o ught

o ur

p ractical

i t

i n a c hallenging a nd p roductive

i deological i n

c onstraints

p ragmatism.

i ntellectual w orld.

i nherent

What matters

e xperience

P ragmatic

t o b e a r ationalising f actor i n t he

may

b e

A rchaeology, modern

i n

i s t he made i f

a pproach

i t t o

t he p ast. T his r ationalisation s hould n ot b e e quated w ith j ust f unds o r t echniques, b ut a lso w ith t heory a s i t i s p ractised.

B IBLIOGRAPHY B eck,R.N., W inston,

1 969 -

P erspectives

i n

P hilosophy.

H olt,

R inehart

a nd

C handler,

S an

N ew Y ork.

F aris,R .E.L.,

1 967

-

F rancisco ( Reprinted

C hicago

1 970

S ociology

1 920-1932.

- U niversity o f C hicago P ress,

C hicago)

F razier,J.W., 1 981 - ' Pragmatism: G eography a nd t he R eal W orld', p p.617 2, i n M .E. H ilton a nd B .P. H olly ( Eds) T hemes i n G eographic T hought. C room H elm,

L ondon.

G affney,C.F., p p.88-93,

1 986 - ' Explanation a t

i n J .L.

t he M ethod a nd T heory

B intliff a nd C .F.

I nterface.

B AR S 300,

Hannerz,U.,

1 980

G affney ( Eds)

I nterface',

A rchaeology a t

t he

O xford.

- Exploring

t he C ity.

C olumbia U niversity P ress,

N ew

Y ork. J ackson,P.

a nd

A llen a nd U nwin, M atthews,F.H ., a nd

S .J.Smith,

1 977

- Q uest

t he C hicago S chool. a nd

S ociology.

U niversity o f

P ragmatism.

E .W.Burgess,

1 974

T hayer,H.S.,

1 921

-

C hicago P ress,

- F our P ragmatists.

1 968

-

M eaning

B obbs-Merril,

T hrasher,F.M.,

f or a n A merican S ociology:

G eorge

1 963

R obert E .

M cGill-Queen's U niversity P ress,

P ark,R .E.

S cheffler,I.,

1 984 - E xploring S ocial G eography.

L ondon.

-

a nd

I ntroduction

t o

P ark

M ontreal. t he S cience o f

C hicago. H umanities P ress,

A ction:

A

C ritical

N ew Y ork. H istory

o f

N ew Y ork.

T he

U niversity o f C hicago P ress,

G ang: C hicago.

1 6

A S tudy o f

1 ,313 G angs i n C hicago.

T HEORY A ND M ETHOD :

S OME O BSERVATIONS F ROM A S CIENTIST

R .M.Yorston

A bstract I n i mporting s cientific t echniques i nto a rchaeology, s ome h ave a lso s ought t o s muggle i n t he s cientific m ethod. T here a re p roblems h ere, r elating b oth t o t he a ppropriateness o f t he s cientific method i n a s ubject l ike a rchaeology a nd t o t he v alidity o f s uch c oncepts e ven i n t he " hard" s ciences. F or e xample, t he h ypothetico-deductive f ramework p roposed b y s ome p hilosophers o f s cience i s n ot n ecessarily a g ood m odel o f h ow s cience w orks. T his p aper p rovides a n i ntroduction t o s ome c oncepts i n t he p hilosophy o f s cience. T he p roblems o f t heory a nd m ethod a re c onsidered f rom t he v iewpoint o f a r esearch s cientist w ith e xperience i n p hysics a nd c omputer s cience. B y d rawing o n e xperience f rom " hard" s cience i t i s h oped t o s hed f resh l ight o n t he d ebate i n t heoretical a rchaeology.

I ntroduction T he a dvent o f t he N ew A rchaeology h as b rought c ontroversy, a nd p rovoked a d ebate o n t he r elationship b etween t heory a nd p ractice i n a rchaeology. T he r ole o f t he s cientific m ethod i n a rchaeology h as b ecome a n i mportant i ssue. T his p aper i s w ritten f rom t he v iewpoint o f a p hysicist w ith n o d irect e xperience o f a rchaeology. I n t he f ollowing d iscussion, w here r eferences a re m ade t o s cience i t s hould n ormally b e u nderstood t hat p hysics i s m eant. T his c oncentration o n p hysics i s n ot o nly d ue t o t he b ias o f t he a uthor, i t i s a lso h ow p hilosophers o f s cience t end t o t hink: p hysics i s c onsidered t o b e t he m ost ' scientific' o f t he s ciences. A lso, m any o f t he e xamples f rom t he h istory o f s cience a re d rawn f rom t he p eriod o f t he C opernican r evolution. T his i s n ot

1 7

b ecause

t his

p eriod

i s p articularly r epresentative o f t he d evelopment

o f s cience i n g eneral, b ut r ather b ecause i t i s t he p eriod w hich h as b een m ost s tudied b y p hilosophers o f s cience. I s uspect t hat t his i s b ecause p hilosophers f ind t he s cience o f f our h undred y ears a go more c omprehensible t han t he modern v ariety. I t i s m y i ntention i n t his s cience v iew t he

p aper

s cientific method

t o a nd

e xamine

h ow

p hilosophers

t he models w hich h ave b een p roposed t o d escribe h ow s cience w orks. t erms i nductivism, f alsificationism a nd K uhn's p aradigms w ill i ntroduced.

T here

p hysics a nd I t o wn

t hen f ollow s ome c omparisons

a nd

c ontrasts

T he b e

b eween

a rchaeology.

s hould

c onsider

o f

t he i ncreasing s ophistication o f

p erhaps b e s tressed

t hese

r ight,

i ssues:

a nd

s cientists.

o ne

A u seful

t hat most p ractising s cientists n ever

t he p hilosophy o f s cience i s a w hich

r arely

f inds

a p lace

s ubject

i n

t he

i ntroductory t ext i s t hat o f C halmers

i n

i ts

t raining o f ( 1982).

I nductivism I nductivism i s a f ormalisation o f a p opular s tems

l argely

p hysical

f rom

s ciences.

p roceeds

f rom

t he

t his

B asically,

i nductivism i s

i nto

g eneralisation

u niversal l aws.

i s k nown a s

h ave b een o bserved,

t hen i t

i s a lways

o bservations o f s wans w hich s hows p ossible

s cience.

I t

t he

v iew

t hat

s cience

t o u se

T he

p rocedure

i s t rue o f a ll

t rue.

F or

T his

t he c ases w hich

e xample,

t hat a ll o bserved

t he p rinciple o f

i nvolved

t he p rinciple o f i nduction.

p rinciple a sserts t hat i f s ome s tatement

i s

o f

e xperimentally d erived o bservation s tatements w hich a re

s ubsequently g eneralised i n

v iew

i mportance o f e xperimental o bservation i n t he

f rom a s et o f

s wans a re w hite,

i nduction t o a ssert

t hat a ll

i t

s wans

a re w hite. O bviously, t he p rinciple o f i nduction a s d escribed a bove must b e h edged a round w ith s ome r estrictions i f w e a re n ot t o d erive i ncorrect l aws f rom i ncomplete s ets o f o bservations. T he f ollowing t hree c onditions a re t herefore a dded

t o

t he

s tructure o f

i nductivism:

1 .

T he n umber o f o bservations m ade must b e l arge.

2 .

T he o bservations must b e r epeated u nder a v ariety o f c onditions.

3 .

N o a ccepted o bservation s tatement

s hould c onflict w ith t he

d erived u niversal l aw. O nce

a

b ody

o f

g eneral

o bservations i t i s p redictions

o f

l aws

t hen p ossible

t he

r esults

h as t o

o f

b een u se

b uilt u p f rom many c areful

d eductive

l ogic

t o

p roduce

n ew e xperiments a nd e xplanations

f or

o bserved p henomena. T he b asic c riticism

s tructure

o n

a

p roblem o f i nduction: T here

c an

b e n o

o f

n umber

o f

i nductivism g rounds.

h ow c an w e

o utlined F irstly,

j ustify t he

a bove

i s

t here i s

t he

p rinciple

j ustification f rom f ormal l ogic:

s wans w e h ave o bserved

a re w hite

t here

o f

o pen

i nduction?

j ust b ecause a ll

i s n o l ogical

t o

s o c alled t he

r eason w hy a b lack

s wan s hould n ot e xist. F urthermore, a ppeal w ork i n

t o

t he

m echanics,

t he

e xperience.

p rinciple

s tudy o f o ptics, a nd

o f

i nduction c annot b e j ustified b y a n

W e might a rgue i n t he

t hat i nduction h as b een

s tudy o f a stronomy,

i n a ny o f a h uge n umber

18

o f

o ther

i n t he

s ubjects.

s een

t o

s tudy o f P ursuing

t his

l ine

w e

m ight

c laim

i t

i s

s elf-evident

t hat

i nduction

i s

u niversally v alid. B ut t his a rgument i s c ircular, i t a ttempts t o u se t he p rinciple o f i nduction t o p rove i tself. T his p aradox, t he ' problem o f

i nduction ',

w as f irst d emonstrated b y t he p hilosopher D avid H ume i n

t he m id-eighteenth c entury. F aced w ith t he i mpossibility o f a c ast i ron j ustification f or i nduction, s ome p hilosophers, a nd m any s cientists, h ave b een d riven t o r ely o n p robablility. I f l ogically t rue s tatements c annot b e d erived f rom multiple o bservations t hen w e c an a t l east s ay t hat t he l aws w e d erive w ill h ave a h igh p robability o f b eing t rue. T his s tance i s p erfectly a dequate f or s cientists, w ho c an t hen q uite h appily g et o n w ith t heir e xperiments a nd c alculations w ithout h aving t o t rouble t hemselves a gain w ith p hilosophy. P hilosophers a re l ess e asily p leased, a nd s ome h ave e xpended g reat e fforts i n a ttempting t o f ormalise a p robabilistic

i nductivism,

b ut w ithout much s uccess.

A dditional, m ore p ractical p roblems a rise b ecause o f t he g reat s tress w hich i nductivism p laces o n t he i mportance o f o bservation. I n p articular, i f w e a re t o p lace o ur f aith i n o bservations w e must h ave s ome c onfidence i n t he methods u sed t o o btain t hose o bservations. A c ase i n p oint h ere i s t he u se o f t he t elescope b y G alileo a nd h is s ubsequent d iscovery o f t he m oons o f J upiter. T he t elescope w as a v ery n ew d evelopment a t t hat t ime a nd t he p rinciples o f i ts o peration w ere s till u nclear. C ontemporary o bservers u sing G alileo 's e quipment d isagreed o n w hat t hey w ere s eeing w ith i t, a nd w hether t he i mages t hey s aw c ould e ven b e a ccepted a s v alid o bservations. T he s kills o f t he o bserver c an a lso p lay a n i mportant p art i n t he r esults o btained. I h ave e xperienced t his p henomenon myself o n a v isit t o a n a rchaeological s ite, w here a n a rchaeologist p resent h eld i t t o b e s elf-evident t hat w hat I t ook t o b e a h ole i n t he g round, o f t he s ort t hat t he G as B oard d ig e very d ay, a ctually r epresented t he b uttress o f a c hapel. I e xpect t hat a rchaeologists w ould b e s imilarly c onfounded b y a spects o f p hysics o r c omputing w hich I w ould a ccept w ithout q uestion. I t i s c ertainly n ot t he c ase, a s s ome i nductivists m ight l ead u s t o b elieve, t hat o bservations c an b e made p rior t o t he f ormulation o f t heory. S ome t heory i s a lways r equired t o d evelop t he i nstruments u sed t o make o bservations. T his c an l ead t o t he s ituation w here u ntried a ssumptions must b e t aken o n t rust b efore o bservations c an e ven b e m ade. I f t his u nderlying t heory t urns o ut t o b e w rong t hen t he o bservations o btained w ill b e u nreliable. A n e xample h ere i s t he o bservation o f t he v ariation i n t he a pparent s ize o f V enus. T he o bserved v ariation w as f ound t o b e i nconsistent w ith t he h eliocentric t heories o f C opernicus, t hus c asting d oubt o n t his i mportant t heory. I t w as n ot u ntil much l ater t hat i t w as r ealised t hat a n u nstated a ssumption, t hat t he h uman e ye i s a ccurate a t j udging t he s ize o f s mall l ight

s ources, w as i nvalid.

A m ore s ophisticated i nductivist p osition w ill a dmit t hat p rogress n eed n ot o nly b e m ade b y t he s teady a ccretion o f m ore a nd m ore o bservations. P rogress m ay b e m ade b y a ccident, f lash o f i nspiration o r j ust s heer g enius. E xperiments a re t hen r equired t o t est a nd j ustify t he a ccidental d iscovery, i nspired i nsight o r b rilliant t heory. S cientists a re b rought u p w ith a s ufficient n umber o f a necdotes, l ike K ekule 's d iscovery o f t he r ing s tructure o f b enzene i n a d ream, t o a dmit t his s ophisticated i nductivism a s p art M ost s cientists w ho h ave n ot c onsidered

o f t he

s cientific c ulture. matter f urther w ould

p robably a ccept s ophisticated i nductivism u nquestioningly.

1 9

T he a pplication o f i nductivism t o a rchaeology h as s pecial p roblems. I n p articular, w e may p oint t o t he n eed f or a l arge n umber o f o bservations a nd t heir r epeatability. I n a s ubject w hose r aw m aterials a re i n s hort s upply, w here t he m ost p ublicly v isible a rtefacts a re o ften u nique, a nd w here n o o ne s ettlement o r e xcavation i s t he s ame a s a ny o ther, i t i s d ifficult t o s ustain d emands f or multiple, i ndependent e xperimental t ests o f t heories. F alsificationism F alsificationism e levates t o p aramount i mportance t he

l ast

o f

t he

t hree c riteria f or i nductivism , t hat n o a ccepted o bservation s tatement s hould c onflict w ith a d erived l aw. T he f alsificationist a ccepts t heories o nly a s s peculative, a nd s ays t hey must b e t ested a gainst o bservation a nd e xperiment. T here i s l ogical s upport f or t his s tance w hich w as n ot a vailable t o t he i nductivist. B y t he p roduction o f a c ounterexample t o a p ostulated l aw i t i s a lways p ossible t o d emonstrate i ts c onverse. T hus, t he e xistence o f j ust o ne b lack s wan i s s ufficient t o d emolish t he i nductivist's ' all s wans a re w hite' a nd r eplaces i t w ith t he f alsificationist's

a

' not a ll s wans a re w hite'.

T he f alsificationist s tance a lso l eads t o i deas o n w hat c onstitutes ' good' t heory w hich a re q uite l acking i n i nductivism. T he

f alsificationist d emands t hat t heories s hould b e f alsifiable. T hat i s, t hat c ounterexamples t o t heoretical p redictions c ould l ogically e xist, a nd t hat s tatements i n t he t heory a re n ot s o v ague a s t o a dmit a ny c onstruction i n t he l ight o f e vents. I t w as b y a n a ppeal t o s uch c onsiderations t hat P opper w as a ble t o a rgue t hat M arxism i s n ot s cientific. ( Though w hether i t i s f alsifiability w hich makes s cience s cientific i s a n o pen q uestion). B etter t heories a re c onsidered t o b e t hose w hich a re m ore o pen t o f alsification a nd m ore g eneral i n t heir a pplication. F or e xample, t he s tatement t hat M ars m oves i n a n e lliptical o rbit a round t he s un i s l ess o pen t o c hallenge t han t he s tatement t hat a ll p lanets d o t he s ame. S cience i s t hus s een t o b e s triving t o o btain m ore a ll-embracing a nd a dventurous t heories. T he t win c onstraints o f p recision a nd o bservation

p revent

t heories

f rom b ecoming t oo v ague o r

t oo d ivorced

f rom r eality. F alsificationism a lso h as a m ore s atisfactory a ppreciation o f t he n ature o f s cientific p rogress. B ecause i t l acks a h istorical p erspective i nductivism h as l ittle t o s ay a bout p rogress: a ny o ne o bservation i s a s i mportant a s a ny o ther. T he s pecial p lace o f t he f irst o bservation o f s ome n ew p henomenon i s n ot s ufficiently r ecognised. I n t he f alsificationist model, p rogress s tarts w ith s ome p roblem i n t he c urrent t heory. T his p roblem i s t ackled b y t he g eneration o f n ew h ypotheses, e ach o f w hich i s s ubjected t o t he t est o f e xperience, w ith m any b eing f alsified b y n ew o bservations. E ventually a s olution a ppears w hich c annot b e f alsified. T his s olution t o t he p roblem i s a ccepted o n p robation a s t he c urrent t heory u ntil s ome n ew p roblem a rises. A ccording t o t his m odel o f t he s cientific m ethod, p rogress i s m arked b y t he c onfirmation o f b old c onjectures, o r t he f alsification o f c onservative t heories. F or e xample, o bservations o f t he p erturbation o f t he o rbit o f U ranus l ed t o t he b old c onjecture t hat a p reviously u nknown p lanet w as t he c ause. T he s ubsequent d iscovery o f N eptune, e xactly a s p redicted, w as a p owerful v alidation o f N ewtonian m echanics,

2 0

o n w hich t he p rediction w as b ased. h ad i n

n ot

b een f ound,

a nd

t he w ell-established

C onversely,

i f

t he p redicted p lanet

t he e xplanation w as f ound

s tructure o f N ewtonian

t o l ie

i n s ome f law

mechanics,

a n

e qually

d ramatic a dvance w ould h ave b een made. A s w as t he c ase w ith i nductivism, f alsificationism r uns i nto p roblems w ith t he t heory d ependence a nd f allibility o f o bservations. G iven

t hat

b e s ure

o bservations a re

t hat a n a pparent

d eficiency t he

o f

t he

t heory d ependent a nd

o bservation r ather

s ort o f a mbiguity t hat c an r esult

t he

b asic

b e f ound

t heoretical

f allible,

h ow c an w e

f alsification o f a t heory i s n ot d ue t han

t he

t heory?

f rom a l ack o f

t o

s ome

An e xample o f

u nderstanding

o f

p rinciples b ehind o ur m eans o f o bservations c an

i n t he h istory o f

t he

t elescope.

G alileo w as a ble

t o u se

h is

i nstruments t o d iscover t he m oons o f J upiter, a n i mportant d iscovery w hich h ad s erious i mplications f or t he c osmology o f t he d ay. A t t he s ame

t ime,

h owever,

K epler made

t he o bservation i n h is n otebook t hat

M ars s eemed t o b e s quare w hen s een t hrough a t elescope. O bviously, w e n ow r ecognise t hat t his e ffect w as d ue t o i mperfections i n t he o ptics o f K epler's i nstruments.

A t

t he

t ime,

t hough,

s uch

a n

e rroneous

o bservation c ould h ave h ad a d amaging e ffect o n t he p rogress o f t heory. T heories, t hen, c annot b e c onclusively f alsified. A ll e xperimental t ests d epend o pen

t o

K uhn's

o n e quipment w hich i s

I nductivism a nd o f w hat

i n

t reated,

d o

n ot

p hilosophical

w orks

w hich

f alsificationism

s ection

t he

s imply s hall

g roup

( Kuhn

o f

1 970,

f rom

t he

T ogether

s ome

i dealised s ome

w ith

u nderstanding, p ractice a nd t he

i n

c ommunity

i ntroducing

o f

l ook a t a b roader

o f

i nductivism

a nd

I n t his a pproach t heories

c oncepts

Kuhn 's

o f

a

t reatment

L akatos a nd M usgrave

s tructure a p aradigm.

c oncepts,

w idely a ccepted s cientific

r ules

a bstract

u nderstanding

t o

l ogical

o r

s tructures w hich h ave w ider r amifications. e xamine

K uhn c alls a t heoretical a

b etter

n ecessary

o f

t heoretical

a lso mention L akatos' i dea o f ' research p rogrammes' i n c ertain r espects, t hough q uite d ifferent i n i ts

i deological b asis

o f

i s

s imple

a s

b ut a s

w e

s tructures, a nd w hich i s s imilar

T o o btain a i t

n ot n ecessarily a pply.

k ind,

h ow

t o c oncentrate o n a n i dealised r epresentation

s hould b e l ike.

a ctually

p erspective

I n t his

f alsificationism a re i ncomplete d escriptions o f

B oth t end

s cience

s cience

a re

t o l aws w hich a re t hemselves

p aradigms

s cience w orks. h ow

s ubject

f alsification.

l aws a nd

o f

s tandards t he

t his

t heoretical

o ften

t acit,

s ome

( in

K uhn i s

1 984).

c onsists

o f

i ntroducing

h ow

t he

o ther

t reatments

t here

l aws

t he

t aking a s tep away

s ociology o f s cientific g rounding

o f

A p aradigm

c ommunity

t he d iscussion,

o bjective

e lements

R avetz

t heoretical a ssumptions w hich a re

s cientific

i nto

1 974,

a nd

e ndeavour).

w ill

b e

a n

a re t o b e a pplied

s ense o f d irection w hich d efines v alid w ays i n

i n

w hich

t heory may b e d eveloped. A n

e xample

o f

a

p aradigm

might

b e

N ewtonian

m echanics.

T his

c onsists o f a t heory b ased o n N ewton's l aws o f motion a nd g ravitational a ttraction ; t ime; t he

a nd

s ystem

w ould p lanet

o perational d efinitons o f c oncepts

a p rogramme i nvolving

i ncreasing

u nder i nvestigation. t he c ase o f a n e xtended

b ody s ystem c onsisting o f t he

t he m odel

o f

I n t he c ase o f t he s olar s ystem t his

i nvolve p rogress f rom a model w ith t o

s uch a s l ength, mass a nd

e laboration o f a

s un a nd

p oint p lanet

s un t o

s un w ith multiple p lanets.

2 1

a nd

j ust

o ne

t he c omplete many

Kuhn's

p aradigm i s q uite

p rogramme. a n

L akatos

i mmutable h ard

p rogramme

a nd

s imilar

t o w hat L akatos

i ntroduces a n a dditional

c ore o f

l aws

w hich

c onstitute

t he

t o

p rotect

r esearch

e ssence

o f

a

t he c ore f rom f alsification.

F ollowing o n f rom h is d escription o f a p aradigm, o f

a

a s urrounding b elt o f a uxiliary h ypotheses w hich c an b e

t ampered w ith i n o rder

p rogress

c alls

r efinement i n h is i dea o f

a

s cience

i n

t erms

o f

K uhn d escribed

t he

r epeated c risis a nd r evolution

( Figure 1 ). B efore a f ield o f s tudy b ecomes a s cience i t p asses t hrough t he p hase o f p re-science. T he d ifference b etween p re-science a nd

n ormal

s cience,

s cience, i s

p aradigm. a

i n

a

P re-science i s

g iven

f ield

M uch e ffort ' Wallowing i t.

which i s w hat w e w ould c onventionally t hink o f a s a

t hat o f

i s

n ormal t he

s tudy

h ave

t herefore

s cience

t here i s w ide a greement o n a

s tate w here t he v arious p ractitioners t heir o wn u nique

w asted

i n

d ebate

i n o pinionated p aradigmatic d ebate'

T his a lso h appens

t o b e

a bout

t heir o wn p articular

c oncepts.

t o d escribe t he

t he T AG c onference i n 1 980.

p re-science p hase l ittle p roductive w ork c an b e d one, b usy d efending

b asic

i s a g ood w ay o f p utting

t he p hrase u sed b y B inford

s tate o f t heoretical a rchaeology a t

i n

t heories a nd m ethods.

e veryone

I n t he i s

t oo

t heories a nd methods.

P re-science N ormal

s cience

C risis R evolution

F igure 1 Kuhn's c onception o f s cientific

I n

t he

n ormal

s cience

p rogress

p hase r eal p rogress c an b e made,

p rogress w ithin c onstraints. T he n eed f or a c onsensus m ethod r ules o ut a ny r adical c hanges i n a pproach s o s imply t he f urther I t

i s

r efinement o f a r elatively s table b ody o f k nowledge.

t his c oncentration o f e ffort o n i mmediate p roblems o f p ractical

i mportance w ithin c ommonly a greed l imits w hich makes n ormal p roductive.

T he

w ork o f

t he majority o f s cientists a nd

w ould, i n t his s cheme, b e c lassified i s j ust t hat, t he n orm. S ometimes, p aradigm. e ye

t o

t hem, b e

t hough,

w ill

a rise

s cience.

i n

t hese a re i solated

c ases,

o r,

i n L akatos'

t he p rotective b elt

a djusted

m odel,

t o a ccommodate

h as e ntered a c risis

t hem.

c ore o f

N ormal

s cientists w ill

o ccur

t he

P roblems

s cience

w ill

b e

t urn a b lind

o f

h ypotheses

E ventually a s ufficient n umber

o ccur t hat e ven t he most c ommitted n ormal t hat s omething i s s eriously w rong. T he p aradigm

p hase.

A ttempts

t o g et r ound

t he g eneration o f a n umber o f r ival p aradigms.

t his w ill

s o

t he d evelopment o f a

I f

o f d ifficulties w ill s cientist must a dmit t o

p roblems

a s n ormal

s cience

t echnologists

I nexplicable r esults w ill b e f ound a nd p redictions

i ncorrect. w ill

b ut i t i s

o n t heory a nd t hat p rogress i s

t hrough m odifications

t o

t he c risis w ill l ead I n L akatos'

v ersion,

t he p reviously i mmutable

h ard

t heory. n ow

a rise

f or

t he

n ormal

2 2

s cientist

b ecause

t he

o ld

c ertainties

s tart

t o d issolve.

R ival p aradigms m ay b e

s o d ifferent

i n

t heir v iews o f t he u niverse t hat t here c an b e n o l ogical a rgument w hich w ould s uffice t o c ause a s cientist t o s hift a llegiance f rom o ne t o a nother.

W hen

s uch a s hift d oes o ccur

t o a r eligious

c onversion.

T o

t he e xperience h as b een c ompared e xtent

t hat

p aradigms c annot b e m ade o n a r ational b asis, t o b e i rrational.

t hen,

A s a n e xample o f a s hift h eliocentric i t

v ersus

t he

a

o f p aradigm w e may c ite

t he g eocentric v iew o f t he

i s n ow g enerally a ccepted

t hat

c hoice

b etween

s cience c an b e s een

t he

c ase

o f

s olar s ystem.

t he e arth m oves a round

t he

t he

A lthough s un r ather

t han v ice v ersa, t his i s b y n o m eans i ntuitively o bvious. A t t he t his c ontroversy w as c urrent t here w ere p owerful a rguments f rom a ccepted

c osmology

t hat

t he e arth c ould n ot move:

c ould k eep s uch a l arge b ody m oving, o f

w ind a s

t he e arth s peeds

r ound

o ff t he e arth l ike marbles f rom r eligious

c onversion

h eliocentric

w as

what p ossible

f orce

w hy d o w e e xperience n o huge

r ush

t he s un,

a

a nd w hy a re w e n ot a ll

r otating

p articularly

t heories w ere r egarded

t ime t he

p late?

r eal

i n

T he t his

s pun

e lement

o f

c onflict,

a s

a s h eretical a nd G alileo w as f orced

t o r ecant. T he

c hoice

o f p aradigm b y a n i ndividual

n umber o f n on-scientific s ome mathematical

s ense);

t heoretical

e xpertise;

c olleagues

s upport;

f unding.

f actors:

w hich i s

which i s m ore

w hich o f

t he

s cientist w ill d epend o n a

t he m ore e legant t heory

s uited t o

r ival

t heir

t heories

t heir

i mmediate

e ven w hich o ffers b etter p rospects f or a ttracting

A s cientific

r evolution

f rom

o ne

h appens

p aradigm

w hen

s o

n umber

o verwhelming

s upport a nd b ecomes t he n ew b asis f or n ormal s cience.

F or e xample,

a nother

l arge

s hift

T he e bb a nd f low o f s uccessive i ronies a nd p reviously d iscredited

t o

a

i ndividuals

r evolutions.

( in

e xperimental o r

t hat

i t

o f h as

r evolutions i s n ot w ithout i ts t heories m ay b e v indicated i n l ater

i t w as a n a rticle o f

f aith t o

t he a lchemists

t hat i t w as p ossible t o t ransmute o ne e lement i nto a nother. T his p aradigm w as s uperseded b y D alton 's a tomistic t heory, w hich d efined t he a toms o f a n e lement t he l ast i ndeed

t o b e u nchangeable.

l augh w hen n uclear p hysicists b e

t ransformed

i nto g old,

a nd w ith a c ompletely d ifferent Kuhn's

a ccount

o f

a ttempt

t o g uide

L akatos

o ffers

a

m ore

d istinguish

b etween

p rogramme.

H e

a

d oes

i t

c an

o nly

b e v alid

p rescriptive t hat

b y

w ould

t heir

a ccount, a

c hoice

o f

a bout. H e

p aradigm.

i n t hat h e a ttempts t o d egenerating

r esearch

t he n ature o f a r esearch p rogramme,

i s o nly a pparent w ith h indsight

e xternal means,

K uhn

i n a nd

f or a ttempting

s uch a s e ditors

p apers f rom a d egenerating p rogramme, f unds.

c ould

a nd

t hat

t o p ursue a n a pparently d egenerating p rogramme.

F eyerabend h as c riticised L akatos p rogrammes

m etal

p rogress i s l argely d escriptive.

p rogressive

p rogressive o r d egenerative,

b ase

a lbeit a t s ome c onsiderable e xpense

s cientists

a dmit

t he a lchemists h ad

t hat

t heory o f h ow s uch c hanges c ome

s cientific

m akes n o

I n t he e nd, f ound

p robably

a ccept

t o

i mpose c ontrols

o r g rant-giving t his a s

o n

r efusing p ublication t o b odies

r efusing

p art o f t he s ociological

f ormation o f s cience. F eyerabend's a narchistic O ne o f t he most s cience

h as

F eyerabend p revious

b een

( 1975). w ork,

t heory o f k nowledge

i mportant d evelopments i n t he

a narchistic

T his may b e c onsidered

i n t hat i t

t he r ecent

p hilosophy

o f

t heory o f k nowledge p ropounded b y t o b e a l ogical

e xtension o f

r epresents a f urther s tep away f rom s imple-

2 3

m inded

m ethodologies

a nd

p rescriptions.

While

K uhn

s eems

d escribing s cience a s i t i s a ctually p ractised, a nd p rescriptive methodology, F eyerabend g oes e ven f urther. r ecognises

t hat

t he

c oncept

o f

n ormal

s cience

i s

c onservative o ne a nd t hat n othing i s m ore c ertain t o t hought t han u ncritical a dherence t o a p aradigm. r ejects t he

u nstated a ssumption t hat

t han

a ny

m any,

p ossibly p roductive,

w ill b reach a ll a rguments

b asically

i s a ble n ot

d eveloping

t o s how h ow a c ommitted s cientist

t he r ules n ormally a ssociated w ith s tand u p

t o

' good'

s cience.

f or

a ccepting

s tands w ay.

t he

i n

f ruitfulness o f G alileo's i deas

t hem.

t hen

i t

b ut,

w ith

p rovides a s trong c ase

T he n ecessary c onclusion i s

t he w ay o f p rogress,

T he

s crutiny b y a r igorous

p hilosopher o f s cience a dvocating a p articular methodology, t he

b etter

S uch a ssumptions w ill a lso r ule o ut

t he a rguments u sed b y G alileo i n

F eyerabend

u sed b y G alileo w ould

h indsight,

t hat,

i f

m ethodology

i s m ethodology w hich must g ive

A nother i mportant f eature o f F eyerabend's e xamination o f s cience c oncept o f i ncommensurability. I n s ome w ays t his i s s imilar

Kuhn's a nalysis o f r evolutions m ay

h ave

i nterpretations

i rreconcilable. q uantum

p henomena,

b ut

F eyerabend

w elcomes

l eaves

t he

s uperior

w hich

t he

a lso

t o o ther

s eek

e ntirely

i s

t hat

d ifferent

c hoose s o

p roposes a nd

b etween

t he

i s n ot

s eek t o e xplain t he

w ay i n w hich w e c an c ompare t he

s o.

o n

o f

d ifferent

t hat s cience

s ince s cience a nd,

i s s ay,

s ame s et o f p henomena t here

t wo a nd

i t

' non-

t heir f reedom.

t o a ccept

T hat i s,

o f

d o

b ecause

t heories

i ncommensurability p repared

a nd

s et

t o

t heories

r ival

i ncreasing

s ame

c oncepts

o f

a re q uite

c lassical

t he

i s t o

p aradigms

w hich o f

e xplain

i ncommensurability

t o

c ompeting

p henomena

t o

f orms o f k nowledge.

d o n ot

w here

s ame

q uoted

b oth

u se

t o k nowledge,

a rchaeology, n o

s cience, t he

s ubjective g rounds,

F eyerabend a pproaches

w hich

s cientist

s cientific',

i n

f or

A n e xample o ften

m echanics,

a

l ines o f e nquiry.

s tudy o f

n ew t heories,

b e

s tifle c reative F urthermore, h e

t he s cientific a pproach i s

o ther mode o f t hinking.

F rom a c areful h is

t o

s o r ejecting a F irstly, h e

s ay t hat o ne i s b etter

i s t han

t he o ther. T he b est t hat w e c an manage i s t o l ook a t t he a ims a nd m ethods t hat a s ubject s ets i tself a nd j udge i ts s uccess i n l iving u p t o t hose s tandards. F eyerabend t hus s eeks t o f ree i tself a nd o ther s ubjects f rom t he t yranny o f t he

f ree b oth s cience ' scientific m ethod'.

C onclusion T he i s

i ntention o f

t o

s how

s cience

t he a bove d iscussion o f t he p hilosophy

t hat,

b ased

o n

f alsificationist

a lthough a

f orm

s cientists o f

s ophisticated

e mbellishments,

o f

s cience

m ay a ccept a p ublic i mage o f i nductivism

w ith

t hey d o n ot make a c onscious a ttempt

t o s tick t o s uch a m ethodology. N or h ave p hilosophers o f s cience b een a ble t o c onstruct a ny m ethodology w hich w ould o btain w idespread s upport.

I ndeed,

m ethodology c ontinue W hat, a sk,

i s

s cience,

t o

F eyerabend

w ould k ill

t hat a ny a ttempt

t o

i mpose

A nd y et,

s uch

a

a rchaeologists

s earch f or m ethodologies.

t hen,

a re t he c onsequences

a rchaeology a nd

a rchaeology,

a rgues

s cience a s w e k now i t.

a

B inford's t hen w e must

f or a rchaeology.

s cience?

I f

o bservation s ay t hat i t

w e o n

a ccept t he

i s n ot.

s tate I t i s

F irstly, w e

must

K uhn's a nalysis o f o f

t heoretical

s till a t

t he

s tage

o f a p re-science w here m etaphysical a nd m ethodological d ebate r ages.

24

C an a rchaeology e ver b e a s cience, a nswer w ish

t o

t hen?

t his q uestion.

What c an b e

t o b ecome s cientific

i t c annot d o

s cientists

s ay t hey d o,

a ctually d o. j ust

a

T he s o-called

m yth.

I f

t he

t houghts

s uccess o f

o n

F irst,

s ociological

s cience

c ontrasts

b e

n o

s imple

t o

e mulate

w hat

t hat i s n ot w hat

t hey

b ased o n i nductivism,

i s

c onsiderations.

i s n ot d ue

t o

t his

m ythical

s cientific

i t d ue, a nd c an a s ubject l ike a rchaeology s ay, p hysics? I o ffer t he f ollowing

b etween s cience a nd a rchaeology w ithout making

t heir o riginality o r a ccuracy.

much o f

c oncentrates i gnoring

t hat b y t rying

t o a l arge e xtent

s cientific m ethod,

t hen t o w hat i s t he s ame s uccess a s,

a ny c laim f or

c an

i s t hat i f a rchaeology d oes

T he w ay s cience a ctually w orks i s much m ore c omplex a nd

i nvolves i rrational a nd

method, a chieve

b ecause

T here

s aid

t he

o n

s uccess o f s cience s tems

e asily

d efined

t he p roblematic,

p roblems

f rom

t he w ay i n w hich i t

o f a t echnical n ature.

humanistic a spects o f n ature,

o f t he c osmology o f t he M iddle A ges,

s cience h as b een a ble

t he much s impler m echanistic p roblems.

N o

s uch

B y

w hich w ere p art

c ourse

t o d eal w ith i s

o pen

f or

a rchaeology. W hile i t i s p ossible t o c oncentrate o n t echnique a nd m easurable q uantities, i f t he a im o f a rchaeology i s t o u ncover t he l aws o f

c ultural

d ynamics,

a s s ome h ave

h uman s ide o f e xperience, A r elated

i ssue

i s

s uggested,

t hen i t must

t ackle t he

w hich s cience h as s uccessfully s idestepped.

t he w ay i n w hich

t he

l aws

o f

p hysics

c an

b e

e xpressed mathematically. T his p rovides p hysicists w ith a nother c riterion f or j udging t he q uality o f a t heory: h ow s imple, e legant, s ymmetrical i s t he maths b ehind i t. T here i s n o a p riori r eason w hy t his e ssentially a esthetic u nderstanding o f n ature,

j udgement s hould w ork i n g uiding u s t hough e xperience s hows t hat i t d oes.

s ee e ven l ess r eason t o s uppose t hat t he ' laws o f c ultural s hould t ake a s imple f orm i f e xpressed mathematically.

t o a n I c an

d ynamics'

A n i mportant a spect o f t he c ulture o f t he p hysical s ciences i s t he r ole o f e xperiment i n t he f ormulation a nd t esting o f t heory. N ow, i t i s c ertainly t rue i n t he p ast

t hat a rchaeology c an n ever b e a n e xperimental

s ame w ay a s N ewtonian m echanics: c ultures

i t i s

u nder c ontrolled c onditions

s tudy t he d ynamics o f p articles.

n ot

i n

O f c ourse,

p ossible

s cience

t o

s tudy

t he s ame w ay t hat o ne c an a s imilar

a rgument

c ould

b e a pplied t o a strophysics, i n t hat i t i s n ot p ossible t o p erform e xperiments o n s tars, o nly t o make i ndirect o bservations o f w hat t hey l ook

l ike.

s mall

s cale l aboratory s imulations o f

W here

t heory

d oes m eet e xperiment i n a strophysics s tellar

p rocesses,

a nd

i s

i n

l arger

s cale mathematical s imulation b ased o n e xtrapolation f rom k nown c onditions. T his d oes s eem t o w ork. I t s eems t o m e t hat t here i s n o g uarantee

t hat

a

s imilar

h istory o r c ulture d ynamics. a nd

e xtrapolation

p rovide u seful

o f

p rocedure S mall

k nown l aws

i nformation

a bout

w ill

w ork

i n s tudying c ulture

s cale e xperiments i n ( if s uch e xist) p ast

c ulture.

t he

p resent,

n eed n ot n ecessarily R emember,

c ultural

i ssues, i nvolving i ntuitive v iews o f n ature a nd r eligious s entiment, h ad a n i mportant e ffect o n t he d evelopment o f w hat w e n ow c onsider t o b e

a

n eutral

m ore d ifficult p ast c ulture?

s cience,

m echanics.

S urely h idden c ultural b ias w ill b e

t o d etect a nd h ave a m ore

F inally, w e c an m ention w hat

s erious

e ffect o n

s tudies

o f

i s p robably t he m ain r eason w hy s cience

i s s een t o b e s uccessful i n o ur p resent c ulture, n amely t hat i t i s a v ery g ood w ay o f m aking l arge a mounts o f m oney. I t i s s cience more t han a nything w hich h as m ade p ossible

25

t he d evelopment

o f

multibillion

p ound

c onglomerates

s cience

t o

s uch

p rovided a p owerful t heory.

F or

s uch

a s

I BM ,

S hell a nd G EC.

o rganisations a s t hese, i ncentive

e very

t o

a nd

T he i mportance o f

t housands o f o thers,

t he p ractical a pplication o f

t heoretician

h as

a bstruse

i n a u niversity t here i s a s core o f

a pplied s cientists i n i ndustry r eady t o p ut t heory t o t he t est i n t he m arketplace. O f c ourse, t his i s n ot t o s ay t hat p utting s cience i n t he s ervice o f c apital s cientific

i s n ecessarily

r esearch,

t hose w ho c ontrol

a

g ood

t hing.

T he

a s L akatos h as i mplicitly s tated,

t he p urse

s trings.

a llow p rogressive p rogrammes

t o

H e a ssumes t hat

s urvive,

d irection

o f

i s c ontrolled b y t his

w ill

o nly

b ut t here i s n o g uarantee

t hat

w hat i s p rogressive f rom t he p oint o f v iew o f c apital i s n ecessarily p rogressive f or a nyone e lse, n or i ndeed f or s cience a s a w hole ( Albury a nd

S chwartz T he

1 982).

s ituation i n a rchaeology i s e ntirely d ifferent.

S o f ar a s I

a m

aware, t here a re n o multibillion p ound c onglomerates b ased o n a rchaeology. F or e very t heoretician i n a u niversity, t here i s a s core o f

a pplied

a rchaeologists

o n t he d ole,

s hort-term c ontract i s c oming f unding

a gencies

t o d ictate

s pend

a ll

t o

T unnel,

f ields

w hole, f rom T his i s

t hough, t he

o f

i ts

f unds

a rchaeology

n or

a re

s ome

p roblems

t he c ourse o f r esearch:

t he e normous

o n

e xcavating

w ill h ave a h ard

a rchaeology d oes n ot h ave

marketplace,

o r w ondering w here t heir n ext

T here

t rying

H eritage d ecide o ther

f rom.

t he

w ith

i f English

t he t ime.

s ame c ompetitive

C hannel O n t he p ressure

f unding w hich t hat c an e ntail.

i s o ne a rea w here a rchaeology w ill n ever b e l ike

s cience,

a nd

t hat

p robably n o b ad t hing.

B IBLIOGRAPHY A lbury,D.

a nd

S chwartz,J.,

S cience a nd T echnology.

1 982 - P artial P rogress:

P luto P ress,

C halmers,A .F., 1 982 - W hat i s t his t hing c alled E dition. O pen U niversity P ress, M ilton K eynes. F eyerabend,P.K.,

1 975

T heory o f Knowledge. K uhn,T.S.,

1 970

A gainst

- T he S tructure

U niversity P ress, L akatos,I.

-

M ethod:

N ew L eft B ooks, o f

O utline

S cience?.

S econd

o f a n A narchistic

L ondon. S cientific

R evolutions.

C hicago

C hicago.

a nd Musgrave,A .

( Eds),

1 974 - C riticism a nd

Knowledge.

C ambridge U niversity P ress,

R avetz,J.,

1 984

S cience"

T he P olitics o f

L ondon.

-

" Ideological

C ommitments

R adical P hilosophy Vol.37,

p p.5-11.

2 6

t he G rowth o f

C ambridge. i n

t he

Philosophy

o f

P ERIPATETIC P OTTERS,

P OTS O R P ROVISION - T HE

I NTERPRETATION

O F P OTTERY FABRIC D ATA

P .Wardle

T his

p aper

r esults

f rom

a n

a ttempt

t o

i nterpret

d ata

f rom

t he

p etrological a nalysis o f L ater B ronze A ge c eramics f rom E astern Y orkshire. T his d ata s uggested t hat s everal a ssumptions n ormally m ade w hen i nterpreting p etrological d ata w ere, p erhaps, p eriod, i n t his a rea. T hese a re a s f ollows: 1 .

t hat p rehistoric p otters

2 .

t hat p otters d id n ot w ork i n s tatic l ocalities.

3 .

t hat v essels w ere A ssumptions,

t hough

t hey

a re

b e

f or

t his

o nly l ocally a vailable r aw m aterials.

t raded a s c ontainers

h owever,

s hould

u sed

n ot v alid

a n

c learly

f or a nother c ommodity.

e sssential

p art

s tated

s ubject

a nd

o f

i nterpretation t o r evision,

n ot

t acitly a ccepted. T he f ollowing d iscussion makes, f or e xample, t hree a ssumptions a bout t he methodology o f c ollecting f abric d ata. T he most f undamental

i s

t he d efinition o f w hat c onstitutes a f abric.

H ere i t i s

d efined a s a u nique c ombination o f a plastic t ypes w ithout r egard a mount o r s ize o f t he a plastics p resent. a

f abric

i s

h omogeneous

w ithin

q uantified b y s imple s herd c ounts v olume). U ntil

t he

a dvent

o f

o ne v essel, ( see

c eramic

t o

S imilarly i t i s a ssumed a nd

F letcher

p etrology

t he t hat

t hat p ottery c an b e a nd

i t

H eyworth,

w as

a ssumed

p rehistoric p ottery p roduction i n B ritain w as c arried o ut a t t he p lace a s t he p ottery w as u sed. C ornwall a nd H odges ( 1964) s howed

t his

t hat s ame t hat

t his w as n ot a lways t he c ase. T hey d etected t hat a r aw material h ad b een u sed t o make N eolithic p ottery t hat c ould n ot b e o btained w ithin a h undred k ilometres o f t he P eacock ( 1969) d emonstrated

f ind t hat

s pot, W indmill H ill i n W iltshire. t his r aw material w as o nly t o b e f ound

o n t he L izard P eninsula, C ornwall. T his i llustrated t he f undamental p rinciple o f c eramic p etrology; a p ot must b e made f rom r aw materials t hat a re d istinctive t raded.

i n o rder

t o

d etect

t hat

t he

v essel

h as

b een

P eacock's d ata w as i nterpreted b y H odder a nd O rton ( 1976) w ho

27

s howed t hat i ts d istribution h ad a n egative e xponential f all-off i n a bundance w ith d istance, s uggesting t hat i t w as t he r esult o f a d ownt he-line r andom w alk t ype o f t rade. T hey c ontrasted t his d istribution w ith g roup 1 a xes w hich t hey s howed h ad a l ess s teep f all-off. H odder a nd O rton s uggested t hat t his d ifference w as d ue t o p ottery b eing t raded i n f ewer s teps t han t he a xes, r eflecting t he f act t hat t he p ots w ere v aluable b ut f ragile. T he i nterpretation b y H odder a nd O rton m akes t wo t acit a ssumptions: 1 . T here w as n o t rade i n r aw m aterials; i t i s a ssumed t hat t he r esulting d istribution r epresents t rade i n v essels n ot r aw m aterials. 2 . T he v alue o f t he v essels w as i ntrinsic; i f t he v essels h ad b een u sed a s c ontainers, t hen d own t he l ine t rade w ould c ease o nce c ontents h ad b een c onsumed - i ts v alue w ould b e g reatly d ecreased.

t he

W hilst t he v ast b ulk o f e thnographic e vidence s hows t hat p otters u sed l ocally a vailable r aw m aterials ( 7km i s t he n ormally a ccepted d istance ( Howard 1 981a)), t here a re i nstances w hen m aterials w ere p rocured f rom f urther a field. I f t his n ormal d istance o f p rocurement i s a ssumed t o b e c orrect t hen i t h as t o b e a ccepted t hat a t b est c eramic p etrology c an o nly p rovenance a s herd t o a n a rea o f 7 8 s quare k ilometres. G eological materials s eldom h ave s uch a r estricted d istribution f or a s herd t o b e p rovenanced t o w ithin a z one o f f ive k ilometres a round a d eposit. I f t he m aterial h as b een n aturally t ransported, b y, f or e xample, s treams, t hen t he a rea w ill b e i ncreased. I n t he c ase o f t he g abbroic p ottery t his a rea i s a bout 1 50 s quare k ilometres. P etrology w ill n ot d etect t rade i n v essels m ade a nd e xchanged w ithin t his l ocality. T rade c an o nly b e d etected i f t he r aw m aterial u sed w as n ot a vailable i n t he a rea w here t he p ot w as f ound. T hus i n a reas o f u niform g eology a p attern o f l ocal p roduction a nd n o t rade w ould b e i nferred e ven i f t he p ottery w as m anufactured a t o ne s pecialist c entre. P eacock 's a ssertion t hat t hese p ots w ere m ade b y s pecialist p otters i s b ased u pon n on-petrological e vidence a nd c omparison w ith t he r est o f t he a ssemblage. I f t here a re n o " ritual" r easons f or t rading r aw m aterials, t rade w ill o nly o ccur i f a p articular r aw m aterial w ill p roduce b etter p ots. A s econd c riterion must a lso b e f ulfilled: i t m ust b e e asier t o t ransport t he r aw m aterial r ather t han a f inished v esel. I t i s a m atter f or c onjecture i f b reakage w as m ore l ikely d uring t ransport t han f iring. I f h owever t he p otter w as r ewarded f or t he f inished a rticle a fter p roduction a nd n ot d elivery, t hen t his i s i rrelevant; h is m ain c oncern w ould s imply b e f iring t he p ot. D own t he l ine t rade i mplies m iddlemen r ather t han t he p otter t ransporting t he f inished p ot t o i ts p lace o f u se. S imilarly t rade i n r aw m aterials i s u nlikely t o h ave u sed a g ift e xchange m echanism a s i t c an o nly b e u sed o nce. A p ure c lay w ill

s hrink

d uring

d rying

a nd

f iring

u nless

t hese

c onditions a re c arefully c ontrolled. I n o rder t o r educe t he p roblems c aused b y s hrinkage, t o i ncrease w orkability, a nd t o " open" t he c lay t o a llow g ases t o e scape d uring f iring a t emper i s a dded. D esirable p roperties o f a t emper a re a t hermal e xpansion r ate c lose t o c lay, a r ough s urface a nd s tability a t h igh t emperatures ( Rye 1 976). R ye a lso n oted

t hat b asic i gneous

c lose t o l ow f ired t emperature o f a bout 8 50 a n atural

r ocks a nd

c alcite h ad t hermal e xpansion

r ates

c lay. C alcite h owever d isintegrates a t a d egrees c entigrade. T hus g abbroic c lays h ave

t emper o f m inerals a nd r ock f ragments w hich c an b e f ired

t o a

h igher t emperature t han c alcite. T hey a re t herefore n aturally v ery s uitable f or t he p rehistoric p otter, a nd c an b e c onsidered t o b e " good"

28

c lays. a nd

T hus

i t

i f

i t

i s a ssumed

f iring,

i t

s eems

i s a ccepted

t hat

t hat b reakage r easonable

t o

s ome c lays w ill make

i s a s l ikely d uring s uppose

t hat

r aw

b etter

p ots,

t ransport a s d uring materials

m ight

b e

t raded. A nalysis

c an

o nly

d etect

t rade

w as m ixed w ith a l ocal material. B ronze

A ge

g abbroic

o ccur

a t

( 1976)

l east

i f t he t raded c lay

n otes

c lays w ere m ixed w ith l ocal

m aterials c an o nly b e d etected w hich

i n r aw m aterial

P eacock

t wo materials

t rade

d istance p rocurement o f r aw materials.

l ong

t he

p etrologically i f a t l east

f ourteen k ilometres a part a re m ixed

I n f act w hat w ould b e d etected

b ut

i n

T rade i n r aw

p roduce p ottery. e xchange a nd

t hat

c lays.

t herefore t rade i n c lays

i mplies

i s

n ot

t hat

t ogether e vidence

T rade

a ccess

t o o f

i mplies

t o

t hose

c lays w as r estricted. T he

d ilution

o f a g ood c lay w ith a b ad c lay means t hat much o f t he

b enefit o f u sing a g ood c lay i s l ost.

T herefore i t w ould

b e

e xpected

t hat t raded r aw m aterials w ould n ot b e d iluted b ut t here w ould b e i ncreasing r estriction o f w hat v essels w ere made w ith i mported c lay. T he

s ize o f t he v essels may a lso b e r educed w ith d istance.

i n r aw materials w ould b e v ery

f act

t hat

i ndistinguishable f rom

d ilution

i mplies

t rade

p oorly

u nderstood

t he

t hat

p otter.

t he b enefits o f u sing w here

q uartz

f ound m ixed w ith g abbroic c lay ( Peacock 1 969,

m ust h ave b een d eliberately a dded d istribution o f r aw materials. t hat f lint d isputed n otes

S mith

( 1981).

S phranoff's

t he p resence o f q uartz

C am nB rea. s ource

s and

w as

s ource,

s uggested

e xplanation i s c ontaining

( 1981)

i n m ost o f t he a nalysed

t his.

a nalysis o f t he l ocal

h owever

s herds

f rom

A

g ranitic

H owever a much m ore l ikely

o f t he g abbroic c lay w ith i s

i s

i s i nconsistent

t he p resence o f m ica.

e xplain T his

i s

w ere

T he p ebbles

T his

t o

s and.

w ere

p etrological a nalysis

i ndicated b y

t he m ixing

q uartz

i t

p ebbles

p .148).

T he h eavy m ineral a nalysis o f t his material

w ith a g abbroic

T he

t o t he g abbroic c lay s uggesting S imilarly W hittle ( 1977, p .82) n otes

t emper w as a lso m ixed w ith g abbroic c lay. b y

t rade

T he N eolithic g abbroic f abric

g enerally h omogeneous e xcept a t C am nB rea a lso

T hus

i n v essels.

o f g abbroic c lay h as b een d etected n ot o nly

i n r aw materials b ut b y

t rade

c onsistent

a

m icaceous

w ith H oward's

c lays w hich d o n ot m atch e ither

t he

c lay

( 1981b)

p etrological

o r h eavy m ineral a nalyses a lone. I f

g abbroic c lay w as b eing

w ould b e made r est

o f

( 1969)

t he

n otes

c opying p ottery

c eramic t hat

t his i s

s o,

T he

t hen i t w ould b e e xpected

t hat i t

f orm a nd d ecoration w ould r eflect

a ssemblages

o f t he i mports. d oes n ot h owever

m aterials;

t raded

i nto v essels w hose

i n w hich t hey w ere f ound.

b ut i nterprets i t a s

e vidence

t he

P eacock o f

l ocal

T he r estricted t ypology o f t his g roup o f p reclude t he d istribution o f t he r aw

b oth i nterpretations a re e qually f easible.

s econd

o f

H odder a nd O rton's a ssumptions w as t hat t he v essels

w ere i ntrinsically v aluable a nd h ence t hat i s w hy t hey w ere t raded. T he u se o f p ottery a s c ontainers f or o ther c ommodities i s w ell a ttested i n t he l ater p resence

p rehistoric

o f

p eriod.

a mphorae d uring

s imilar e xample

i s t he

u se

T he

most

o bvious

t he l ate I ron A ge o f

c eramic

e xample

i s

t he

i n S outhern E ngland.

v essels

t o

t ransport

A

s alt,

p ottery s ometimes k nown a s " very c oarse p ottery" o r " VCP" ( Morris 1 981). B oth t hese e xamples s hare s everal c ommon f eatures, t he v essels a re t he

b oth l arge a nd c onstructed o f r elatively c oarse c eramics.

H owever

s ize o f v essels u sed a s c ontainers w ill p artly b e a f unction o f t he

v alue

o f

t he

c ommodity

t hat

i s

b eing

c ommodity s uch a s i ncense w ould b e e xpected

29

t ransported. t o

b e

t raded

A i n

v ery r are s maller

v essels t han s alt. T he f orm o f a mphora i s u sually o ne t hat i s s uitable f or u se a s a c ontainer u sually w ith n arrow n eck a nd h andles. G abbroic p ottery i s g enerally a f ine w are c omponent o f t he a ssemblages a way f rom t he L izard a nd o ccurs a s o pen r ound b ottomed b owls. T his s uggests t hat t hey w ere n ot u sed

a s c ontainers.

F rom t he a bove a rgument i t w as n ever t rade

i s c lear

i n r aw m aterials o r

t hat w e c annot a ssume t hat t here

t rade i n v essels a s c ontainers.

U nlike h istoric a rchaeology t he s tudy o f p rehistoric c eramics i s l argely b ased u pon n o k nowledge o f t he a ctual p roduction s ites. T he a ssumed u se o f b onfires f or f iring h as m eant t hat p roduction s ites h ave n ot b een g enerally r ecognised. H owever f iring i s o nly o ne s tage i n t he p rocess o f p roducing c eramics a nd e vidence f or b een r ecognised. A t T horpe T hewles " a c uring

t hese o ther s tages h ave p it" h as b een f ound

( Swain a nd H eslop 1 984). T his c onsists o f a p it c ontaining b lue-grey " gley" w ith a r un-off c hannel. T his s tructure c an b e c ompared w ith t he " water c ollectors" a t S taple H owe ( Brewster 1 963). W asters w ere f ound a t M ucking ( Jones 1 979). A t D evil's H ill, Y orkshire, a p it w as f ound w hich c ontained f ive k ilos o f c alcite t ogether w ith a h ammer s tone. P ottery p roduced n ear t he s ite w as t empered w ith c alcite, t herefore i t m ay b e i nferred t hat t his r epresents a r aw m aterial. A t T hwing, Y orkshire, a p it w ith a t imber s urround w as f ound w hich c ontained l arge a mounts o f c harcoal,stone a nd p ottery i ncluding f ine w ares. T he p resence o f f ine w ares s uggests t hat t his w as n ot a c ooking p it b ut a p it c onnected w ith p ottery p roduction. T hese e xamples s how s ome o f t he e vidence t hat c an b e i nterpreted a s p ottery p roduction, a nd g iven t he g eneral a cceptance o f l ocalised p roduction i t i s s urprising t hat t here i s a p aucity o f s uch

e vidence.

I n

p articular

t here

a re

v ery

f ew

i nstances o f " wasters" b eing r ecovered. T he t wentieth c entury c oncept o f a w aster i s a v essel t hat i s n ot p erfectly p roduced r ather t han o ne t hat w as d estroyed d uring f iring. H owever, r epairs a re c ommonplace a nd m any i rregular v essels a re k nown t hroughout p rehistory. T his, p erhaps, s uggests t hat a p rehistoric w aster w as a v essel c ompletely d estroyed d uring f iring. S imilarly i f a w aster i s b roken u p i nto s herds a nd d eposited i n t he a rchaeological r ecord, i t w ill b e v ery d ifficult t o d istinguish i t a s

s uch.

E xamination o f p ottery f rom s ites w ith e vidence o f p ottery p roduction w ill s uggest s ome c riteria f or d etecting s uch a ssemblages. T he m ost o bvious d ifference i s a bsolute a ssemblage s ize w ith a ll t he a bove

e xamples

c onsisting o f a t l east

1 000

s herds.

T he a bsolute s ize

o f a n a ssemblage i s a f unction o f m any v ariables e xcavated, t ype o f d eposit o r e xcavation t echnique.

s uch a s a rea I t i s a pparent

h owever t hat t he d ifferences a re o f s everal o rders o f m agnitude b etween p roduction a nd n on-production s ites. T he T horpe T hewles a ssemblage o f 1 ,400 s herds a nd a s herd d ensity o f 0 .25 s herds p er s quare m etre c an b e c ompared S taple H owe 1 4,000 s herds a nd a d ensity o f 1 4 s herds p er s quare m etre a nd c ontrasted w ith R ixby, Y orkshire ( Inman e t a l 1 985) w ith a n a ssemblage o f 3 00 s herds a nd a d ensity o f 0 .06 p er s quare m etre. A t p roduction s ites i t w ould b e e xpected t hat o ne f abric w ould p redominate b ut t his i s a lso t he c ase f or a pparently n on-production s ites. T he s o-called c riterion o f a bundance, t hat i s t he m ost a bundant f abric i s l ocally p roduced, c annot b e a ssumed t o b e c orrect. D own-thel ine t rade i mplies a r eduction i n t he a bsolute a mount o f m aterial d istance, n ot t he r elative a mount o f p ottery a t a p articular s ite.

w ith T he

r elative a mounts o f p ottery p resent i n a n a ssemblage w ill b e a f unction

3 0

o f

t he

r elative

d istances f rom t he d ifferent

s ources.

T herefore t he

m ost a bundant f abric r epresents t hat m anufactured a t t he n earest p roduction c entre. T he u se o f p ercentage o f f abrics p resent m ask t he a bove d ifference. I n f act

t he o pposite c an b e

s uggested:

p roduction s ites o ften h ave a

d iverse r ange o f f abrics. A t T hwing 8 0 f abrics h ave b een d etected. T he n umber o f f abrics d etected d epends u pon s everal v ariables; t he m ost i mportant o f w hich i s t he d efinition o f f abric. A t T hwing a f abric w as d efined a s a ny c ombination o f d ifferent t ypes o f a plastics p resent w ithout r egard t o s ize o r q uantity. T he v ast b ulk o f f abrics a re r epresented b y s ingle s herds. C learly r are n atural i nclusions i n t he c lay, s uch a s g lacial e rratics, w ill p roduce a n i ncreased d iversity o f f abrics. T herefore u nless t he h omogeneity o f t he g eological d eposits u tilized i s k nown t hen t he h omogeneity o f a p ottery f abric c annot b e a ssessed. T his s uggests t hat t he d efinition o f f abric t hat i s u sed m ust b e b ased u pon t he u se o f g eological d eposits r ather t han s uites o f i nclusions. S imilarly t he u se o f t wo c lays, w ith n atural i nclusions, a nd a nd

t hree d ifferent t empers w ill p roduce t wenty-one f abrics. I f s ize a bundance o f d eliberately c rushed a nd a dded p articles a re u sed a s

c riteria t hen t he n umber o f f abrics p resent c ould b e multiplied b y u p t o t hree b ecause l arger p articles a re u sed t o t emper c oarser v essels. I t c an b e s een t hat

t hree t ypes o f f abric c an b e d efined:

1 . A t echnological f abric b ased u pon t he t emper t ype p resent a nd t herefore t he d ivision n ormally u sed i n a rchaeology f or d escribing h and s pecimens o f p ottery. 2 . A c lay f abric b ased u pon t he u se o f a p articular c lay d etected b y a nalysis. 3 .

A m ix o f t he a bove

t wo a s s een a t h igh m agnifications.

A t T hwing t he n umber o f f abrics p resent c an b e r educed u sing t emper a lone.

t o a bout t en

b y

W ithout e vidence f or p roduction s ites, d ata m erely s uggest t hat t he r aw m aterials w ere a vailable, n ot t hat t hey w ere u tilised a t a s pecific l ocality. A n a lternative i s t o c onsider w hich f abrics a re " site s pecific" o r " site a bundant", t hat i s t hey o nly o ccur a t o ne s ingle s ite i n a bundance. T his c an b e u sed o n a ny o f t he a bove t ypes o f f abric. T hus f abrics w hich o ccur i n a bundance a t m ore t han o ne s ite a re t he r esult o f t he u se o f c ommon r esources. C onversely s ite s pecific o r a bundant f abrics c an b e a ssumed t o b e " local" p roducts. I n e astern Y orkshire t he m ost a bundant f abric a t t he m anufacturing s ites a re v irtually s ite s pecific - t hey d o o ccur o n o ther s ites, b ut o nly i n m inor q uantities. H owever t his i s o nly a pparent w hen u sing a m ixed o r c lay d efinition o f f abric, i f t emper a lone h ad b een u sed t hen t hey w ould a ll b e r egarded a s b eing t he s ame-tempered w ith c alcite. T hus i t c an b e s een t hat f or t he e nclosed s ettlements, a t l east i n t he f irst m illennium, t he b ulk o f t he p ottery w as b eing p roduced a nd u sed a t t he s ame l ocality, p erhaps a s much a s 8 0% o f v essels, w ith o nly a s mall a mount o f p ottery b eing e xchanged b etween s ites. G iven t herefore a n o bvious e quality o f c eramic t echnology, a s a ll t he s ites w ere p roducing a f ull r ange o f c eramics, i t m ight s eem s urprising t hat t here w as m uch t rade i n c eramics a t a ll. I t m ight b e e xpected t hat p restige g ifts o f f inewares w ould m ake u p t he b ulk o f t his t rade. H owever t he s econd m ost a bundant f abric i s i nvariably t he s ame, e xcept a t o ne s ite w here i t p redominates, a v ery c oarse f abric u sed t o p roduce h eavy-duty w ares, u sually l arge j ars. A nalytically t his c ould h ave b een p roduced a t a ny o f t hese s ites. O nly a t o ne s ite,

3 1

C astle H ill, S carborough, i s i t u sed f or a nything e xcept t he c oarse w ares. T his f abric i s u sually m odelled i nto f orms w ith a n a pplied r im c oil a s o pposed t o v irtually a ll o thers w hich a re u sed i n c oil c onstructed f orms. I t u sually h as a d istinctive " T" s haped r im. I t c an b e i nferred t hat S carborough i s t he n earest s ite t o t he p roduction s ite s o f ar c onsidered. S imilarly t he f act t hat t his f orm o nly o ccurs a s h eavy d uty v essels a way f rom t he S carborough a rea s uggests t hat i t w as t raded a s c ontainers. A t m ost s ites e qual q uantities o f o ne p articular t emper f abric o ccur; t his i s a f abric t empered w ith d olerite. I t i s i nvariably u sed t o m ake v ery f ine, h ighly b urnished c ups. T hese v essels a re u sually d ecorated l ike t he b ulk o f t he a ssemblage b ut a re made b y m odelling n ot c oiling. T his f abric i s a lso o ften t empered w ith c alcite, b ut t he m atrix f abric i s a lways s ite s pecific. I n f act w ithout t he d olerite i t w ould b e c lassed a s p art o f t he m ain s ite s pecific f abric a t e ach s ite. T he d olerite i tself c an b e p rovenanced u ltimately t o t he C leveland d yke a t l east s ixty k ilometres t o t he n orth o f t he s ite. I t c ould b e d erived f rom g lacial d rift w hich o ccurs t hroughout t he c ounty. H owever s everal f actors a rgue a gainst t his. I t i s i nvariably a ngular w ith n o s igns o f w eathering; a nd i s l arge, u sually t he s ame s ize a s t he c alcite t emper. S imilarly t here i s n o g lacial s and i n t he f abric. T his t herefore a rgues i n f avour o f d eliberate a ddition a s a t emper. I t c ould

i ndicate

H owever,

t he u se o f g lacial

p rehistoric m an

d id

p ebbles,

n ot

h ave

n ot r ock,

t he

u se

o f

f rom t he o utcrop. a

p etrological

m icroscope s o i t w ould b e e xpected t hat i f h e w as u sing g lacial p ebbles t hen h e w ould c hoose p ebbles w hich w ere v isually s imilar, a nd t hat a ll d ark, f ine g rained, h ard r ocks w ould b e p icked o ut f rom t he g lacial d rift. T herefore i t w ould b e e xpected t hat s ome o ccurrence o f L ake D istrict e rratics w ould h ave b een n oted. S imilarly t he d ilution o f d olerite w ith c alcite a rgues f or i t b eing i n s hort s upply. A t T horpe T hewles g lacial d olerite o ccurs o n t he s ite a nd t here i t i s u sed a s a n u ndiluted t emper. T his f abric c an b e c ontrasted w ith a f abric w hich a gain o ccurs o n m ost s ites i n t he r egion. T his c ontains a d iverse s uite o f i gneous a nd m etamorphic r ock f ragments. T hese r ocks a re c learly g lacial e rratics a s s ome o f t he r ock t ypes d o n ot o utcrop i n B ritain. T he p ottery w hich c ontains t hem i nvariably h as a c onstant m atrix. D espite t he v ariable c omposition t hese v essels a re c onsidered t o b e a t l east o ne f abric a s t hey h ave b een m ade u sing m aterial f rom o ne g eological l ocality a nd a re p rovenanced t o o ne r egion, t he e ast Y orkshire c oast. T his d emonstrates t hat a f abric i s b est d efined i n t erms o f p rovenance r ather t han c omposition

-

o therwise

v irtually

h ave t o b e c onsidered s eparately. v isually r esemble d olerite i n W hin S ill, w hich r epresented. S imilar

i s

t he

e very v essel

i n t his f abric w ould

T he r ocks u sed a re t he o nes w hich h and s pecimens, b ut d olerite f rom t he

c ommonest

i gneous

e rratic,

i s

u nder

i nstances o f t he u se o f d olerite a s a t emper c an b e f ound

i n

e arlier v essels i n Y orkshire. H oward ( 1982) n oted t he u se o f d olerite i n t he o uter m oulds f or m etalwok p roduction, t ogether w ith n on-local c lays. T he i nner m ould i tself w as m ade f rom a n on-local c lay. A t T hwing, h owever, n o m oulds w ith d olerite t emper h ave b een r ecognised. A t T hwing, B eaker s herds u sually h ave a m ixed s and a nd d olerite t emper, w hile t he u se o f i gneous t emper i s w idespread i n c ollared u rns a nd f ood v essels t hroughout e astern Y orkshire. T he c ollared u rns a nd f ood v essels c an b e d ivided i nto f abrics w ith d olerite a nd t hose w ith

3 2

o bvious t ypes

c oastal b ut

e rratics.

a re

n ever

T he l ater g roup o ften c ontain a m ix o f r ock

mixed

w ith

d olerite.

T he t wo g roups h ave a n

o verlapping d istribution w ith t he e rratic f abric o ccurring p redominantly n ear t he c oast. T his a ccords w ith t heir o ccurrence i n t he c oastal g lacial d rift d eposits. L ike t he l ater c eramics t he d olerite t empered p ottery o ccurs i n s ite s pecific matrix f abrics a nd i s i nvariably d iluted w ith a nother T he e vidence

i s t herefore c lear,

s upply a way f rom i ts T his

s ource

i t

w as

r estricted

s pecific matrix f abrics t he

v essels

e vidence f or i tinerant

i ncluding g rog.

d olerite w as

t hroughout,

i s i ndicated b y i ts d ilution a nd

w hen n ot

f iller,

a t l east,

i ts u se

s uggesting

r elatively

t he

f irst m illennium.

D olerite o ccurs

t hat t he d olerite

i tself w as

t herefore b e i nterpreted a s

t rade i n t he d olerite o r

t he

p resence

p otters m aking h igh q uality v essels.

t his material A

o f

s uggest

t hat i t

w as

a c omplex

T he f inal a lternative

o n

f or

s ite

s eries

o f

p otter

r ather

m oving p attern

b y

d own-the-line

t o e xplain i t a s r aw o f

t rade

i n

r aw

s ubsequent e xchange o f c ompleted v essels c ould h owever

b e e nvisaged. t he

n ot

g ift e xchange m echanism c annot b e u sed t hen

a

T he u se o f a d ifferent

S imilarly t he c onsistent q uantities o f v essels

m aterials c an o nly b e u sed o nce; m aterials

m oved,

c an

t han t rade i n d olerite. t rade.

A ge,

i n s ite

T his

method o f m anufacture a rgues i n f avour o f a p eripatetic w ith

s hort

i n t he l ater B ronze

t o v ery f ine w ares.

t hemselves.

i n

o ther

p urposes,

i s

t he r e-use o f d olerite

f or

e xample s tone a xes.

a lready N o s uch

a rtefacts h ave b een r ecovered e xcept a t T hwing w here q uantities o f u nweathered b asalt h ave b een d iscovered. T his r ock h owever s hows n o s ign o f m anufacture i nto a rtefacts. I n c onclusion i t

s hould b e e mphasised

t hat

t he b ulk o f t he

c eramics

i n t he f irst m illennium w ere p roduced o n o r v ery n ear t he p laces w here t hey w ere c onsumed. T rade i n v essels, c ontainers a nd r aw m aterials d id o ccur a nd m ake u p a s mall b ut

s ignificant p ercentage o f

t he a ssemblages

o f m anufacturing s ites. T he t raded p ortion o f t he a ssemblage c ontains b oth v ery h igh q uality v essels a nd o bvious c ontainers. T his i llustrates t he t hree m ost o bvious r easons f or t rading c eramics o r c eramic r aw d eficiencies. b etween

s ites

materials: t echnological, r aw m aterial o r c ommodity T here a re a lso a n umber o f v essels w hich a re t raded w hich

c annot

b e

a ccounted

f or s implistically.

T hey

d iffer f rom t he l ocal p roducts o nly i n t erms o f t he r aw materials u sed; a nd t herefore a g ift e xchange p rocess c ould b e i nferred. T he e xamples d iscussed d emonstrate t hat c ertain a ssumptions a re n ot a lways v alid a nd t herefore t rade i n v essels s hould n either b e o vere mphasised n or i gnored b ut s een i n p erspective. What i s c lear i s t hat c eramic p roduction a nd e xchange i s v ery c omplex i nvolving many d ifferent p rocesses w hich s hould b e i solated a nd i nterpreted a s s uch, r ather o f,

t han e volving a s ingle g eneral m odel b ased

o r w orse s till n o,

d ata.

" 1")

u pon

s mall

a mounts

B IBLIOGRAPHY

B rewster,T.C.M.,

1 963

-

T he E xcavations a t S taple H owe.

A rchaeological R esearch C ommittee, C ornwall,I. N eolithic

a nd

H odges,H.W.M.,

P ottery:

W indmill

1 964

H ill

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-

" Thin

A

t est

s ections s ite"

I nstitute o f A rchaeology, L ondon U niversity,

V ol.4,

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O rton,C.,

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p .29. i n

A rchaeology.

t owards a n i ntegrated

s tudies i n p rehistoric B ritain", i n H oward,H . a nd P roduction a nd D istribution : a c eramic v iewpoint.

1 981b - " Heavy M ineral Analysis"

H oward,H.,

1 982

F reestone,I.,

-

" Clay

J ohns,C.

a nd a nd

t he

1 981.

A rchaeologist",

P otter,T.

T hin-Section S tudies.

i n S mith

( Eds)

p p.145-158,

C urrent

a nd

B ond,D.,

E ssex",

p p.

1 980

4 71-482

B ritish L ater B ronze A ge. M orris,E.L., p p.49-57,

1 981

P eacock,D.P.S.,

-

" Later

1 969

( Ed) -

F isherwick.

" Neolithic

1 45-149.

P eacock,D.P.S.,

1 976

- i n W illiams,D.F.

1 976

S mith,I.,

S wain,H.P. a nd

u se

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1 981

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a nd H eslop,D.H., i n

t he

p roduction

t emper u nder c ontrol:

C ornish A rchaeology V ol.20,

S ofranoff,S.,

i n C ornwall"

i n

T ruro"

2 ,

m aterials a nd

t he

p p.106-137.

i n M ercer,R .

" Excavations a t

p p.161-185.

p p.179-181,

i n S mith

1 981.

1 984 - " Some a spects o f p ottery p roduction

n orth e astern I ron A ge"

F iring G roup V ol.2,

V CP",

p p.51-72.

- " Keeping y our

1 981

a t T he

O xford.

" Petrology o f t he p ottery",

m anufacture o f P apuan p ottery" O ceania X I,

C am nB rea"

( Eds)

" Excavations a t T hreemilestone R ound, Kenwyn,

C ornish A rchaeology V ol.15, R ye,O.S.,

s ettlement

t he B riquetage o r

B AR 6 1,

p ottery

1 70,

( Ed)

A ge

a nd B radley,R.

O xford.

A ntiquity X LIII

S chwieso,J.

B ronze

i n B arrett,J.

B AR 8 3,

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p p.181-214.

- " Petrological a nalysis a nd

i n S mith,C.

i n

B ritish M useum O ccasional P aper 3 2.

o f t he P rehistoric S ociety V ol.51, J ones,M .U.

i n

R esearch

I nman,R., B rown,D.R., G oddard,R.E. a nd S pratt,D., 1 985 A ge s ettlement a nd t he I ron A ge i n n orth e ast Y orkshire".

M ucking,

B ritish

O xford.

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C eramics:

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o f

B ulletin o f t he

C ambridge.

1 981a - " In t he w ake o f d istribution :

a pproach t o c eramic M orris,E.L. ( Eds)

E ast R iding

M alton.

B ulletin o f t he E xperimental

p p.65-74.

W hittle,A .W.R.,

1 977

i ts C ontinental

B ackground.

- T he E arlier N eolithic o f B AR 3 5,

O xford.

S outhern

E ngland

a nd

T HE Q UANTIFICATION O F V ESSEL F RAGMENTS

W .Fletcher a nd M .P.Heyworth

V essel f ragments a re o ften t he m ost f requent a rtefacts t o b e f ound d uring e xcavation a nd a re o ften t he m ost s ignificant d ating e lements w ithin a n a ssemblage. H owever t heir i mportance t ranscends t hat o f a s imple c hronological t ool. P ottery v essels i n p articular h ave b een u sed i n a w ide v ariety o f m odels a s p roof o f s ocial s tanding a nd r eligious s tatus a nd, a s a n i ndicator o f b ehavioural p atterning, a re r egarded a s p rime r econstruction.

e vidence

i n

t he

s tudy

o f

t rade

a nd

e conomic

A lthough t here a re a n umber o f q ualitative l imitations t o t he d ata t he s tudy o f v essels i s n onetheless f undamental t o many a spects o f a rchaeological i nterpretation. F or e xample F ulford ( 1978) h as c ommented i n h is c omparative s tudy o f R oman a nd M edieval t rade p atterns t hat t he v ast m ajority o f t raded i tems w ill n ot s urvive i n t he a rchaeological r ecord, a nd, a s o ne o f t he m ore d urable i tems o f t rade, v essels m ay h ave a n i nflated p osition i n a rchaeological r econstructions. D espite t he f act t hat mathematical a nalysis i s p laying a n i ncreasingly i mportant r ole i n t he i nterpretation o f a ssemblages, c omment o n t he q uantitative b asis f or v essel f ragment a nalysis h as n ot r eceived q uite s o much a ttention. Q uantification p resents p articular p roblems, b ut i f w e a re t o c ontinue t o u se t his d ata c onfidently f or m odelling t he p ast i t i s e ssential t hat w e s hould h ave a f irm g rasp o f t he q uantitative m ethods u sed i n t he a nalysis. U nlike m any a rchaeological a rtefacts, s uch a s c oins w hich c an b e t reated a s s ingle u nits, s herds o f p ottery o r g lass c an r arely b e r econstructed i nto w hole v essels. T he q uantification r epresented p roportion , c ontext

o r

s ite,

w ith

o f v essel t ypes i s c arried o ut t o a ssess t he b y e ach t ype, o f t he t otal p opulation o f t he a

v iew t o c omparing p roportions o f d ifferent

t ypes b etween v arious c ontexts o r s ites. A n umber o f m ethods h ave b een u sed a nd t hese w ill b e d iscussed a long w ith t he p roblems a nd b iases o f

3 5

e ach m ethod. A ssuming t hat t he v essel f ragments f ound r epresent w hole v essels, t hen t he r elationship b etween t he v essel f ragments f ound a nd t he t otal v essel p opulation w hich w as i n u se w hen t he s ite w as o ccupied i s d ifficult t o q uantify. S ome a ssumptions m ust b e m ade c oncerning t his r elationship i f t he q uantification m ethods a re t o y ield u seful r esults. T hese a ssumptions c oncern t he r atios o f t he v arious t ype g roups w ithin e ach c ontext a nd t heir r elationship t o t he a ctual p opulations i n t he p ast. T he m ethods o f q uantification a re t herefore o nly u seful w hen c omparing p roportions b etween g roups o f c eramic t ypes, a nd t he i nterpretation o f s ingle g roups i n i solation i s s peculative a nd u nfounded. V arious m ethods o f q uantification, w ith a r ange o f a dvantages a nd d isadvantages, a re a vailable a nd h ave b een a ssessed i n b oth t heory a nd p ractice ( e.g. H ulthen 1 974; M illet 1 979; O rton 1 975; 1 980). 1 . S herd C ount T he s implest a nd p robably t he m ost c ommon m ethod u sed i s a b asic s herd c ount b y t ype. H owever, t here i s a p roblem o f i nconsistency i n i ts r epresentation o f d ifferent v essel t ypes i n t hat t he n umber o f s herds c an b e d oubled b y s imply b reaking t hem i n h alf, w ith t he b reakage p attern o f v essels i n a n a rchaeological c ontext b eing d ependent o n t he f abric, s hape, s ize, u sage, d isposal a nd p ost-depositional h istory o f t he v essel, w ith t hese f actors w orking i ndependently o r i n c onjunction. A l arge b ut r elatively f ine v essel w ill p robably b reak i nto m ore s herds t han a s mall, t hick w alled v essel, t hough t he t wo v essel t ypes m ay h ave o ccurred w ith t he s ame f requency o n t he s ite. S turdier v essels w ill t herefore b e u nder-represented a fter a s herd c ount, w ith t he o pposite t rue f or w eaker v essels. A r ecent s tudy b y C hase ( 1985) h as s hown t hat t he n umber o f s herds i s n ot a r eliable e stimator o f t he n umber o f w hole v essels. C hase a rgues t hat t he n umber o f s herds i s m ore c losely r elated t o t he w eight o f t he p aste ( or c lay m ixture) r ather t han t o t he n umber o f v essels. 2 . S herd w eight W eighing i s a lso a q uick a nd s imple m ethod o f q uantification r equiring o nly b asic e quipment. T he t otal v essel w eight i s n ot a ffected b y f ragmentation a nd t he b reakage p attern o f t he v essel. H owever, i n t his c ase, i f t he v essels a re a ssumed t o b reak u p i nto t he s ame n umber o f f ragments, c oarse, t hick-walled v essels w ill b e o ver r epresented a fter w eighing, w ith t he o pposite t rue f or f ine, t hin-walled v essels. A c ombination o f t he c ount a nd w eight m ethods c an b e u sed t o o btain a n a verage s herd w eight a nd w ill g ive i nformation o n t he d egree o f f ragmentation o f t he v essel t ype. 3 .

A djusted w eight

H ulthen ( 1974) s uggested t hat a n a djusted w eight f igure c ould b e u sed a s a m ore a ccurate m ethod o f a ssessment o f q uantities. S he r easoned t hat t he w eight o f a s herd i s d ependent o n i ts s urface a rea, t hickness a nd d ensity. T he a djusted w eight i s d efined a s t he t otal w eight o f t he t ype m ultiplied b y a s tandard w all t hickness a nd t hen d ivided b y t he w all t hickness o f t hat t ype, t hus c ompensating f or t he i nfluence o f t hickness. A djusted w eight o ver-represents v essels w ith a f abric o f h igh d ensity, h owever t his c an b e t aken i nto a ccount w hen t he d ensity o f t he s herd i s u sed i n t he c alculation t o o btain t he s urface a rea. H ulthen s howed t hat a s herd s urface a rea c ould b e c alculated w hich g ave s imilar p roportions o f t ypes t o t he a djusted w eight m ethod. T his

3 6

m ethod

i s

e xtremely

s ituations.

I t

t ime

t rue f or s maller v essels, 4 .

c onsuming

a nd

i s

n ot

p ractical

a lso o ver-represents l arge v essels, a ll o ther

i n most

w ith t he o pposite

f actors b eing e qual.

M aximum n umber o f v essels

T his method a ssumes t hat e ach v essel

u nless

i t

c an

b e

i ndividual

s herd

r epresents

a

s ingle

c onjoined w ith o ther s herds w hich a re t hen

c ounted t ogether a s r epresenting a s ingle v essel. U nless t he a rchaeological s ite h as b een c ompletely e xcavated w ith t otal r ecovery o f a ll

t he c eramic m aterial,

( 1980)

s hows

p ossible

t hat

r ecovered,

t hen t his method c an b e m isleading.

t hat i f o nly 1 0% o f a s ite 1 0% o f t he

i t

t otal

d oes n ot

5 .

e xcavated

s herds o n t he

f ollow t hat

r epresented o n t he s ite w ill b e s ignificant i n t his m ethod. t herefore b e j ustified

i s

1 0%

o f

t hen,

s ite a s a w hole t he

O rton

w hilst i t c ould

i s b e

t otal n umber o f v essels

f ound. B reakage f actors a re a gain T his m ethod o f q uantification c annot

i n m ost a rchaeological

s ituations.

M inimum n umber o f v essels

T his

m ethod

i nvolves

r epresented t his

b y

c alculating

t he r ecovered

t he

s herds.

minimum

n umber

o f

T here a re t wo w ays

v essels

t o e stablish

f igure:

i . v essel e quivalents m ethod M easuring t he t otal r im l ength o f t he

v alue

t he r im s herds o f e ach t ype,

o btained b y t he a verage r im c ircumference o f

t hen r ounding

t he r esult u pwards

t o

t he n ext

i nteger

t hat

d ividing t ype,

( Fulford

a nd

1 973).

T he method c an a lso b e a pplied t o b ases b ut i gnores b ody f ragments. H owever, i t m ay b e p ossible t o u se a s imilar c alculation t o i nclude a lso b ody s herds. I f t he a verage w eight o r s urface a rea o f a c omplete v essel i n t he s pecific t ype c ategory i s k nown, t hen d ividing t he t otal w eight

o r

s urface a rea o f

t he s herds o f

t hat

t ype b y t he f igure f or

w hole v essel w ill g ive a s imilar v essel e quivalent i i.

t he

f igure.

s ubjective a ssessment

E xamining a ll t ogether p ut

t he

s o

t ogether.

v essels a n

s herds

t hat a ll

o f

p articularly

A ll

s herd

s ubjectivity

f or

a nd

p lacing

s imilar

s herds

s herds w hich may b e f rom t he s ame v essel a re

T he n umber o f g roups

r epresented.

e lement

s ubjectively

t he

l arger

t hen e quals

t he m inimum

f ragments c an b e

a nd

s uites

t he o f

t here w ill b e e nough s uitable c riteria

r esults m aterial.

n umber

o f

i ncluded b ut t here a re

n ot

i s

r eliable,

I t a lso p resumes t hat

t o d istinguish b etween d ifferent

v essels. T he m inimum n umber f igure i s f ree s herd

s ize o r

c onsuming

t hickness

w ith

' rounding o ff'

a

g reat

r are t ype w ould

r are

e xcercise s mall

o r m inor c eramic

b e c ounted

more c ommon t ype,

a s o ne v essel,

f rom

a

w ould

i s

a lso b e c ounted a s o ne

t hese

i f t heir f or

m ethods

a ssemblages.

F or e xample,

t he

p ottery.

H e

much

f ragments).

t ypes.

t hat

h ave

l ead

t o

f ound

a n

o ver-

n umber

r im l ength d id

o f

s herds

s ame v essel, n ot

e xceed

t ype. b een

E vans u sed

t ime

O ne s mall s herd o f a

w hereas a

t otal

more

T he e ffect o f

t hough n ot n ecessarily f rom t he

t he a verage r im c ircumference

Knossos

o f

t he v alues i n t he c alculations w ill o f

o f

t he

n umber

r epresentation

S ome

f rom b ias c aused b y b reakage f actors,

( though

a pplied

t o

l arge

p ottery

t he c ount a nd w eight m ethods

t hat

f or

t hey g ave v ery s imilar r esults

( Evans 1 973). A s tatistical a ssessment o f t he t heory b ehind t he m ethods o f q uantification b y O rton ( 1975) l ed h im t o a rgue t hat t he v essel e quivalents m ethod o f m inimum n umber e stimation i s t he ' best' e stimate.

S herd

w eighing

w as

s econd,

3 7

b eing s lightly m ore f avourable

t han s herd c ount. t o

a

p ottery

F our o f t hese m ethods o f q uantification w ere a pplied

a ssemblage

S ussex ( Millet

1 979).

f rom

a R omano-British f armstead a t E lsted,

M illet n oted

t hat

t he a djusted w eight m ethod w as

m ost t ime c onsuming, a nd t hat e stimating t he minimum n umber o f v essels b y s ubjective g rouping w as t he s econd most i nconvenient method w ith t he l arge

s ample

q uick.

s ize.

D espite

t he

q uantification

S herd w eighing a nd c ounting w ere b oth s imple a nd t heoretical

u sed,

M illet

b iases f ound

i n

e ach

o f

t he

m ethods

o f

t hat t here w as a h igh c orrelation

b etween t he r esults o f a ll t he methods, e xcept f or t hat b etween s herd w eighing a nd m inimum n umbers e stimation. M illet t herefore r ecommended u sing t he m inimum n umber o f v essels m ethod, p referably s herd w eight. a ssemblages b y Evans q uantification O rton ( 1982) m easures

( 1985)

a re

i s

a nd

t hat,

i n

t hese

e ither

t ests

w ith

a re

e ach

p ractice,

d ifferent

i n t heir r esult. f lawed

i n

H owever t hat

t he

o ther o r w ith t he a uthors'

n ot w ith a ny o bjective s tandards.

i f a rchaeological d ata

R oman

t hat

c ompared

e xpectations a nd

P ottery

c onfirms

methods a re h ighly c orrelated

p oints o ut

a rchaeological

m ethod t ogether w ith o ne o ther A s tudy o f l ater R oman p ottery

T his i s

i nevitable

i s u sed.

n ot

t he

s ites.

o nly

s ilicate

G lass i s a lso

p ost-Roman

s ites.

material

t o

b e

f ound o n many s ites,

f ound

o n

p articularly

T he methods o f q uantification d iscussed

a bove c an e qually b e a pplied t o g lass t ypes, a nd c an h ave i mportant v alue i n d efining t he f unction o f t he g lass f ound o n t he s ite. H owever t hese

q uantification

a ssemblages,

a nd

m ethods

h ave

r arely

b een

a pplied

t o

g lass

t heir v alue h as n ot b een f ully r ecognised.

A n A pplication o f t he M ethods I n

t he

p resent

s tudy

a

l arge

g roup

o f M iddle S axon g lass f rom

e xcavations i n S outhampton w as u sed t o i nvestigate t he r esults g iven b y d ifferent m ethods o f q uantification w hen a pplied t o t he s ame a ssemblage.

A f ull a rchaeological

r eport o n

t his

g lass

w ill

s hortly

a ppear e lsewhere ( Hunter a nd H eyworth f orthcoming), b ut i n t his p aper t he d ata f rom t he r eport h as b een u sed i n a g eneral c ase s tudy l argely d ivorced f rom i ts t rue a rchaeological c ontext. A t otal o f 8 05 i ndividual

f ind u nits f rom e xcavations i n

S outhampton w as u sed

i n

t he

s tudy.

a nd b ody s herds

p redominantly o f

w hich

d ated

c an

1 980). w as

b e

t o

t he

T he g lass w as a ll

i n

v ery

g ood

t han a bout

t he

p alm

a

I t h as b een s equence

s uggested

c avity r ims w ere 5 mm,

t he

t he r ounded

f ew

t he

f olded

t he m id-body o f

b eaker

i n

b ases s eries

v ariety

a

a nd

t he v essels i s n ormally

t hick

f olded

t hree f orms r im

w ith

a

a nd a f iner r ounded r im.

t he d ifferent r ims may f orm a f orms w ith a n a verage

r ims h ad a n a verage

t echnological s equence.

t hickness

o f

T he 3 mm-

t hickness o f 2 .5mm-4.5mm, w hilst

t hinner w ith a n a verage t hickness o f 2 mm-3mm.

T he m ajority o f t he f ind u nits c onsisted o f o nly o ne s herd. I n a c ases a n i tem c onsisted o f m ore t han o ne s herd a nd w here t hese

c learly c ame f rom t he c onjoined a nd T he

D ials

s eries h as r elatively

t hinning o f t he r im t hrough t he

t hickest

r ims w ere

S ix

o f r ims,

T he r ims c ould b e d ivided i nto

r im w ithout a c avity,

t hat

w ith a g radual

c up/funnel

T he p alm/funnel

b ut

l mm t hick.

t hick f olded

o f

o f t he d urable s oda-lime-silica

( see H unter a nd H eyworth f orthcoming):c avity,

a rea

7 th t o 9 th c enturies i n B ritain ( Hunter

c ondition.

s turdy r im a nd b ase p ieces, l ess

t he

T he s herds c onsisted

s eparation i nto

e xcavation.

s ame

v essel

t hey

t reated a s a s ingle s herd A ll

f ragments t he

f ind

u sing a d igital mass b alance.

m ay

h ave

w ere

c onsidered

o ccurred

u nits w ere w eighed

d uring,

o r

s ince,

t o a n a ccuracy o f 0 .1g

W here m ore t han o ne

3 8

e ffectively

f or t he p urposes o f t he s tudy.

f ragment m ade u p t he

f ind u nit t hen t he t otal w eight w as r ecorded. M easurement o f t he l ength a nd b readth o f t he f ragments w ere a lso m ade, t hough t hese a re r ather s ubjective d imensions w hen d ealing w ith i rregular s hapes. T hickness w as a lso m easured, u sing a m icrometer. T he c olour o f t he s herds w as a lso n oted. T he a djusted w eight w as c alculated f or e ach t ype u sing t he f ormula g iven b y H ulthen ( 1974, p .3): W eight ( in g )

x S tandard T hickness ( in c m) A djusted w eight ( in g )

W all

t hickness ( in c m)

F or t he g lass f ragments a s tandard t hickness o f 0 .2 c m w as c hosen, t his w as t he m ean f ragment t hickness t aking a ll t he f ragment t ypes i nto c onsideration. T he g lass w as d ivided i nto d ifferent c ategories b ased o n t he t ype o f f ragment:- c avity r ims, f olded r ims, r ounded r ims, b ases a nd b ody s herds ( see F igure 1 ). T able 1 s hows t he r esults o f t he q uantification a nalysis u sing t he c ount, w eight, a nd a djusted w eight c alculations, a long w ith t he a verage s herd w eight o btained b y d ividing t he t otal w eight o f e ach t ype b y t he n umber o f f ragments o f t hat t ype.

T ABLE

1

C ount, W eight, A djusted W eight a nd A verage S herd W eight f igures f or t he d ifferent t ypes o f f ragment

C ount

W eight

( no)

A djusted W eight

A verage S herd W eight

( g)

( g)

( g)

C avity R ims

7 4 ( 9.2%)

1 35.6 ( 23.2%)

6 7.8 ( 12.9%)

1 .8

F olded R ims

3 0 ( 3.7%)

3 5.1 ( 6.0%)

2 0.1 ( 3.8%)

1 .2

8 8.6

1 .3

R ounded R ims

B ases

B ody F ragments

T OTAL

8 6

1 10.7

( 10.7%)

( 19.0%)

( 16.8%)

2 0 ( 2.5%)

6 5.3 ( 11.2%)

2 6.1 ( 5.0%)

3 .3

5 95 ( 73.9%)

2 36.6 ( 40.6%)

3 24.0 ( 61.5%)

0 .4

8 05 ( 100.0%)

5 83.3 ( 100.0%)

5 26.6 ( 100.0%)

T hese f igures s how t he v ariations, p reviously m entioned, b etween t he r esults o f t he q uantification m ethods i n t erms o f t he p roportions o f t he d ifferent f ragment t ypes p resent i n t he a ssemblage: t he r ims, b ases a nd b ody f ragments. C omparison o f t he f igures c an a lso r eveal s ome i nformation a bout t he d ifferent t ypes o f g lass i n t he a ssemblage. I f

t he p roportions o f e ach t ype a ccording

3 9

t o w eight

a re

u sed

t hen

F igure 1 - T he t ypes o f f ragment i n t his s tudy

•M M M . • ••••••

C av ity R im

F o lded R im

R ounded R im

B ody F ragment

B ase

4 0

a ll t he " thick" f ragment t ypes, w hich h ave a n a verage s herd w eight g reater t han o ne, w ould a ppear t o b e m uch m ore c ommon i n t he a ssemblage t han i f t he p roportions o btained f rom a s herd c ount h ad b een u sed. T he s herd c ount g ives a much l arger p roportion o f b ody f ragments i n t he a ssemblage. T hese a re o ften f ound d uring s ieving a nd c an b e p articularly s mall a nd f ragmentary. I n a ll c ases t he p roportions o f e ach t ype a ccording t o a djusted w eight a re i ntermediate b etween t hose a ccording t o c ount a nd w eight. I f t he c ount f or a p articular t ype g ives a h igher p roportion t han t hat g iven b y a djusted w eight t hen t he t otal s urface a rea o f t hat t ype m ust b e b roken u p i nto " many" f ragments. I f t he c ount p roportion i s l ower t han b y a djusted w eight t hen t he t ype i s b roken i nto " few" f ragments. T he t erms " many" a nd " few" a re r elative, f or e xample, i f t he b ody f ragments a re " many", t hen b y c omparison c avity r ims a re " few". I t w as a lso p ossible t o r ework t he q uantification d ata f rom t he g lass s o t hat t he d ifferent m ethods o f q uantification c ould b e u sed t o c ompare g roups o f g lass o f s imilar c olour. E ach c olour g roup i ncorporated a n umber o f r ims, b ases a nd b ody s herds. T his w ould b e t he e quivalent o f f abric g roups i n p ottery a nalyses. T he c olour o f g lass i s a n e xtremely c omplex f ield ( see H unter a nd H eyworth, f orthcoming), h owever f or t he p urposes o f t his p aper t he q uantification m ethods w ere a pplied t o t he t wo m ain r ecognised c olour g roups o f l ight b lue a nd l ight g reen g lass. T he r esults c an b e s een i n T able 2 .

T ABLE C ount, g roups

2 W eight,

A djusted W eight a nd A verage S herd W eight f or t wo c olour

C ount ( no) L ight

B lue

L ight G reen

T OTAL

W eight ( g)

A djusted W eight ( g)

A verage S herd W eight ( g)

4 53 ( 63.4%)

3 67.1 ( 66.3%)

3 40.6 ( 64.1%)

0 .8

2 61 ( 36.6%)

1 86.2 ( 33.7%)

1 91.0 ( 35.9%)

0 .7

7 14 ( 100.0%)

5 53.3 ( 100.0%)

5 31.6 ( 100.0%)

I n t his s ituation t he a verage s herd w eights o f t he t wo g roups a re v ery s imilar a nd t he p roportions g iven f or t he t wo t ypes b y e ach m ethod a re c omparable. I t i s o nly b y u sing t he c ount a nd w eight m ethods t hat t his c an b e c hecked a nd i t i s i mportant t o u se b oth m ethods t o c heck t he p roportions b efore u sing t he f igures t o m ake a ny c onclusions. A ll t he m ethods u sed i n T able 2 a ssume t hat t he m easure u sed, w hether i t b e c ount, w eight o r a djusted w eight, g ive r elative p roportions t hat a re r elated i n s ome w ay t o t he n umber o f v essels o f e ach c olour g roup. H owever, t he m easures c annot b e r elated d irectly t o v essel n umbers. T his i s c learly d esirable, i f p ossible, a nd a nother m ethod o f q uantification, n amely t he m inimum n umber o f v essels, c an b e u sed i n t his c ontext. I n t his s tudy t he m inimum n umber o f v essels o f

4 1

each type represented in the assemblage were determined using the subjective method of grouping all fragments which may come from the same vessel and counting them as only one vessel. Only rims and bases could be used with this method as body sherds can only be discriminated from eachother on the grounds of colour. The minimum number method should alleviate some of the problems found in counting, and a comparison of these two methods should suggest where the count is over or under-estimating because of the breakage factor. Within a type category, if the percentage by count is higher than that by minimum numbers then it suggests that the fragments in that type are "often" from the same vessel. If the percentage by count is lower, then the fragments are "rarely" from the same vessel. Again these terms are relative. In glass studies such a comparison could be important in defining whether glass was originally present on the site as whole vessels or whether it was introduced to a site in the form of cullet, i.e. fragments of glass used for reworking. In comparing minimum numbers to weight and adjusted weight, the problems are more complex. Quantification by estimation of minimum numbers of vessels is subjective and it is possible that it will over-estimate if fragments from the same vessel have not been recognised as such and have been counted as separate vessels. The estimation of minimum numbers of vessels can also under-estimate if fragments from different vessels have been grouped together and have been counted as one vessel. Due to the caution usually exercised with subjective measurements, the method is more likely to over-estimate the number of vessels. The results of this analysis can be seen in Table 3. Only the three different rim types have been included as the minimum number of bases represented cannot be considered as a proportion together with the rims as they are not independent variables: the bases may be from the same vessels as the rims. TABLE 3 Count, Weight, Adjusted Weight and Minimum Number figures for the three different rim types Count

Weight

(no)

(g)

Adjusted Weight (g)

Cavity Rims

74 (38.9%)

135.6 (47.55%)

67.8 (38.4%)

42 (35.6%)

Folded Rims

30 (15.8%)

35.1 (12. 55%)

20.1 (11. 4%)

21 (17 .8%)

Rounded Rims

86 (45.3%)

110. 7 (39.9%)

88.6 (50.2%)

55 (46.6%)

190 ( 100.0%)

281.4 (100.0%)

176.5 (100.0%)

118 ( 100.0%)

TOTAL

Minimum Number (no)

In terms of the proportions of each rim type then all the methods, with the exception of weight, give similar results. The rounded rims are most frequent, followed by the cavity rims and, finally, the folded rims. The proportions given for each type using the count, adjusted weight and minimum number methods are similar. However the proportions

42

o f e ach t ype g iven b y t he w eight m ethod g ives t he c avity r ims a s t he m ost c ommon. T his i s c learly i nfluenced b y t he t hickness o f t he r ims a s t he c avity r ims a re t hicker t han t he o ther t ypes. A gain i t s hows t he d angers o f u sing o ne m ethod i n i solation a nd t he f alse i nterpretation t hat c ould r esult f rom r elying o n o ne q uantification m easure. T he I mplications o f t he R esults F rom t hese r esults a nd f rom p reviously p ublished w ork i t s eems t hat t he m ost m eaningful m ethod t o h ave b een u sed i s t hat o f e stimating t he m inimum n umber o f v essels, s ince i t c an b e d irectly r elated t o v essel n umbers. H owever E vans ( 1985) n otes t he p roblems o f a ccurately a ssessing t he d iameter a nd p ercentage o f r im p resent f or s mall f ragmentary s herds, w hich i s c ertainly t rue w ith t he g lass f rom S axon S outhampton. I deally, m ore t han o ne m ethod s hould b e u sed i n o rder t hat a ny b iases c an b e r ecognised. A ssuming t hat t he m inimum n umber m ethod i s u sed a s t he p rimary m ethod, t hen a s econdary m ethod i s n eeded w hich w ill c omplement t his, i n o rder t o o btain t he m aximum a mount o f i nformation p ossible a bout t he f ragment a ssemblage. A s t he d ifferent m ethods s eem t o b e h ighly c orrelated, t hen f or p ractical e ase, t he s herd w eight o r s herd c ount m ethods w ould s eem t o b e u seful s econdary m ethods. H inton a pplied a n umber o f d ifferent m ethods t o a c eramic a ssemblage a nd c oncluded t hat w eighing i s t he s implest, q uickest a nd l east o pen t o h uman e rror a nd w as t herefore c onsidered t he b est m ethod ( Hinton 1 977). E gloff ( 1973) p referred t o c ombine s herd c ount w ith m inimum n umbers t o g ive a n a ccurate i ndication o f t he f ragmentation r atio a nd t herefore a n u nderstanding o f t he p rocesses o f p ostd eposition. I t a lso g ives s ome m easure o f d ifferential b reakage o f r obust o r f ragile w ares. A g reat d eal o f i nformation c an b e g ained f rom a c omparison o f t he r esults o f t he c ount a nd w eight m ethods w hich w ould n ot b e a vailable b y u sing s olely e ither c ounting o r w eighing ( Solheim, 1 960). I f s herd c ount a nd w eight w ere c ombined w ith m inimum n umbers t hen i t w ould a lso g ive a n o bjective i ndication o f t he c ondition o f t he c eramic, w hich c ould p rove u seful i n a ssessing t he d ating v alue o f t he c eramic t ype a nd t he p ossible a mount o f r esidual m aterial ( Millet 1 979). T he a im o f t hese q uantification m ethods i s t o f acilitate c omparisons b etween t he p roportions o f v arious v essel t ypes b etween d ifferent c ontexts o r s ites. I n o ur d ata t he g lass f rom S axon S outhampton c an b e b roken d own i nto s eparate t renches w ithin t he a rea o f t he e xcavation t o a llow c omparisons b etween d ifferent a reas o f t he S axon t own. T able 4 s hows t he q uantification r esults w hen t he t hree p referred m ethods, n amely c ount, w eight, a nd m inimum n umber o f v essels, a re a pplied t o t he g lass f rom t he t wo s ite a reas l abelled S OU 2 4 a nd S OU 1 69. T he r esults a re p articularly u seful a s t hey s how d ifferences b etween t he p roportions o f t he d ifferent t ypes o f f ragment b etween t he t wo s ites, a nd t hese d ifferences a re r eflected i n t he r esults o f a ll t he q uantification m ethods.

F or e xample,

i n S OU 2 4

t he c avity

r ims

o ccur

m ost f requently a mongst t he r im t ypes, w hereas i n S OU 1 69 t he r ounded r ims s eem t o b e m ore f requent. I t i s p ossible t hat t his m ay r eflect a c hronological v ariation b etween t he t wo s ites w hich m ay c orrelate w ith t he p roposed e volution o f r im t ypes d escribed e arlier i n t his p aper ( p.38). I t i s p articularly e ncouraging t hat t he d ifferent q uantitative m ethods e mployed a ll r ank t he r im t ypes i n t he s ame o rder, t hough t here a re s mall d ifferences i n t he a ctual p roportions g iven b y e ach m ethod.

4 3

T ABLE 4 C ount , W eight, A verage S herd W eight a nd M inimum N umber o f V essel f igures f or t he d ifferent t ypes o f f ragment f rom S OU 2 4

C ount ( no) C avity R ims

2 4

W eight

A verage S herd W eight

( g)

( g)

5 8.3

2 .4

( 13.0%)

( 30.2%)

F olded R ims

4 ( 2.2%)

3 .2 ( 1.7%)

0 .8

R ounded R ims

1 8 ( 9.7%)

4 2.7 ( 22.1%)

2 .4

B ases

5 ( 2.7%)

2 0.4 ( 10.6%)

4 .1

1 34 ( 72.4%)

6 8.7 ( 35.5%)

0 .5

1 85 ( 100.0%)

1 93.3 ( 100.0%)

B ody F ragments

T OTAL

M inimum N umber o f V essels

1 3

2

1 0

5

C ount, W eight, A verage S herd W eight a nd M inimum N umber f igures f or t he d ifferent t ypes o f f ragment f rom S OU 1 69

C ount

W eight

A verage S herd W eight

o f

V essel

M inimum N umber o f V essels

( no)

( g)

( g)

C avity R ims

3 3 ( 7.6%)

4 6.5 ( 20.6%)

1 .4

1 7

F olded R ims

1 6 ( 3.7%)

1 5.5 ( 6.9%)

1 .0

1

R ounded R ims

4 1 ( 9.4%)

3 8.4 ( 17.0%)

0 .9

2 6

B ases

7 ( 1.6%)

2 9.4 ( 13.0%)

4 .2

3 38 ( 72.4%)

9 5.9 ( 42.5%)

0 .3

4 35 ( 100.0%)

2 25.7 ( 100.0%)

B ody F ragments

T OTAL

4 4

7

A nother

i nteresting f eature i s t he l ow n umber o f b ase

b oth s ites, v essels, a nd t wo

s ites.

f ragments f rom

p articularly i n c omparison w ith t he m inimum n umber o f t he s imilarity o f a verage b ase f ragment w eight b etween t he G iven

t he m inimum n umber o f v essels e stimated

f rom t he r ims

i t w ould s eem t hat t hat b ases s hould b e m ore f requent o n t he s ites a nd t he l arge a verage w eight s hould e nsure t hat v ery f ew h ave n ot b een r ecovered d uring e xcavation. T his m ay r elate t o t he u se o f g lass f ragments a s c ullet f or a g lassworking i ndustry, a nd t he g lass s herds f ound may n ot r epresent

f ragments o f w hole v essels b ut a t rade i n g lass

f ragments f or r eworking. A f ull d iscussion o f t he i nterpretation o f t his d ata i n i ts p roper a rchaeological c ontext w ill b e i ncluded i n t he f orthcoming r eport o n t he g lass

( Hunter a nd H eyworth f orthcoming).

C onclusions I t i s c lear

f rom t hese e xamples

t hat

t here i s a n eed f or a m ethod o f

q uantification f or v essels w hich a re u sually f ound

i n f ragmentary f orm,

p articularly o n s ettlement s ites. A t echnique i s n eeded t o a llow t he c omparison o f t he n umbers o f e ach t ype o f v essel. T he m ethods o f q uantification

w hich

h ave

n ecessary i nformation f or

b een

t he

d iscussed

i n

i nterpretation o f

t his

p aper

t he m aterial

p rovide i nvolved.

I t i s c lear f rom t he a nalyses p resented h ere t hat t here i s n o p erfect a nswer t o t he p roblems o f c eramic q uantification. H owever t he r esults s how t hat i t i s i mportant t o a pply a t l east t wo o f t hese q uantification m ethods t o a n a ssemblage. r ole

i n

P ractical

c onsiderations

p lay

a n

i mportant

d eciding w hich method o f q uantification t o a pply i n a ny g iven

s ituation,

a nd

i t

i s

e ncouraging

t o

n ote

t hat

t he

s imple,

b asic

t echniques o f c ounting o r w eighing g ive r esults t hat c an p rovide u seful i nformation, a s l ong a s t he v ariations b etween t he p roportions o f t ypes a re

t aken i nto a ccount i n t he

f inal a nalysis.

T his e xercise h as s hown t hat g reat i nterpretation o f d ata f rom v essel q uantification

m ethods

d iscussed

c are must f ragments.

b e t aken i n t he A lthough t he

h ere a re v ery l imited

a re a f undamental b uilding b lock u pon h ypotheses c an, a nd h ave b een, b uilt.

i n s cope

t hey

w hich major a rchaeological I t i s e ssential t hat t he

l imitations o f t hese b locks a re r ecognised a nd a llowed f or,

o r e lse

t he

w hole h ypothesis m ay c ome t umbling d own !

B IBLIOGRAPHY

C hase,P.G.,

1 985

-

" Whole

v essels

i nvestigation o f t heir q uantitative A rchaeology V ol.12, E gloff,B.J.,

a nd

s herds:

r elationships"

a n

e xperimental

J ournal

o f

F ield

p p.213-218.

1 973 - " A m ethod f or c ounting c eramic r im s herds" American

A ntiquity V ol.38,

p p.351-353.

E vans,J.,

1 985 - A spects o f L ater R oman P ottery A ssemblages i n N orthern

B ritain.

Unpublished P hD t hesis,

E vans,J.D.,

University o f B radford.

1 973 - " Sherd w eights a nd

s herd

t he p roblem o f q uantifying p ottery s tudies", ( Ed)

A rchaeological T heory a nd M ethod.

F ulford,M .,

c ounts - a c ontribution t o p p.131-149,

S eminar P ress,

i n S trong,D.E.

N ew Y ork.

1 973 - " Excavation o f t hree R omano-British p ottery k ilns i n

45

A mberwood E nclosure, n ear F ortham, N ew F orest" P roceedings o f H ampshire F ield C lub a nd A rchaeological S ociety Vol.28, p p.5-28. F ulford,M ., t he

1 978

- " The

t he

i nterpretation o f B ritain's l ate R oman t rade:

s cope o f m edieval h istorical a nd a rchaeological a nalogy",

p p.59-69,

i n d u P lat T aylor,J. a nd C leere,H. ( Eds) R oman S hipping a nd T rade: B ritain a nd t he R hine P rovinces. C BA R esearch R eport N o.24, L ondon. H inton,D.A ., f ifteenth

1 977

- " Rudely M ade

E arthen

c enturies A D"pp.221-238,

E arly C ommerce. H ulthen,B.,

A cademic P ress,

V essels

1 974 - " On c hoice o f e lement

1 980

-

" The

G lass",

E xcavations a t M elbourne S treet, R eport N o.33,

L ondon.

H unter,J.R.

a nd

t he ( Ed)

t welth

t o

P ottery a nd

L ondon. f or d etermination o f

o f p ottery" N orwegian A rchaeological R eview V ol.7, H unter,J.R.,

o f

i n P eacock,D.P.S.

p p.59-72,

S outhampton,

H eyworth,M .P.,

i n H oldsworth,P. 1 971-76.

f orthcoming

q uantity

p p.1-5.

-

C BA

( Ed)

R esearch

T he G lass f rom S axon

S outhampton. M illet,M .,

1 979 - " How m uch p ottery?",

P ottery a nd L ondon,

t he A rchaeologist.

p p.30-45,

i n

M illet,M .

I nstitute o f A rchaeology,

( Ed)

U niversity o f

O ccasional P aper N o.4.

O rton,C., 1 975 - " Quantitative p ottery s tudies: s ome p rogress, a nd p rospects" S cience a nd A rchaeology V ol.16, p p.30-35. O rton,C., O rton,C.,

1 980

- M athamatics

1 982

-

" Computer

p erformance o f m easures V ol.14,

I n A rchaeology.

o f

s imulation q uantity

o f

C ollins,

e xperiments p ottery"

p roblems

L ondon. t o

W orld

a ssess

t he

A rchaeology

p p.1-20.

S olheim,W.G.,

1 960

-

" The

u se

h andling o f a rchaeological d ata"

o f

s herd

C urrent

w eights a nd c ounts i n

A nthropology

V ol.1,

t he

p p.325-

3 29. T his

p aper

o n

r esearch

A rchaeological S ciences a nd

Physics,

f ormed

p art

i s o f

b ased a n

u ndergraduate

u ndertaken

i n

t he

S chools

U niversity

o f

B radford,

d issertation

b y

W .Fletcher,

Q uantification O f G lass F rom S ix D ials,

o f

w hich T he

S outhampton.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS T he a uthors w ould l ike t he

S chools

B radford, g rateful

f or

o f

t o

t hank D r J ohn Hunter a nd M r S tanley W arren o f

A rchaeological

t heir h elpful

t o M r M ark B risbane o f

f or a llowing a ccess

t o

S ciences

a dvice

a nd

a nd

P hysics,

c omments.

T he

U niversity o f a uthors

a re

t he S outhampton C ity M useums D epartment

t he g lass.

4 6

P RACTICALITY A ND R EALISM I N ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL A NALYSIS A ND I NTERPRETATION

J .Rackham

I ntroduction A r ecent e xcavation r eport o f a n I ron A ge s ite i n a l eading p rehistoric j ournal c oncluded ' the b asic s ubsistence w as m ixed f arming, t he a rable s hown b y t he q uerns, a nd, , t he c ross p loughing, t he p astoral b y t he c attle h orns ( sic: t hree o f t hem)'. What t hey t hought p ulled

t he p lough I a m n ot

i ndiscriminately u sed

s ure !

S uch a c onclusion,

f or a r ange o f s ites,

m ixed

f rom t hose

f arming,

w ith

i s

v irtually

n o e nvironmental d ata r elating t o t he a grarian e conomy t o t hose t hat m ay h ave a c onsiderable b ody o f s uch i nformation. S uch a c onclusion i s h ardly

e arth

p rehistoric s eeds o r I t

s hattering

p ollen. i s

a nd

c ould

s ites w ithout b othering

t he b ones o r s ample

f or

S urely w e a re a fter a b it m ore t han t his?

s omewhat

a rchaeozoologist,

b e r eliably d rawn f or a lmost a ll

t o l ook a t

t o

d epressing, s ee

major

a rchaeology ( Bradley 1 978;

F owler

f rom

t he

s yntheses 1 983)

p oint o f

o f

v iew

B ritish

o f

a n

p rehistoric

d evoting l engthy d iscussions t o

t he a gricultural a spects o f t he a grarian e conomy a nd s o l ittle t o t he p astoral e vidence a nd i ts a ssociated e conomy. T his i s n ot a c riticism o f t hese a uthors a ppears

s o much a s o f t he a rchaeozoological d iscipline,

t o h ave f ailed

t o

s upply i nformation,

i n a manner

t hat c an u sefully b e a pplied

a nalysis.

T he

i nability

t o

r esults o r

t o more g eneral a rchaeological

d raw v alid

c omparisons b etween s ites o r

p eriods f rom t he a rchaeozoological d ata d oes n ot h elp. i s

which

i nterpretation

T his

s ituation

l argely t he r esult o f a nalytical p rocedures w hich a rchaeozoologists

a pply t o t he b asic d ata a nd w hich a re i nadequate a t b est, a nd d ownright m isleading a t w orst. I n t he l ight o f r ecent r esearch c onclusions d rawn f rom p ast s tudies m ust n ow b e r eassessed, o r t hrown o ut c ompletely. O nly r ecently h ave a nalysts b egun t o e xploit i n a s ystematic w ay t he e vidence f or p rocessing a ctivities,

47

d isposal

p ractices,

a nd

t he

s ocial

a nd b ehavioural i nferences o f t he a rchaeozoological r ecord ( Binford 1 978, 1 984; B ogan 1 983; H alstead e t a l 1 978; L asota-Moskalewska 1 984; M altby 1 984, 1 985; Z eder 1 984). T hese s tudies r eflect t he p red epositional t aphonomy o f t he c ollections a nd g enerally e ntail a d etailed s patial a nalysis o f t he m aterial o n t he s ite. H illman 's ( 1981; 1 984) e thnographic w ork o n c rop p rocessing a ctivities a nd t he a nalytical t echniques a pplied b y M .Jones ( 1978) a nd G .Jones ( 1984) t o t he a nalysis o f c arbonised p lant r emains a re s till n ot p aralleled i n t he a nalysis o f d omestic a nimal r emains i n t his c ountry. T he w ork o f B inford ( 1978, 1 981, 1 984; B inford a nd B ertram 1 977) o r a t l east h is a pproach a nd c oncepts, a re s till s eriously u nderexploited i n B ritish a nd E uropean a rchaeology. H is e thnographic w ork ( Binford 1 978, 1 981) c losely p arallels H illman 's ( 1981) a pproach t o t he s tudy o f c arbonised p lant r emains. B oth m onitor t he m odification, b y h uman a ctivities, o f a c rop. I n t he f ormer a h unted o r c ulled a nimal a nd i n t he l atter a c ereal h arvest. B inford's w ork ( 1981, 1 985) a nd t hat o f S peth ( 1983) r elates e xclusively t o h unting o r s cavenging l ifestyles b ut t he m ethods o f a nalysis c an e qually b e a pplied t o o ur m ore t raditional p rehistoric a nd h istoric s ites. T he b ehavioural a nd p ost-depositional t aphonomy o f t he b ones i n a rchaeological s amples i s o nly j ust b ecoming a m ajor i tem o n t he a rchaeozoological a genda. T wo r ecent b ooks G rayson

( 1984)

o n

a rchaeozoological

Q uantitative

m ethod

Z ooarchaeology

a re

d isappointing,

a nd K lein a nd C ruz-Uribe

( 1984) T he a nalysis o f a nimal b ones f rom a rchaeological s ites. W hilst b oth a re u seful s ummaries o f t he c urrent m ethods a nd p rinciples, t hey o ffer n othing n ew - d espite t he r ecognition o f r esearchers ( see G autier 1 984) t hat j ust t hese t echniques, b ased l argely o n t he p roduct o f t hinking i n t he 5 0's, 6 0's a nd v ery e arly 7 0's ( see U erpmann 1 972), a re i nadequate f or t he d escription o f t he a rchaeological s amples. T he t echniques t end t o r ely o n p roducing ' constructs' i .e. e stimates o f a p revious p opulation t hat g enerated t he s amples. T his i s u sually p resented i n t erms o f n umbers o r p roportions o f d ifferent s pecies, s exes o r a ge c ategories- e .g. o ne m ale. M y o wn t hinking a t p resent i s d irected t owards c omparing a nd a nalysing c ollections u sing m ethods t hat p resent t he i nformation a t t he d ata l evel. S imilarities o r d ifferences a re i nterpreted i ndependent o f a ny c onstruct. S uch a n a pproach a llows t he r eady r ecognition o f t he b iases t hat a ffect s amples, s uch a s p oor p reservation, f ragmentation ( Brain 1 981), b ehavioural s electivity ( Yellen 1 977) a nd d isposal, e tc.. T hese f actors a re r arely c onsidered a nd a re o ften m asked w hen w e s tudy M inimum N umber o f I ndividuals ( MNI) ( see C haplin 1 971) o r s urvival g raphs a nd t ables ( for e xample I jzereef 1 981, F ig. 1). T hese n ever i nclude e stimates o f l oss d ue f ragmentation , d estruction o r s cavenging a nd t herefore c annot p resumed

t o

r eflect

a ny

' original'

p opulation

e xcept

i n

t o b e

i deal

c ircumstances - s omething I d o n ot a nticipate c oming a cross v ery o ften. A s G autier ( 1984, p .244) s ays w e d o n ot a ll s tudy b ison k ills ! T he p otential o f i ntra-site v ariation i s o ften i gnored i n b one r eports. T he w ork o f M altby ( 1982) o n material f rom p ost-medieval E xeter h as d emonstrated d ifferent c arcass p art u tilisation o n t he b asis o f a ge. L ambs a re s hown t o c ome w ith t heir h eads a nd j aws a ttached b ut m utton i s g enerally m arketed j ointed. I n t his c ase t he t eeth t herefore r eflect a d ifferent a ge p attern t o t he l ong b ones i n t he s ame s ample. S peth's ( 1983) e xample o n t he s easonally a nd s exually d ifferentiated h unting a nd e xploitation o f b ison a t t he G arnsey B ison K ill i s a f urther i llustration. H alstead e t a l ( 1978), F isher ( 1985), R ackham ( in p ress a ), C reighton ( 1985) a nd o thers h ave b egun t o l ook f or c ulturally/behaviourally g enerated s patial p atterning i n b one o r b one

4 8

a nd a rtefact d istributions o n B ritish a rchaeological s ites. C riticism m ay b e m ade r egarding t he s ize o f s ample u sed b y s ome o f t hese s tudies. W ork c arried o ut b y t he a uthor a t B aille H ill i llustrates a n e xample o f p atterning. H ere t he a uthor ( 1977) s uggested t hat ' house c leaning' a ctivities h ad b iased t he s ample w ithin t he c astle. T he d ebris a t t he b ase o f t he h ill r eflecting w hat w as t hrown o r c leaned o ut. W ilson ( 1985) a nd M ounteney ( 1981) h ave c onsidered s patial p atterning a ssociated w ith p ost-depositional a nd a ttritional p rocesses. A n umber o f a uthors ( Binford a nd B ertram 1 977, B rain 1 969, V oorhies 1 969, S tallibrass 1 984) h ave s tudied t he m odifying e ffects o f a ttritional a gencies, p articularly d ogs, o n b one d ebris. O nly r ecently h ave s uch f actors b een c onsidered a n i mportant f eature o f a grarian a nd u rban s ites ( Mounteney 1 981; W ilson 1 985; R ackham i n p ress a .; S tallibrass 1 984) a lthough ( Uerpmann 1 972, p .319).

t hey

w ere

r ecognised

s ome

y ears

a go

W e t herefore h ave e thnoarchaeological a nd a rchaeological e xamples i llustrating t hat c ulling a nd p rocessing m ay d iffer b etween a nimals o f d ifferent s ex a nd a ge w ithin t he s ame s pecies, a nd t hat p rocessing, c onsumption a nd d isposal a ctivities m ay o ccur d iscretely a cross a s ite o r o n d ifferent s ites. E xploitation o f a nimals o f d ifferent s pecies, a ge, s ex o r f or d ifferent c arcass p arts m ay v ary i n r esponse t o s ocial, c ultural, c raft, n utritional o r s easonal f actors, a nd n o d oubt m any o thers. M oreover, a ll t his v ariation c ould, p otentially, b e d istributed a cross a s ingle s ite. I f w e a cknowledge t hat t his v ariability m ay b e o verlaid b y m any p ost-depositional p rocesses t hat i ntroduce t heir o wn c haracteristic p atterns i nto t he f aunal s ample, w e b egin t o a ppreciate j ust h ow c omplex t he e lucidation o f s uch s amples c an b e. T he u nderstanding o f a ll t hese p atterns a nd p rocesses m ust b e a p rerequisite t o a ny r econstruction a nd i nterpretation o f a nimal r emains. T he B ehavioural A pproaches I n t he i ntroduction I r emark t hat t he c urrent m ethod a nd p ractice i n B ritish a rchaeozoological s tudies i s i nadequate. M y c riticisms a re g eneral a nd w ill n o d oubt b e f aulted b y m any b ut t he n eed f or f urther d evelopment c annot b e g ainsaid. T wo a lternative a pproaches c an b e s een i n

t he

w orks

c ited

a bove.

T he f irst i nvolves t he s tudy o f e thnographic e xamples a nd t he s ubsequent a nalysis o f a rchaeological s amples f or p atterns s imilar t o t hose o bserved ( Binford 1 978, 1 981; B rain 1 981; G ifford 1 980). T he s econd i nvolves t he s tudy o f a rchaeological m aterial f or p atterns w hich w hen f ound a re i nterpreted b y r eference t o t heir c omposition a nd s ome s peculative m odel r ather t han b y d irect a nalogy ( Maltby 1 985; H alstead e t a l

1 978;

L egge 1 981).

T his i s v ery s imilar t o

t he d ivision a pparent

i n a rchaeobotanic s tudies: t he e thnographic a pproach b eing f ollowed b y, f or e xample, H illman ( 1981, 1 984) a nd G .Jones ( 1984) a nd t he s earch f or p atterns i n t he a rchaeological d ata b y D ennell ( 1976) a nd M .Jones ( 1981, 1 985). T he l atter a pproach, t he i nternal a nalysis o r c omparison o f a rchaeological s amples, t ends t o h ave b een u tilised b y r esearchers e ndeavouring t o p roduce a n ' overview ' o f t he s ite. T his i s t hen u sed f or c omparison w ith o ther s ites i n a ' macro' ( regional) s tudy o f e conomic a nd a grarian p atterns. T his n ecessitates t he u se o f r andom s ampling

t o

g enerate

s tatistically

4 9

c omparable

c ollections

f rom

d ifferent p arallels,

s ites i s a

( M .Jones 1 985). T he f ormer, u sing e thnographic m ore r ecent d evelopment c oncerned w ith b ehavioural

a spects w ithin a s ite, i ntersite c omparison b eing b ased u pon w hether s ites s how t he s ame a ctivities o r n ot. T he g eneral e conomic c onclusions t herefore d epend u pon d ifferences i n ' recognised' a ctivities r ather

t han d irect c omparison o f s ample c ompositions.

T he p atterns e lucidated f or b otanical m aterial f rom e thnographic s tudies a ppear v ery s ound ( Hillman 1 981; 1 985) a nd B inford's ( 1978) b one s tudies o f t he N unamiut a ppear t o h ave s imilar p otential. H owever u nlike t he p rocessing o f c ereal c rops, t he p rocessing a nd d istribution o f a n a nimal c arcass m ay v ary w ith s pecies, s ex, a ge, s eason, a bundance, l ocality, c ulture, s ocial s tatus, e tc. O nly B rain ( 1981) a nd B inford ( 1978) a ppear t o h ave d ocumented t he p rocessing o f a d omestic a nimal c arcass. I n b oth c ases t his o ccurred i n e nvironments a nd c ultures f ar r emoved f rom p rehistoric B ritain. F urthermore a nimals m ay p roduce a ' harvest' w hilst s till a live ( Ryder 1 981). T hey d o n ot n eed t o b e c ulled t o b e e xploited. T he n umber o f v ariables t o b e c onsidered a nd t he p otential v ariety i n p rocessing p ractice e ven w ithin t he E uropean z one m ake t he e thnographic a pproach p roblematic, a lthough n ot i mpossible. T he c urrent i nterpretation o f s patial p atterning i n B ritish a rchaeological m aterial d epends u pon t he c onstruction o f a m odel o f c arcass p rocessing ( Maltby 1 985, p .50; H alstead e t a l, 1 978, p .123; C reighton 1 985, p .12), i .e. s kinning, p rimary b utchery, c ooking a nd e ating. H ere i t i s a ssumed t hat s imilar a ctivities w ill g enerate t he s ame p attern o f s keletal e lements r egardless o f s ite o r p eriod. T his I t hink i s t oo s implistic. W hilst w e s tudy a rchaeological m aterial a nd i nterpret i t i n t erms o f t his s imple m odel w e m ay b e m issing many o f t he d istributional p atterns t hat a lso r eflect c ultural, e conomic a nd s ocial b ehaviour. I n t his c ontext t he r ich v ariation d emonstrated t hrough t he e thnographic r ecord m ay i ncrease o ur a wareness o f a lternative e xplanatory m odels. T o u se t wo e xtreme e xamples, t he S emai b utcher a p ig c arcass i nto u nits o f f ood l arge e nough f or t wo a dults, e nsuring t hat e ach u nit h as e quivalent q uantities o f m eat, l iver, f ats a nd i nnards ( Dentan 1 968, p .49). E ach p ortion i s w rapped i n a l eaf a nd t aken b ack t o t he f amily w here i t m ay b e f urther s hared. T he p attern o f e lement d istribution f rom s uch p rocessing a ctivities d oes n ot f all i nto t he m odel n oted a bove. A s a c omplete c ontrast m eat s haring a mong t he ! Kung ( Marshall 1 976, p .296) i s s uch t hat a lmost t he w hole c arcass i s e xploited f or f ood. E ven t he h ide i s p ounded u p a nd e aten a nd t he g ristle o f t he t oes p ounded u p f or c onsumption. I n t he f ace o f t hese e xtremes t he s imple m odels o ften s uggested f or c arcass p rocessing a re r ather i nadequate. I t may b e a rgued t hat p rehistoric a nd e arly h istoric t emperate E urope c annot b e c ompared t o s uch m arginal e thnographic e xamples. H owever s ome v alidity m ay b e d emonstrated i f w e c onsider w ork c arried o ut o n f aunal r emains f rom m ediaeval C arlisle ( Rackham, u npubl.a). H ere a v ery l arge s ample o f h ighly f ragmented a nimal b ones f rom a g roup o f e arly m edieval f eatures a t C astle S treet, C arlisle w as a nalysed. T he g roup w as c omposed a lmost e xclusively o f c attle ( >99%). T his s ample w as a lmost e ntirely m ade u p ( >99%) o f f ragments o f h umerus, r adius, u lna, f emur, t ibia a nd c arpals a nd t arsals. A m inimum e stimate o f s ome 1 500 i ndividual b easts w as m ade f or t he w hole g roup. T his c ollection r epresents t he s elective p rocessing o f e lements w hich m ight n ormally b e c lassified u nder g ood m eat j oints ( humerus a nd f emur), p oor j oints ( radius, u lna a nd t ibia) a nd w aste ( carpals a nd t arsals). M ore

5 0

s ignificantly

t his

m eans

t hat

t hese

e lements h ave b een e ffectively

r emoved f rom i nclusion i n t he d eposits t o w hich t he r emainder o f t he c arcasses o f t he c attle w ere d estined. T he ' complementary' d eposits t herefore l ack t hese b ones a nd w ill b e i nterpreted o n t he a ssumption t hat m ajor m eat b earing j oints a nd l imb b ones a re a bsent. N evertheless t he m eat f rom t hese b ones m ay h ave b een d istributed w ith t he o ther p arts o f t he c arcass, s ince t he b ones m ust h ave b een ' boned o ut' a nd t heir o ccurrence a t C astle S treet i s p resumably f or a ' secondary ' p urpose. I t w ould n ot t herefore b e a ppropriate t o u se t he l ow p roportion o f t hese e lements i n a n e arly m ediaeval c ollection f rom C arlisle a s a b asis f or i nterpretation u nder t he m odel d iscussed a bove. T hese b ones w ere u navailable f or d istribution t o k itchen a nd c onsumption s ites h aving a lready b een r emoved a t t he b utchery s tage f or s ome o ther p rocessing a ctivity ( marrow f at e xtraction?). A nother i llustration o f t his p roblem i s g iven b y B inford ( 1978, p .8-10) w ho h as d etailed t he d ifferent a rchaeological i nterpretations m ade b y a n umber o f a uthors f or t he s ame p henomena w ithin d ifferent f aunal s amples. T he m ere r ecognition o f p atterns i s o bviously n ot s ufficient f or i nterpretive a nalysis. S ome r eal k nowledge o f w hat p atterns a re g enerated b y s pecific a ctivities i s n ecessary. T he A nalytical F oundation A rchaeozoological

s tudies n eed

t o d evelop i n t wo p rincipal a reas.

( 1) Z oological r esearch r elating t o t he m ost b asic d ata i ncluding i dentification o f s pecies a nd s ex , a nd d etermination o f a bsolute a ge. ( 2) F urther r esearch l ooking f or p atterns w ithin t he a rchaeological r ecord. T his s hould b e c oupled w ith e thnographic s tudy o f t he m ethods a nd p urpose o f h usbandry, c ulling a nd p rocessing p ractices a mong c ontemporary s ocieties w ith s ubsistence o r p rimitive m arket e conomies. T hese a reas o f s tudy m ust k eep p ace i f a rchaeological i nterpretation i s t o b ecome r ealistic. A n e qually i mportant a rea o f d evelopment o f t he s tatistical o r a nalytical p rocedures i llustrate p atterns w ithin t he f aunal d ata.

s tudy i s t o t est

t he o r

( 1) L egge ( 1978) h as d iscussed t he s emantics o f a rchaeozoology a nd z ooarchaeology a nd c oncluded t hat s ince t he o bjective w as a rchaeology n either t erm w as v ery a ppropriate. E ither m ight e ncourage s tudy f or z oological r ather t han a rchaeological e nds. H owever i t m ust b e s tressed t hat much a rchaeological r esearch r elies u pon, a nd i ndeed d emands, f urther z oological s tudy i f t he s ubject i s t o d evelop. S peth's ( 1983) m ost i nteresting a rchaeological c onclusions w ould h ave b een i mpossible i n t he a bsence o f z oological l iterature o n t he e cology o f t he b ison a nd t he s easonal a nd s exual v ariation o f t he f at c ontent o f t he a nimal. T he m ore e xtensive a nd r elevant z oological l iterature b ecomes, t he s ounder a ny a rchaeological i nference m ade f rom z oological r emains w ill b e. T he v ariability a mong t he f igures g iven b y s ome a uthors ( see S ilver 1 969; G rigson 1 982; N oddle 1 984) f or t he a ges a t w hich e piphyses f use i n a ny o ne s pecies i s a n e xcellent i llustration o f t he p roblems f acing t he a rchaeozoologist w hen t he z oological l iterature i s i nadequate. A lthough m any o f t he a rchaeological q uestions d irected t owards P alaeolithic a nd h unter-gatherer c ommunities a re i rrelevant i n t he c ontext o f l ater p rehistoric a nd h istoric r ural a nd u rban s ites, t he f ormer f ields o f s tudy i n w hich f aunal r emains a re o ften t he m ost i mportant a rtefact i n t he a rchaeological r ecord, h ave p roduced a g reater s timulus f or t he d evelopment o f t heoretical a nd m ethodological t hinking. L ater p rehistoric a nd h istoric s ites i n a n e nvironment w ith

d omestic a nimals, i n w hich, s patial p atterning, a ctivity a reas, d ifferential c arcass e xploitation , n utritional v alue a nd r esource m anagement a re j ust a s i mportant h ave s o f ar f ailed t o p roduce s uch a s timulus. T hese l atter c ollections o ften h ave a f ar ' better' a rchaeological c ontext a nd m ay h ave a g reater p otential f or r elevant a rchaeological i nformation a nd i nference t han p re-agricultural/pastoral s ites. 2 ) A t t his p oint i t i s u seful t o c ite a f ew p arameters t hat a re ( or w ould b e i f w e c ould w ork t hem o ut) o f c onsiderable r elevance t o a rchaeological r econstruction o f b ehaviour p atterns w ith r espect t o d omestic s pecies. T he ' absolute' a ge a t d eath, s ex, t he p resence o f c astration , t he s eason o f s laughter, n utritional s tatus a t d eath, p rem ortem n utritional h istory, g enetic r elationship o f s tock, m aturation r ate o f a nimals, m ortality f actors b esides s laughter, d isease, e vidence f or d raught o r c arriage, e vidence f or s tock k eeping, s uch a s h ousing o r p enning, g enetic m arkers b etween w ool t ypes a nd s keleton , f eeding r egimes, e tc. A ll o f t hese a re e ssentially q uestions t hat c an o nly b e a nswered t hrough z oological s tudy w ith a ppropriate s tatistical a pplications. C onversely w e c an l ist p arameters t hat m ay b e d escribed a s a rchaeological, e .g. d ensity o f m aterial a cross a s ite, p reservation c onditions, d egree o f f ragmentation, s patial d istribution o f s pecies, s patial d istribution o f c arcass p arts, f racture t ypes, c ut o r c hop m arks a nd a ssociations w ith f eature t ypes, e tc. M any o f t hese m ay r equire n ew m ethods o f d escription i f t hey a re t o b e e ffectively s tudied ( see A ird 1 985; B inford 1 984; M unzel i n p ress; R ackham i n p ress b ). B oth t hese s ets o f p arameters r elate t o t wo p rimary a ims. T he f irst b eing t he e xplanation o f t he a ssemblage i n t erms o f i ts t aphonomic a nd b ehavioural h istory, t he s econd, t he r econstruction o f o ne o r m ore l ive a nimal e conomies t hat c ould h ave g enerated t he a ssemblage. B oth t hese a spects o f i nterpretation a re i mportant f or i ntraa nd i nter-site s tudies. I t i s t his i nformation t hat w ill p ermit t he m ore g eneral c ultural a nd e conomic c onclusions. A s e arly a s 1 969, H igham a nd M essage c laimed t hat t he s tock b reeding p atterns c ould b e e stablished o n a p rehistoric s ite. H owever, U erpmann 's ( 1972, p .315) e arly s cepticism h as s pread a nd t here a re n ow m any a rguments ( Rackham 1 983).

a gainst

t he

e asy

e lucidation o f l ivestock h usbandry

W ith t hese t wo l evels o f i nterpretation i n m ind i t b ecomes o bvious t o a p ractitioner t hat h e/she c annot e xplore a ny , or v ery f ew, o f t he p arameters n oted a bove u sing t he t raditional m ethods o f a rchaeozoology. I n 1 978 B ourdillon a nd C oy u tilised a lmost e very m ethod o f s pecies q uantification a vailable a t t he t ime i n t heir s tudy o f S axon f aunal m aterial f rom S outhampton. N ot o nly i s t he v ariety o f r esults c onfusing ( op.cit. p .84) b ut o ne m ight n ow q uestion t heir v alue i n t he a bsence o f d etailed d ata o n p reservation , f ragmentation a nd s keletal p art d istribution f or e ach s pecies. I t i s n ow r ecognised t hat w e c an s uperficially c ompare t he r esults o f p ast s tudies w ith o ther s ites, b ut t he a ccuracy o f o ur c onclusions a re p rejudiced b y t he a bsence o f r elevant d ata a nd t he c ontinued u se o f ' constructed' h istograms o r k ill o ff g raphs r ather t han t he r aw d ata. H owever t he l iterature i ncludes m any t echniques o f r ecording a nd a nalysis t hat c an b e u sed f or t he s tudy o f s ome o f o ur g oals, a lthough w e s hould o bviously c ontinue t o e xplore n ew w ays

f orward.

5 2

S ome w ays f orward? T he f aunal r ecord c ontains m any d ifferent s orts o f ' populations'. T he p rimary l evel o f p opulation I w ish t o c onsider i s t hat g enerated b y a p articular s et o f c ircumstances o r b ehaviour a nd w hich i s r epeatable u nder a s imilar s et o f c ircumstances. A c aribou k illed a nd e aten b y a w olf w ill b e r ecognisable b y t he p attern o f t he c arcass d ebris w hichever w olf w as i nvolved o r w herever i t o ccurred. H owever, h ow h ungry t he w olf w as o r w hether i t h ad c ubs m ay a ffect t he d egree t o w hich t he c arcass i s u tilised o r p arts r emoved. L ikewise b utchery p rocesses, c ooking p rocedures a nd p ost-depositional t aphonomy w ill a ll r eproduce a s imilar p opulation w hen r epeated, a ll t hings b eing e qual. D ifferent b utchery p rocesses g enerate a s eries o f d ifferent a nd c haracteristic p opulations ( see H alstead e t a l 1 978). I t i s i mportant h ere t o r ecognise t hat i ndividuals o f d ifferent s ize, s ex o r a ge m ay s uffer d ifferent p rocessing t echniques a nd m ay b e m odified d ifferentially b y p ost-depositional a gencies i n a p redictable m anner. B inford a nd B ertram ( 1977) h ave s hown t hat d ogs m odify a f aunal a ssemblage d ifferently i f t he a ge s tructure o f t he o riginal s ample p opulation i s c hanged. T he m ajor p roblem w ith a n a rchaeological s ample i s t hat i t i s a p alimpsest, c onflating a nd c onfusing a n umber o f d istinct p atterns. T he f irst r equirement i n f aunal a nalysis i s t herefore t o u tilise t he s mallest r ecognisable a rchaeological u nit o f t he c ollection - i .e. a f eature, p it o r l ayer w ithin i t. T his r educes t he l ikelihood o f m ore t han o ne p opulation b eing p resent, b ut d oes p resent p roblems o f s ample s ize. W e t herefore n eed t o d evelop s tatistical t echniques f or t he r ecognition a mong s mall s amples o f o ft r epeated p atterns. A lternatively w e m ay a pproach f rom t he o ther d irection a nd t est t he p robability o f s mall s amples d eriving f rom a k nown o r p redicted ' bone p opulation ' b ased u pon h ypothesis o r a n e thnographic m odel. R edistribution o f m aterial a fter d eposition must b e p resumed t o o ccur o n m ost s ites. S election o f f eatures i s i mportant a nd a ny a nalysis s hould d eal p rimarily w ith ' good' g roups. L ess p romising m aterial s hould b e c onsidered o nly a fter t he f ormer h ave y ielded t heir i nformation. I f rom

d isagree w ith F isher's ( 1985, p .169) v iew t hat w e s hould p roceed t he k nown. I n u sing a n e mpirical q uantitative m ethod f or

d iscovering p atterns, a n e xpectation o r h ypothesis i mmediately d etermines t he s election o f t he v ariables f or a nalysis. T his o nly p ermits t he s tatistical r ecognition o f p attern a mong t hese v ariables a nd t herefore l eads t o t he p robable g eneration o f a c ircular a nalysis. T his i s o ne r eason w hy s ample s ize i s s o i mportant. S mall s ample s ize n ecessitates t he a malgamation o f v ariables i nto a l arger u nit - i .e. t oo f ew f ragments o f l imb b one e lement m ay l ead o ne t o u tilise t he f ront a nd h ind l imb a s i ndividual u nits i n o rder t o i ncrease t he s ample s ize ( see H alstead e t a l 1 978, p .120). T his b egs t he q uestion a s t o w hether t he e lements i n a s ingle l imb a re a ssociated i n t his manner d uring p rocessing a nd m ay l ead o ne t o i nterpret a ny p atterns f ound i n t erms o f l imb u nits a nd n ot c ontemporary p rocessing u nits. A l arge s ample a llows s mall, i f n ot i rreducible, u nits t o b e u sed a s v ariables e .g. t he h ead o f t he f emur, t he a cetabulum o f t he p elvis a nd t he n utrient f oramen o n t he p roximal p osterior s haft o f t he t ibia. S uch u nits c ommonly o ccur a s i ndividual f ragments, a nd t heir u tility i s d etermined b y o ur a bility t o i dentify t hem, r ather t han t o a ny h ypothesis. Q uantitative a nalyses o f s amples c an t hen b e u sed t o d etermine t he d egree o f a ssociation b etween v ariable u nits i ndependent o f w hether t hey o ccur o n t he s ame s keletal e lement o r i n a p articular t ype o f f eature. I t w ould b e i ncorrect t o a ssume t hat t he d ifferent

5 3

e nds o f t he s ame b one a re s ubjected

t o

t he s ame p rocessing h istory.

A fter q uantitative t reatment e .g. c luster a nalysis, t he ' groupings' m ay t hen b e u sed t o g enerate h ypotheses b ased o n t he a natomical p arts r epresented i n e ach g roup a nd t heir s patial p atterning a nd a rchaeological a ssociations. T he f inal i nterpretation o f t he a ctivity, b ehaviour o r a ttritional p rocess t hat g enerated t he s tatistically i solated g roups i s t herefore b ased u pon t he a natomical c omposition o f t he g roup, t he n ature o f t he a rchaeological f eatures a nd t he s mall f inds w ith w hich i t h as b oth n egative a nd p ositive a ssociation. I n t his w ay w e a re l ess l ikely t o i mpose o ur o wn s peculative u nderstanding o f p rocessing a ctivities o nto t he d ata. W e m ay h owever g enerate a natomical a ssociations t hat c an b e t ested a gainst o ther c omparable s ites a t a v ery b asic l evel. O f c ourse t he d ata c annot n ecessarily b e r elied u pon t o g enerate a natomically u nderstandable g roupings o r s how c lear p ositive a nd n egative a ssociations. T he h ypothesis s tates t hat i t w ill, b ut m any f actors m ay d isrupt t hese p atterns a nd n o d oubt s ome p rocessing a ctivities m ay n ot b e c omprehensible w ithout f irst h and e thnographic e xperience. I f eel t hat a rchaeological m aterial w ill r eveal m any u npredictable p atterns u nder t he a ppropriate a nalytical m ethods, a nd t hat t hese w ill r equire a nd j ustify i nterpretive e xplanation. T his a pproach w ill t ake u s f urther a long t he r oad d eveloped b y B rain ( 1981), B inford ( 1978, 1 981) a nd o thers f or t he r ecognition o f p atterns i n f aunal r emains. A n e xample o f p atterning, w hich I d o n ot p ropose t o i nterpret h ere, i s g iven i n F ig. 1 . T he f igure i llustrates t he f requency o f f ragments o f c attle s keletal e lements i n a f ourth c entury v icus b uilding a t P iercebridge, C ounty D urham, a nd i n t he a djacent d itch d eposits b eneath a s econd b uilding ( Rackham a nd G idney u npubl.). T hese a re l arge s amples a nd t he p attern i s p ronounced, y et m uch s maller g roups m ay r eflect s imilar p atterns. I t i s o f c ourse s imple t o s uggest s uch a n a pproach, b ut i t n eed n ot b e s o h ard t o a pply i n t erms o f s keletal e lement p atterns ( eg F ig. 1 ). Y et w e h ave o nly r ecently b egun t o t ake o ur a nalyses b eyond e lements t o f ragments o f e lements ( Munzel i n p ress; R ackham i n p ress b ). D ifferent p arts o f t he s ame b one m ay b e d istributed i ndependently a nd i t i s n ecessary t o u se a r ecording t echnique t hat w ill p ermit r ecognition o f t his p henomenon. W atson 's ( 1979) d iagnostic z ones, R ackham 's ( in p ress b ; i n p rep.b) z ones a nd M unzel's ( in p ress) d ivision o f e ach e lement i nto q uadrants a nd s lices a re i llustrations o f r ecording t echniques t hat m ay b e e qual t o t his p roblem. S mall s amples m ay b e a nalysed i n t his w ay. H owever i f o ne w ishes t o c onsider t he i nfluence o f v ariables s uch a s s pecies, s ex a nd a ge, n o l ess i mportant t o a n i nterpretation o f e lement p attern ( see S peth 1 983) a nalytical a nd s tatistical p rocedures b ecome p roblematic a nd z oological t echniques n eed t o b e d eveloped f urther. T he r eliable a ssignment o f s pecies, s ex a nd a ge m ust b e a ttempted e ven w hen t he s keletal e lements t raditionally u sed f or s uch i dentification e .g. t he m andible, s kull o r p elvis, m ay n ot o ccur i n t he ' fragment p opulation ' b eing c onsidered. T he i dentification a nd r ecognition o f s uch p atterns i mmediately b ecomes a n i mportant b asis f or i nterpretation a nd i nter a nd i ntra-site c omparisons. A n ew s ite c an b e m ore r eadily t ested f or t he o ccurrence o f a p attern i dentified i n a p revious s tudy ( i.e. F ig. 1 ; s ee a lso S tallibrass' ( 1984) c omparison o f s heep b ones f rom a R oman s ite i n E ngland w ith B rain 's

( 1969)

H ottentot g oat d ata).

5 4

F igure 1 - T he r elative f requency o f d ifferent e lements o f c attle i n t wo f ourth c entury s amples f rom P iercebridge R oman V icus, C ounty D urham. T he s keletal e lements a re g rouped i nto s kull, f ront l imb, b ack l imb a nd f oot e lements. T he d ifferences b etween t he t wo s amples h ave b een h ighlighted b y s hading t he a rea o f a re a bsent f rom t he o ther s ample.

t he b ars

i n t he

d iagram

V ICUS S TPIP B UILDING 0

I

1

4

3

0

2

2

2 1 0

7 6 6

4 2

1 9

1 2

5

2

2 3 5

5 3

2 5

1 4

)

3

3

2

2

9 1 3

1 6

1 0

6

100

9 0 -

8 0 -

V .O F M OST F REQUENT

7 0 -

6 0

5 0 -

4 0 -

3 0 -

2 0 -

1 0-

< -7

L . )

O C

u _

7 ",

2,

u J

L I

L I

U . 1

( 1

P PE-VICUS B UILDING N.

9

6 1 2

5 1 2

4

2

4

6 3 3

2 0

2 5

2 2

9 2 2

1

1

2 1 3

2 1

1 3

5

3

1

0

0

0 1 3

1 5

3 4

9 1 3

10 0

P i S KELETAL E LEMENTS 55

w hich

T he u tilisation o f t he f ragment r ecording m ethods n oted n ot o nly a llows c omparison o f t he d ifferent w ays e ach s pecies e rodes, f ragments o r i s b utchered. I t a lso p ermits t he c omparison o f t wo c ollections o f t he s ame s pecies f rom d ifferent s ites, w hich m ay h ave u ndergone r adically d ifferent f ragmentation o r b utchery. M altby ( 1985, p .51) h as i llustrated s uch a n a nalysis i n c omparing t he c attle m etapodials f rom W innal D own a nd S ilchester. H e u ses a s ubjective f raction b asis ( je 1 / 4 , 1 /2, 3 /4 o r w hole b one) w ith r eference t o w hether t he p roximal, d istal o r s haft i s p resent. T he p recision o f t his c an b e i mproved b y u sing t he r ecording t echniques n oted a bove, b ut t he m arked c hange i n f requency o f d ifferent p arts o f t he m etapodia i s c learly i llustrated i n M altby's f igure 2 .5. S uch d ifferences m ay b e i nterpretable i n t erms o f p reservation, b utchering, p rocessing, e tc. T his t ype o f r ecording a cquires i mportance w hen w e c onsider t he e nds f use a t d ifferent a ges.

t hat, T he

i n t he c ase o f m any b ones, s urvival p roperties w ill

t herefore v ary o n a s ingle e lement a nd f ailure t o r ecognise t his m ay l ead t o m isconceptions. M altby 's a rticle ( 1985) i s a u seful s ummary o f s ome o f t he ' patterns' s o f ar f ound b y a nalysts a nd t he f uture p otential o f s uch t echniques. H owever w e s till h ave a l ong w ay t o g o. N ew f ragment d escription p rocedures a nd s tatistical t ests m ay b e r equired, p erhaps t ailored t o t he p roblems o f p articular s ites s uch a s t he ' steam r ollered' r emains f rom C astle S treet n oted a bove ( Rackham u npubl). I n t his p aper I h ave d iscussed i n s ome d etail e ssentially a rchaeological ( rather t han z oological) a pproaches t o t he a nalysis o f f aunal d ata i .e. t he c haracter o f t he s ample - b ut n ot t he i ntrinsic n ature o f t he b ones t hemselves. T he i ntrinsic z oological c haracteristics o f t he b ones a re h owever a n e ssential a spect o f t he e lucidation o f p ast h uman b ehaviour. T he z oological a spects m ay w ell b e d eterminants o f a p articular p rocessing a ctivity o r t he r eason f or t he c ull. I n a gricultural e conomies t he a ge o f a n a nimal a nd i ts s ex a re m ajor c riteria i n d eciding w hether i t w ill b e s laughtered o r n ot. S peth ( 1983) h as a lso s hown t hat t his i nformation i s i mportant i n c onsidering t he h unting a nd u tilisation o f b ison b y N orth A merican i ndians. T he s ize a nd c ondition o f t he b east a nd t he s eason a re a lso l ikely t o b e s ignificant f actors. T he i mportance o f d ifferent p roducts t o t he c ommunity i s t he b asis o f t he d ecision t o s elect a nimals o f t his o r t hat a ge o r s ex a nd t his m ay v ary s easonally. W e m ay t herefore s uppose t hat f aunal s tudies s hould p ermit u s t o d etermine w hat a spects o f t he p astoral e conomy a re i mportant a t d ifferent s ites p erhaps p ermitting c ultural a s w ell a s e conomic c onclusions f or s ome p rehistoric s ettlements. S ome o f t hese p roblems c an b e e xemplified b y a s tudy o f a s ample o f s heep b ones f rom t he I ron A ge s ite a t T horpe T hewles, C leveland ( Rackham i n p ress a ). 1 .

A ge a ssessment. F igure 2 p resents t he e piphyseal

f rom

T horpe

T hewles

f usion d ata f or

i n t he f orm o f a b ar d iagram.

t he

s heep

r emains

T he e piphyses a re

a rranged i n t he o rder t hat t hey w ould b e e xpected t o f use i n t he l ive a nimal ( Rackham, i n p ress c ). B roadly t he d ata c an b e g rouped i nto t hree m ajor c ategories: a )

t hose

i n w hich t he e piphyses o f t he p halanges a nd

5 6

t hose

t hat

f use

F igure 2 - T he p roportion o f f used, j ust f used a nd u nfused e piphyses o f e ach b one e lement o f s heep a mong t he i dentified r emains f rom T horpe T hewles, C leveland. T he e piphyses a re a rranged i n t he a pproximate o rder t hey w ould f use i n t he l ive a nimal.

J UST F USED

U-1

W

L . 1

0

L . )

o a

-

x, D c 1 2-

CD U-1

z 0

0 ] 9, r u

r r )

0 3 9V1\33 3d

5 7

A PPROX IM ATE

, a

e arlier a re f used,

b ut a ll

t he l ater f using e piphyses a re n ot.

( b)

t hose i n w hich a ll

( c)

a s mall g roup ( less t han 5 %)

T he

s ample

s plits,

t he e piphyses a re f used. o f a nimals w ith a ll e piphyses u nfused.

a pproximately,

4 0:55:5.

A pproximate a ges a t d eath

c an b e a ssigned t o t he i ndividuals r epresented i n t he s ample b y r eference t o d ata o n t he a ge a t f usion o f t hese e piphyses i n m odern a nd r ecent s tock ( Silver 1 969). T he m odern d ata w ould s uggest t he y ounger g roup w ere s laughtered a fter 1 3-16 m onths a nd b efore 1 8-24 m onths w ith t he s econd g roup a ll b eing k illed a fter 3 6-42 m onths. A n a lternative d ata s et m ay b e u sedt hat o f a s tudy o n f eral g oats ( Bullock a nd R ackham, 1 982). A lthough a d ifferent s pecies i s c oncerned i t m ay b e s uggested t hat d evelopment r ate m ay b e e xpected t o b e s imilar b etween t hese f eral g oats a nd p rimitive s heep s tock. C ertainly G iles ( 1969) h as s hown t hat i n w ild B ighorn s heep, O vis c anadensis, t he 3 rd m olar e rupts 1 2 m onths o r m ore l ater t han i n d omestic s heep. T his d ata s et w ould s uggest t hat t he y ounger g roup i n t he s ample r epresents a nimals o ver 2 0 m onths b ut u nder 3 6 m onths a nd t he o lder g roup a nimals a re o ver 7 2 m onths. N either o f t hese a ge e stimates n eed n ecessarily b e c orrect. T his e xample h ighlights o ne o f t he m ajor p roblems f aced b y a rchaeozoologists. F urthermore, p rehistoric s tock m ay w ell h ave m atured s ignificantly m ore s lowly t han m odern s tock, a lso p oor n utrition c an s eriously d elay t ooth e ruption a nd e piphyseal c losure ( Lewall a nd C owan 1 963; N oddle 1 984) a s c an c astration. I nterpretations i n t he a bsence o f g ood a geing t echniques a re l ikely t o b e i ncorrect. W hether t he y ounger g roup w as 1 2-24 m onths o r 2 0-36 m onths i s h ighly s ignificant i n h usbandry t erms. T he f ormer a ge e stimate i s l ikely t o r epresent c ulling f or m eat a nd p ossibly s kins, w hile t he l atter g roup w as a lmost c ertainly k ept o n f or t he f irst, a nd b est, w ool c rop. I n t he s econd g roup w hether t he a nimals w ere o ver t hree o r s ix y ears i s o bviously r elevant. T he l atter s uggested a ge p romotes a n i nterpretation i n w hich w ool c an b e s een a s a m ajor p roduct o f t he e conomy. T he s heep t eeth a nd j aws f rom T horpe T hewles w ere a lso s tudied a nd t he e vidence f or e ruption a nd w ear r evealed a s imilar p attern a nd p roblems i n t heir u se a s a n a ge i ndicant. W e must b e c autious a bout t he v alidity o f h ypotheses b ased u pon s uch i nformation. T he a uthor ( Rackham 1 986) h as s ectioned a l arge s ample o f R oman c attle m olars t o s tudy t he i ncremental l ayers i n t he c ementum i n a n e ndeavour t o a ge, i n a bsolute t erms, t he a nimals r epresented. H illson ( 1986) h as i ndicated s ome r eservations a bout t he u se o f t he i ncremental l ines i n c ementum f or a ge a ssessment, b ut a c onsiderable b ody o f l iterature s upports t he r elationship. T echniques a lso e xist f or t he s imple a nd e fficient s ectioning o f t eeth f or s uch s tudies. T he r esults o f t he s tudy o f t he c attle m olars a re e ncouraging a nd f urther w ork o n c ementum l ayers o r a lternative a geing t echniques, s uch a s s tudies o n e namel s hould b e u ndertaken ( Hillson 1 986). U ntil

t hese s tudies h ave b een c arried o ut w e c an p erhaps r efine

o ur

a geing o f m andibles b y u sing c rown h eight ( Klein a nd C ruz-Uribe 1 984, p .46) a nd t ooth w ear s tages ( TWS, G rant 1 982) i n a t hree d imensional a nalysis. T he w ear s tages o n t he t hree m olars o f t he m andible c an b e p lotted i n a t hree d imensional f igure ( see W est 1 984). F igure 3 i llustrates t he d istribution a nd f requency o f t he w ear p atterns o n t he s ample o f R oman c attle j aws u tilised b y R ackham ( 1986). T he t reatment o f t he d ata i n t his m anner, r ather t han t he t wo d imensional b ar d iagram p resented b y G rant ( 1982,

F ig.4)

i mproves t he r esolution o f t he d ata.

5 8

F igure 3 — A t hree d imensional p lot o f t he f requency o f p articular t ooth w ear p atterns ( TWS) o n t he M olar 1 +2 a nd t he M olar 3 i n a g roup o f i st a nd 2 nd c entury c attle m andibles f rom C arlisle, C umbria. T he s cales a re b ased u pon t he n umeric v alues g iven b y G rant ( 1982).

o I-.

c o

T.-

5 9

V

W e c an h owever, i rrespective o f t he a ctual a ge a t w hich t he e piphyseal e vents o ccur, c ompare t he d ata f rom T horpe T hewles w ith a s ite o f s imilar p eriod, a lthough d ifferent c haracter, i n S outhern E ngland. A t D anebury ( data f rom G rant 1 984) t he p attern o f e piphyseal f usion c ontrasts w ith t hat a t T horpe T hewles a nd d ivides i nto t hree g roups ( Fig.4): t he f irst a g roup i n w hich n o e piphyses a re f used; t he s econd i n w hich t he d istal h umerus, p roximal r adius a nd s capula t uberosity a re f used b ut n o o thers ( except p ossibly t he p halanges w hich a re n ot r ecorded); a nd a t hird w ith a ll t he e piphyses f used. I rrespective o f t he r eal a ges o f t he a nimals, t he ' pattern ' a t D anebury c ontrasts w ith t hat a t T horpe T hewles i n h aving a l arge p roportion o f a nimals i n w hich n o e piphyses a re f used. W hile p reservational d ifferences m ay a ccount f or t he l oss o f a p roportion o f j uveniles a t T horpe T hewles, t he d ata i ndicates t wo d ifferent p atterns o f e xploitation o f s heep. T he f igures ( 2 & 4 ) a re s elf e xplanatory a nd r eflect t he d ifferences i n t he d ata b etter t han a s urvival g raph c onstructed w ith a n x -axis m arked o ut i n, p robably s purious, m onths o r y ears. I n t he c omparison o f t hese t wo s ites i t i s l ikely t hat t he s tock t ypes p resent a nd n utritional l evel o f t he s heep w ere d ifferent. I f s o t his w ould h ave a ffected t he m aturation r ate s uch t hat a nimals a t t he s ame s tage o f s keletal d evelopment a nd w ith t he s ame e piphyses f used o r u nfused m ay b e o f d ifferent r eal a ges. W e p resume t hese e rrors w ill n ot b e s evere b ut s ectioning s tudies s uch a s t hat n oted a bove a nd o riginally i llustrated f or s heep ( Saxon a nd H igham 1 968) c ould e stablish t he s cale o f s uch d ifferences. R ackham ( 1986) h as a lready s uggested t hat s uch d ifferences o ccur b etween R oman c attle f rom C arlisle a nd t he S axon b easts f rom S outhhampton s tudied b y C oy e t a l ( 1982). 2 .

S ex d etermination.

V ery l ittle s ubstantiated w ork h as b een c arried o ut o n s exual d imorphism i n d omestic a nimals, o r t he e ffect o f c astration o n s keletal m orphology, g rowth a nd d evelopment. O ften o nly t he p elvic b ones o r s kulls c an b e s exed a nd t hese g enerally o nly w hen w hole. A lthough v ariations i n s ize o ccur t hat a re i nterpreted a s s exual i n o rigin f ew d imensions c an r eliably b e u sed f or r ecognising t he s exes. C astration o f c ourse i ntroduces f urther c omplications. I n

t he

I ron

A ge

s ample

a t T horpe T hewles t he o nly b one f ragment

o ccurring i n a n i ntact s tate f or m easurement, a nd w ith a s ample s ize o f o ver 1 0 ( 12), w as t he d istal t ibia. I t h as n ot b een s hown t hat t his f ragment i s s exually d imorphic i n d omestic s heep, a lthough s ize d imorphism i s s trong i n t his f ragment i n l ate P leistocene b ison a nd m ay b e i n o ther w ild u ngulates s howing b ody s ize d imorphism ( Rackham 1 981, F ig.29). T he p elvic f ragments f rom t he s ite w ere t oo b roken f or d etermination o f s ex o n m orphological c riteria, a lthough b oth m ales a nd f emales w ere k nown t o b e p resent w ithin t he s ample, i dentified f rom t he p resence o f h orn c ores w hich a re s trongly d imorphic. W ithin t he l imits o f o ur p resent k nowledge n o e stimate w hatsoever c ould b e m ade o f t he p roportions o f t he s exes i n t he w hole s ample, l et a lone w ithin e ach a ge g roup. I t r eally i s i mportant t hat s ex c riteria a re o btained f rom m odern p rimitive b reeds i n s uch a w ay t hat t hey c an b e t ested a gainst a rchaeological m aterial. m easurements t hat n eed

t o

T his w ould n ot o nly l imit t he n umber o f b e t aken b ut w ould a lso p ermit

i nterpretations o f much g reater u se a nd e nable v alid i ntersite c omparisons. P erhaps t he m ost i mportant b one t o t ry a nd s ex i s t he

6 0

F igure 4 - T he p roportion o f f used a nd u nfused e piphyses o f e ach b one e lement o f s heep a mong t he i dentified r emains f rom d eposits d ated t o p hase L ate B a t D anebury ( data f rom G rant 1 985).

c r )

aa a

I

© Z 0

c 0 -

c ) 0 3

1 3 sH

0 ' 0

A HdI

0

i s )

0

4-

O

6 1

0

r )

0

( v

0

D VI\33 3d

0

-

1 961 A ND B U LLOCK A ND R ACKH AM ,

( r )

( AFTER H ASERMEH L,

a w au -

A PPROX IM ATE

1 982 )

J UST F USED

Ln

m andible, w hich c arries t he t eeth a nd i s t herefore t he s keletal e lement t hat c an b e a ged m ost a ccurately. A d etailed multivariate a nalysis o f m easurements o n m andibles o f k nown a ge a nd s ex m ay r eveal c riteria t hat c an b e a pplied

t o a rchaeological m aterial.

I deally m etrical, m orphological o r b iochemical c riteria f or d istinguishing t he s ex o f a n a nimal s hould b e e stablished f or a ll m ajor l imb b ones a nd m ost f requently o ccurring f ragments. I t i s n ot a dequate t o r ely o n o ne o r t wo e lements w hich f or t aphonomic r easons m ay b e p oorly r epresented i n t he s ample. 3 .

O ther A venues o f R esearch

A lthough a ge a ssessment a nd t he d etermination o f s ex a re p rimary g oals i n a rchaeozoological a nalysis, o ther a spects o f z oological s tudy a re l ikely t o r epay f urther w ork. A n u nderexploited a rea o f s ome i nterest b oth t o t he z oologist a nd t he a rchaeologist i s t he o ccurrence o f n on-metrical t raits. T hese a re m inor v ariations i n t he s keleton t hat o ccur i n c haracteristic f requencies i n d ifferent p opulations. T heir e xpression i s t he r esult o f a n i nteraction o f e nvironmental a nd g enetic f actors, t he m ajor d eterminant b eing g enetic ( Howe a nd P arson 1 967), a nd d escribed b y B erry a nd S earle ( 1963) a s ' epigenetic p olymorphism '. H itherto c omparisons o f s tock o f d ifferent p eriods a nd g eographic a reas h ave l argely b een m ade u sing m easurements, o ften o f u nsexed m aterial ( Armitage 1 980; B okonyi 1 974; J ewel 1 963).

m ay

H owever m any o f t he f actors a ffecting ' size' a re e nvironmental a nd b e i ndependent o f a ny r eal g enetic r elationship b etween

p opulations. B erry ( 1978) h as c onsidered t he p otential o f t hese t raits a nd h as s hown t hat t hey c an b e u sed t o i llustrate t he o rigin o f p opulations o r d ifferences b etween t hem ( Berry 1 973). T his a rea o f s tudy h as h ardly b een e xplored i n a rchaeological m aterial, a lthough N oddle ( 1978, 1 983) h as r ecorded a n umber o f t raits o n t he s keleton o f s heep a nd h as i llustrated d ifferences b etween b reeds. S uch a s tudy h olds a n umber o f p ossibilities f or a rchaeology. I t s hould b e p ossible t o f ollow t he m ovement o f p rehistoric s tock t ypes a cross E urope d uring t he N eolithic a nd p erhaps d etermine w hether d omestication o ccurred a t a n umber o f f oci. T he i nflux o f n ew p eoples o r i nvasions m ay h ave i ntroduced n ew s tock. I n B ritain p articularly, t he p ossibilities o f s tock b eing i ntroduced f rom E urope e xist f or a n umber o f p eriods a nd i t m ay b e p ossible t o r ecognise t he i ntroduction o f a c haracter o r c haracters n ot p reviously p resent i n t he n ative s tock b ut o ccurring i n c ontemporary E uropean t ypes. O nce a gain a b ody o f z oological r esearch m ust b e c onducted t o f orm t he b asis o f s uch a s tudy. V ariable c haracters s uch a s p resence o r a bsence o f f oramina, p ositions o f f oramina,

e xtra

c olumns

o n

t eeth,

e tc,

o n

m any

b ones n eed

t o b e

d escribed b efore s uch i nformation c an b e r outinely r ecovered f rom f aunal c ollections. T he i nterpretation o f t hese c haracteristics i s n ot s traightforward b ut B erry ( 1970, 1 977) h as n eatly i llustrated i ts p otential i n h is s tudy o f m odern m ice p opulations. M any o ther

r esearch t opics a re o pen t o t hose s tudying a nimal b ones.

N utritional l evel a nd d isease h istory h ave p otential i nterest, p articularly i n m arginal s ubsistence a reas. L inford ( 1986) c onducted a r adiographic s tudy o f a rchaeological a nd m odern s heep a nd g oat b ones i n s earch o f H arris l ines ( see B aker a nd B rothwell 1 980, p .45). A lthough u nsuccessful i n t his, e vidence f or r arefaction, t he r emoval o f m inerals

6 2

f rom

t he

s keleton,

i n

m odern

f eral

g oats

k nown

t o

h ave d ied o f

s tarvation w as o bserved o n t he mandibles, a nd s uggested a s a means o f r ecognising i n a n a rchaeological s ample a nimals c ulled d uring p eriods o f p oor n utrition s uch a s D obney

i s

s tudying i n d etail

a nd man a nd h is e arly B rothwell

1 986).

r esults

A part

d iet o f a p rehistoric c alculus

o n

t he

I t

t he o ral h ave

p athology o f d omestic

p roved

s pecies

( Dobney

a nd

f rom d escribing s ome o f t he c onstituents i n t he

I rish i ndividual

f rom D alkey I sland b y a s tudy o f

may

m aterial b e

t hat

i n

d omestic

t hese

s tock

s tudies w ill

f odder p ractice o r g eneral h ealth i n t hese p ast

i nteresting

i ndividual's t eeth h e h as i llustrated d ifferences i n

d eposition o f t his s ites.

t he l ate w inter m onths.

f rom

a rchaeological

r eveal a spects o f d iet,

a rchaeological

r emains

o f

d omestic a nimals.

C onclusion I

h ave

o nly

t ouched

o n s ome o f

t hose p otential a reas f or r esearch

t hat t he a rchaeozoological f ield p resents. F ew o f t he z oological a spects c an b e e xpected t o p roduce g ood r esults w ithout f urther s tudy o f modern s keletal m aterial p resent

m odern

z oology

f rom a nimals w ith a k nown l ife h istory.

b ut many z oological p rojects d o r esearch

m aterial

e thnographic

( eg

g enerate

B ullock

p otential

a nd

R ackham

s tudies o f c arcass d ismembering a nd

m ay p rove i mportant

A t

s hows l ittle i nterest i n t hese a reas o f s tudy

t o a rchaeological

a rchaeozoological 1 982).

S imilarly

s ubsequent

p rocessing

s tudies.

While w e may w ish t o c onsider many a rchaeological q uestions t hrough i ntersite c omparisons, d ifferences i n a gricultural e conomies, t he c haracter

o f p rehistoric

e conomies,

s uch q uestions c annot

h ave

d eveloped

t he

f arming c ommunities a nd

s ubject

' realistically'

f urther a nd

t he d emands o f market b e a nswered

u ntil

w e

s uccessfully a nswered many o f

t he l esser q uestions u pon w hich s uch c onclusions must b e f ounded. N evertheless a pproaches

I h ave y et

t he

c urrently a vailable G arnsey

B ison

t ime a nd money, a nd

t o s ee a n a rchaeozoological r eport t hat e ven

p otential k ill

i s

t he

a nalytical

material

u nder

a lthough S peth's

p erhaps a n e xception.

p erhaps,

a rchaeozoological

o f

t echniques,

m any d o n ot e ven u se

t echniques s tudies

u sing

s tudy

o f

t he t he

T hrough c onstraints o f

t he

c urrently

s tudy

( 1983) r ange

o f

r ecording

a vailable.

P erhaps

s hould n ow b e t he w ork o f a ' team ',

f ollowing

u p m any d ifferent l ines o f e vidence o n t he s ame s ample.

B IBLIOGRAPHY A ird,P.M .,

1 985

d estruction:

-

f rom R oman L incoln", A rmitage,P.,

1 980

t o

a nd

e xperiment a pplied i n F ieller,N.,

e arly

a nd B rothwell,D.,

A cademic P ress, B arker,G.

p p.5-18

t o

a

G ilbertson ,D.

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" On d istinguishing b utchery f rom o ther p ost-mortem

a methodological

e ighteenth

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Animal

c entury"

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s ample

a nd R alph,N. c attle

f rom

T he A rk V ol.7(12),

i n

A rchaeology.

L ondon. G amble,C.,

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6 3

E urope.

A cademic P ress,

B ehrensmeyer,A.K.

a nd

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( Eds),

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B erry,R.J.,

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1 973

m ice" J ournal B erry,R.J.,

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" Chance

o f

T he L istener V ol.84,

a nd

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U niversity

i n t he m aking. C hicago

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p p.147-148.

c hange i n B ritish l ong-tailed f ield

S ociety o f L ondon V ol.170,

p p.351-366.

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I nheritance a nd N atural H istory.

N ew N aturalist,

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" Micro-evolutionary

a nimals:

C ollins. B erry,R.J., r elevance

t o

a rchaeology",

C lutton-Brock,J.

p p.1-8,

s tudies

i n

i n B rothwell „D.,

t heir

T homas,K.

a nd

( Eds).

B erry,R.J. a nd S earle,A.G., 1 963 - " Epigenetic p olymorphism o f t he r odent s keleton" P roceedings o f t he Z oological S ociety o f L ondon V ol.140,

p p.577-615.

B inford,L.R.

( Ed),

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A cademic P ress,

L ondon.

B inford,L.R.,

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-

-

F or

N unamiut

T heory

B uilding

E thnoarchaeology.

i n

A rchaeology.

A cademic

P ress,

L ondon. B inford,L.R ., P ress,

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- B ones.

Ancient M an a nd

M odern

M yths.

B inford,L.R ., 1 984 - F aunal R emains f rom K lasies R iver M outh. P ress, L ondon. B inford,L.R.

a nd

B ertram,J.B.,

a ttritional p rocesses", B ogan,A.E.,

1 983

-

1 977

p p.77-153

" Evidence

B okonyi,S.,

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" Bone

f or f aunal

B ourdillon,J.

f requencies

a nd

( Ed).

r esource p artitioning i n a n

p p.305-324 i n

C lutton-Brock,J.

a nd

- H istory o f D omestic M ammals i n C entral a nd E astern

a nd

C oy,J.,

( Ed)

1 978 -

B radley,R.J.,

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K egan a nd P aul, B rain,C.K.,

a nimal

b ones",

i n

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o f

R outledge,

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b one

a ccumulations"

P apers o f t he N amib D esert R esearch S tation N o.39, B rain,C.K.,

p p.79-121

S outhampton 1 971-

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u nderstanding

" The

E xcavations a t M elbourne S treet,

C BA R esearch R eport 3 3,

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A cademic

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H oldsworth,P. 7 6.

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i n B inford,L.R .

E astern N orth A merican C hiefdom", G rigson,C. ( Eds).

E urope.

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T he H unters o r

t he H unted.

S cientific

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i n

A rchaeology,

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o f

C ruwys,E.

f locks.

a nd

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f usion

a nd

o f

t ooth

D umfries a nd G alloway, a nd P ayne,S. ( Eds).

A nimals

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1 982

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"A bsolute

a geing

i ts r elevance t o a rchaeology",

U npubl.

( Eds),

1 .

3 .

O xford. o f

p p.127-

( Eds).

- P ortchester C astle:

a nd F oley,R.A .

A rchaeology:

- Animals i n A rchaeology:

B AR S 202,

a nd P ayne,C.

f inds.

i n

O xford.

a n

B .A .

i nvestigation

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a nd

i nto

t he

U niversity o f

Anthropolgy.

B AR

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D ennell,R.W.,

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"T he

e conomic

r epresented o n a rchaeological V ol.3,

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T urner,K.A .,

G rigson,C.

s ite

"E piphysial

I nstitute

o f a nimal b ones f rom a rchaeological

G rigson,C.,

t ooth s ections a nd

C reighton,J.D., a nalysis D urham .

s tudy

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a nd

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f rom

-

1 978 - R esearch

N o.3,

N ew Y ork.

t heir

i n W ilson,B.,

S 291,

T he

( Eds),

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M offatdale, G rigson,C.

a nd G rigson,C.,

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1 40

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t heir p rey.

E arly h erders a nd

c attle

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g oats f rom i n W ilson,B.,

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H unters a nd

O cc.

R ackham,J.,

e ruption o f f eral S cotland", p p.73-80 C haplin,R.E.,

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p lant r esources

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S cience

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A N on-Violent P eople o f M alaya.

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d iet a nd o ral

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1 983

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p p.55-81

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a nd

f eatures"

T he

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c alculus:

r elevance

a nd F oley,R.

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a

P roceedings

s tudy o f

o f

t he

a rtefact

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o f P rehistoric B ritain.

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d o

I

c ount

y ou,

l et

P roblems o f a rchaeozoological q uantification", a nd C lutton-Brock,J. G ifford,D.P.,

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t aphonomy

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e cology",

m e

c ount

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i n G rigson,C.

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t o

t he

i n B ehrensmeyer,A .and H ill,A.

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T echniques.

T he

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o f

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i n W ilson,B.,

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t o

t he a ge o f

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e xcavations

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I ron

1

T he

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a r eview o f t he l iterature",

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a nd J ones,G., 1 978 - "B ehavioural a rchaeology c ase s tudy" N orwegian A rchaeological R eview

M essage,M .,

1 981

-

1 969

H illman,G.,

-

husbandry

i n M ercer,R.

1 986 - T eeth.

p ractices

a nd

f rom

T urkey",

p p.1-41

C ambridge M anuals i n A rchaeology,

P arsons,P.A ., s keletal

1 967

I jzereef,G.F.,

1 981

a nd

b ody

B erichten R OB,

w eight

1 983 - "B ones i n c ontention :

2 0 i n C lutton-Brock,J.

a nd G rigson,C.

a nd

Z euner,F.E.

I nstitute,

f aunal

T he

f or

r emains",

t he p p.3-

( Eds).

( Eds)

M an

s ites",

a nd

p p.80-101,

C attle.

R oyal

L ondon.

J ones,G.E.M.,

1 984 - "I nterpretation o f a rchaeological

E thnographic

m odels

f rom

t he

m ice"

p p.283-292.

c ompeting e xplanations

1 963 - "C attle f rom B ritish a rchaeological

M ourant,A .E.

i n

A mersfoort.

j uxtaposition o f E arly P leistocene a rtifacts a nd

C asparie,W.A.

t he V an

C ambridge

- B ronze Age a nimal b ones f rom B ovenkarspel.

e xcavation a t H et V alkje.

A nthropological

i n

- "G enotype a nd e nvironment i n

v ariants

J ournal o f Embryology a nd E xperimental M orphology V ol.17,

J ones,M .,

f rom

( Ed).

C ambridge.

d etermination o f m inor

i n

a nd H iggs,E.

1 984 - "I nterpretation o f a rchaeological p lant r emains:

U niversity P ress, H owe,W.L.

a ssessment o f a p rehistoric i n B rothwell,D.

c rop

p p.123-162

a pplication o f e thnographic models Z eist,W. a nd C asparie,W.A. ( Eds). H illson,S.,

"A n

p p.315-30

"R econstructing

r emains o f c rops",

J ewel,P.,

4 .

O xford.

t echnique o f b ovine h usbandry", ( Eds).

I saac,G.,

t eeth

1 18-31.

H igham,C.

c harred

a nd

i n W ilson,B.,

( Eds).

BAR S 227,

H alstead,P., H odder,I. a nd r efuse p atterns: a

p p.7-24

G reece",

p p.43-61,

i n

p lant

V an

r emains:

Z eist,W.

a nd

( Eds).

1 978 -

"T he

p lant

r emains",

6 6

p p.93-110,

i n

P arrington,M .

( Ed ). J ones,M .,

1 981

-

" The

J ones,M .

a nd D imbleby,G.

J ones,M ., O xford.

1 983

J ones,M .,

1 985

p p.I08-128, J ones,M . t o

-

d evelopment o f c rop husbandry",

I ntegrating

-

1 981

M ediaeval

1 984 - T he Analysis o f A nimal B ones

f rom

a t

1 978

b y

O xford.

C iechanow,

P oland",

- " Archaeozoology- o r Z ooarchaeology", T homas,K.D.

1 981

-

a nd C lutton-Brock,J.

" Aspects

o f

c attle

a nd

C owan,I.M.,

1 963 - " Age

d egree o f o ssification o f

L inford,P.K.,

i n

p p.129-132,

i n

( Eds).

h usbandry",

p p.169-181,

a pplications

i n

U npubl.

d etermination

t he e piphyseal

1 986 - H arris l ines i n

p ossible

w ith t heir d etection.

M altby,J.M., p p.125-138,

1 984

-

" Animal

i n C lutton-Brock,J.

M altby,J.M.,

1 985

i n B arker,G.

M arshall,L.,

i n

p late

i n

b lack-tail

i n l ong b ones"

p p.13-37.

t he

b ones

o f

s heep

a nd

B Sc d issertation,

U niversity o f D urham.

b ones

a nd

s amples a nd G rigson,C.

t heir a nd

t he R omano-British e conomy",

a nd G rigson,C.

( Eds)

1 984.

- " Patterns o f

f aunal a ssemblage v ariability",

a nd G amble,C.

( Eds).

1 976 - T he

g oats,

a rchaeological material a nd p roblems

M altby,J.M., 1 982 - " The v ariability o f f aunal e ffects u pon a geing d ata", p p.81-90, i n W ilson,B., P ayne,S. ( Eds).

7 4,

r emains

p p.155-160,

( Eds).

C anadian J ournal o f Z oology V ol.41(3),

t heir

C hicago.

( Ed).

L ewall,E.F. d eer

s ubsistence r econstruction",

1 984 - " Anatomical d istribution o f b one c astle

S 181,

A ge

L egge,A .J.,

M ercer,R.

B AR

t he I ron

a nd C lutton-Brock,J.

L egge,A .J.,

i n

( Eds).

- T he E nvironment o f M an:

G rigson,C.

B rothwell,D.R.,

E conomy.

U niversity o f C hicago P ress,

L asota-Moskalewska,A ., t he

b eyond

B AR 8 7,

C ruz-Uribe,K.,

A rchaeological S ites.

f rom

S ubsistence

a nd G amble,C.

a nd D imbleby,G.,

a nd

t he

" Archaeobotany

i n B arker,G.

t he A nglo-Saxon p eriod.

K lein,R.

p p.95-128,

( Eds).

! Kung o f N yae N yae.

p p.33-

H arvard U niversity P ress,

C ambridge M ass. M ercer,R.

( Ed),

1 981

-

E dinburgh U niversity P ress, M ounteney,G., a t T hwing",

1 981

p p.73-86,

F arming

P ractice

- " Faunal a ttrition a nd i n B arker,G.

N orthern England: E ssays i n S heffield U niversity, S heffield. M unzel,S., i n p ress - " Key W ijngaarden-Bakker,L. ( Ed)

i n

B ritish

P rehistory.

E dinburgh.

( Ed)

E conomic

s ubsistence r econstruction

P rehistoric

C ommunities

a nd

R econstruction.

S ocial

i n

f or t he c oding o f b one f ragments", i n D ata M anagement i n A rchaeozoology. PACT.

6 7

N oddle,B.A ., 4 2,

1 978

- " Some minor

i n B rothwell,D.,

N oddle,B.A ., v ariations

s keletal d ifferences i n s heep",

T homas,K.

1 983

-

a nd C lutton-Brock,J.

" Size

i n c attle a nd

a nd

s heep",

s hape,

t ime

p p.211-238,

a nd

N oddle,B.A .,

1 984 - " Exact c hronology o f e piphyseal t he

P arrington,M . B ronze

p ast:

( Ed),

a n

i mpossible

p lace:

i n J ones,M .

m ammals o f p p.21-28.

p p.133-

( Eds). s keletal

( Ed).

c losure i n d omestic

p roposition" C ircaea V ol.2(1),

1 978 - T he e xcavation o f a n I ron

A ge

s ettlement,

A ge r ing d itches a nd R oman f eatures a t A shville T rading e state,

A bingdon ( Oxon) R ackham,D.J.,

1 974-76.

1 977

- " The

a nd P riestley,J., p p.115-156. R ackham,D.J.,

1 981

D ept G eological

C BA R esearch R eport 2 8, f aunal

r emains",

" Baille H ill,

i n

A ddyman,P.

i n

B ritain.

M Sc

T hesis,

B irmingham U niversity.

R ackham,D.J., 1 983 - " Faunal s ample p roblems i n r econstruction", p p.251-278, R ackham,D.J.,

p p.146-52,

Y ork" A rchaeological J ournal V ol.134,

- M id-Devensian m ammals

S ciences,

L ondon.

t o s ubsistence e conomy: i n J ones,M . ( Ed).

s ome

1 986 - " A c omparison o f m ethods o f a ge d etermination f rom

t he mandibular d entition o f a n a rchaeological p p.149-168, i n C ruwys,E. a nd F oley,R.A . ( Eds).

s ample

o f c attle",

R ackham,D.J., i n p ress a - " An a nalysis a nd i nterpretation o f t he s ample o f a nimal b ones f rom T horpe T hewles, C leveland", i n H eslop,D. E xcavations

a t

t he

I ron

A ge

s ite

o f

T horpe

T hewles,

C leveland.

C leveland C ounty C ouncil. R ackham,D.J.,

i n

p ress

b

-

" Assessing

s pecies b y t he a pplication o f a d atabase

o f

f ossil

W ijngaarden-Bakker,L. R ackham,D.J., o f

( Ed)

C onf.

f requencies o f a

s keletal

c omputerised

material",

D ata M anagement i n A rchaeozoology.

s amples"Ducos,P.

a ge ( Ed),

i n

P ACT. s tructure

P roc.

V th

o n A rchaeozoolog.. u npubl.

m ediaeval

- " A r eport o n a c ollection o f b one f rom a g roup

f eatures

L aboratory R eport, R ackham,D.J.

H BMC,

a t

C astle S treet,

a nd G idney,L.J.,

b ones f rom

C arlisle" Ancient M onuments

L ondon. u npubl.

- " An a nalysis o f a

R yder,M.L.,

1 981

i n M ercer,R .

- " Livestock p roducts:

E d)

a nd

S ilver,I.A .,

o f

H BMC,

L ondon.

s kins a nd f leeces",

p p.182-211,

•

H igham,C.,

1 968 - " Identification a nd

g rowth r ings i n t he s econdary d ental V ol.219, p p.634-5.

B rothwell,D.

s ample

t he c ollections e xcavated a t P iercebridge R oman F ort

a nd V icus" A ncient M onuments L aboratory R eport.

S axon,E.

t o

i n p ress c - " A method o f a nalysis o f t he

R ackham,D.J.,

a nimal

model

a rchaeological

a s pecies i n a rchaeological b one

mt.

o f

o r

t he r elative

s tochastic

i nterpretation o f

c ementum o f Ovis a ries

1 969 - " The a geing o f t he d omestic a nimals", a nd H iggs,E.

( Eds)

S cience a nd

68

L "

N ature

p p.250-68,

A rchaeology.

2 nd

i n

e d.,

T hames a nd H udson, S peth,J.D.,

L ondon.

1 983

A ncient H unters. S tallibrass,S.,

-

B ison

K ills a nd B one C ounts.

University o f C hicago P ress, 1 984 - " The d istinction b etween

c arnivores a nd humans o n p ost-glacial

1 972

c ritical s tudy o f V ol.4, p p.307-22.

-

t he

" Animal

t he

e ffects

f aunal a ssemblages.

u sing s cavenging o f s heep c arcasses G rigson,C. a nd C lutton-Brock,J. ( Eds). U erpmann,H-P,

D ecision M aking b y

C hicago.

b one

b y

f oxes",

f inds a nd

' osteoarchaeological'

P liocene G eology,

1 969 - " Taphonomy a nd

v ertebrate S pecial

W atson,J.P.N.,

p aper N o

Knox

W orld

1 .

o f

a n

e arly

C ontributions

t o

Khirokitia

r elative

1 972" J ournal

t ooth w ear

i n

f requencies

o f A rchaeological

t hree d imensions"

o f

S cience

C ircaea

p p.135-138.

W ilson,B.,

1 985

- " Degraded b ones,

o n a n I ron A ge o ccupation s ite F ieller,N.,

G ilbertson,D.

W ilson,B.,

G rigson,C.

f eature t ype a nd

i n O xfordshire,

a nd R alph,N. a nd

P ayne,S.

A nimal B ones f rom A rchaeological S ites. Y ellen,J.E., f rom

A ncient M an.

L aramie U niversity, W yoming.

1 984 - " Ivory t owers:

V ol.2(3),

N ebraska"

a

A rchaeology

a nd

p opulation d ynamics C ounty,

i n

e conomic a rchaeology:

m ethod"

1 979 - " The e stimation o f t he

mammalian s pecies: V ol.6, p p.127-37. W est,B.,

f auna,

s mall

p p.259-269,

V an Z eist,W. a nd C asparie,W.A ., 1 984 - P lants S tudies i n P alaeoethnobotany. B alkema, R otterdam. V oorhies,M .R.,

o f

A c ase s tudy

t he

1 977

! Kung

a nd M acDonald,W. P ress, N ew Y ork. Z eder,M .A ., c enter o f G rigson,C.,

- " Cultural B ushmen", ( Eds),

( Eds),

i n

1 982 - A geing a nd S exing

B AR 1 09,

O xford.

f aunal

r emains:

i n I ngersoll,D.W.,

E xperimental A rchaeology.

1 984 - " Meat T al-E-Malyan", 1 984.

p p.81-96,

( Eds).

p atterning i n p p.271-331,

s patial p atterning

E ngland",

e vidence

Y ellen,J.E.

C olumbia U niversity

d istribution a t t he H ighland I ranian u rban p p.279-307, i n C lutton-Brock,J. a nd

6 9

ARCHAEOGEOPHYSICS AND T HE S ITE:

O HM S WEET O HM?

C .P.Heron a nd C .F.Gaffney

U ndoubtedly

' archaeogeophysics'

i s

n ot

a

t erm

t o

b e

f ound

i n a

d ictionary; i t i s d efined h ere a s t he i ntegration a nd a pplication o f s hallow, s ubsurface p rospecting t echniques t o s ituations s pecific t o a rchaeology. I ts o rigins s tem a s a n ew w ord i n ' Downtown M exico C ity', a fter h eld a

a n ovel

t itle f or a p aper p resented a t a s ymposium o n g eophysics

i n A tlanta,

b attery

o f

U .S.A .,

i nformation o n t he o utset

o ur

i n D ecember

r econnaissance s ubsurface

p osition

c onsidered a s a

i s

w ithout

t hat

d iscipline

1 984.

methods

i ts

o wn

e mbraces

o f p roviding d etailed

e xcavation.

t he a rt o f

i n

A rchaeogeophysics

c apable

H owever,

' archaeogeophysics' r ight;

w hilst

a t

t he

c annot b e

a rguing

f or

p olythetic a pproaches i t i s a xiomatic t hat s uch p owerful t echniques a re n either s ubservient t o, n or b etter t han, more c ommom a rchaeological p ractices.

R ather,

e xpanding

t he

t his

p aper

i nformation

w ill

p otential

a ttempt t o d emonstrate t hat b y t hrough

t he

a pplication

o f

c omplementary f orms o f r econnaissance, t he f ull v alue o f a rchaeogeophysics c an b e r ealised. T he r ealisation o f s uch p otential w ill

b e

w ithin

a

major

c ontribution t o p ractical

t he f ramework o f t he more

a nd a nalytical o bjectives

t raditional a venues o f

a rchaeological

r esearch. I n

s ome

f amiliar y ears

r espects

f orm o f

h ave

g eophysical

a rchaeological

p assed

i s

a

t raditional a nd

( Wynn

1 986).

F orty

s ince R .J.C.Atkinson c onducted a r esistivity s urvey

a t D orchester-on-Thames, N eolithic

p rospection r econnaissance

f eatures i n

a head o f g ravel

t he s ubsoil.

e xtraction,

i n o rder

S ince t he s uccess o f

t o d efine

t hat s urvey a

n umber o f i nstitutions a nd u niversity d epartments n ow o ffer g eophysical f acilities,

w ith a s mall

M onuments L aboratory. t he

n umber

f reelance

o f

e xperienced

g roups

t echnique,

i t

g eophysical

i s

u nit o perating w ithin t he A ncient

A lthough t he d iminishing c ost o f

h as

m ade

t rue

t hat

p ersonnel g eophysical r esources

a vailable

t o maintain a r egion's n eeds;

s erviced

b y

B ritish

i n

g eophysicists

7 1

e quipment

a rchaeological p rospection a nd

a

u nits

a nd

r ecognised

m anpower a re n ot a lways

s ome p arts o f E urope a re

r esulting

a nd

s till

i n a s ituation t hat i s

o ften f rustrating a nd o n o ccasions p ainfully i nadequate. T he p hysical m ethods e mbodied i n a rchaeological p rospection w ere o riginally a dopted a nd m odified f rom e xploratory g eophysics; t echniques f or t he l ocation o f l arge, d eep n atural f eatures s uch a s o il a nd m ineral d eposits w ere d eveloped f rom t he s tart o f t his c entury. W hilst t he m ajority o f g eological s urveys f ocus o n v ertical v ariations i n p hysical p roperties t hrough t he g round, a rchaeological p rospection h as t raditionally b een a pplied t o t he l ateral c hanges i n t he i mmediate s ubsurface f or t he l ocation a nd d elimitation o f p otential f eatures o f c ultural i nterest. A ll s urveys i nvolve t he a ccumulation o f f ield d ata, o ften r ecorded s ystematically b y g rid, t hrough a pplying o r m easuring p hysical f ields. B y f ar t he m ost c ommon g eophysical t echniques i n u se i n a rchaeology a re r esistivity a nd m agnetometry a nd m ost o f o ur d iscussion i nvolves t he u se o f t hese t echniques. B riefly, r esistivity r equires t he m easurement o f t he r esistance o f t he e arth t o

t he

p assage

o f a n e lectrical c urrent a pplied t o t he g round v ia t he i nsertion o f e lectrodes. D epending o n t he p osition o f t he ( usual) f our e lectrodes p articular ' arrays' o r ' electrode c onfigurations' m ay b e e mployed. I t i s o ften s aid t hat e ach ' array ' h as i ts o wn c haracteristic r esponse t o f eatures a nd t heir b urial d epth ; t he r esponse f or a p articular a rray m ay n ot a lways b e s imple. T he u se o f m agnetometry f or a rchaeological p urposes i nvolves t he m apping o f d isturbances a nd d eviations i n t he e arth's m agnetic f ield. S pecifically i n r elation t o a rchaeology t he a pplication o f m agnetism i s b ased o n t wo p hysical t ransformations, a n e nhancing e ffect o f s oils ( magnetic s usceptibility) a nd a t hermoremanent m agnetism a cquired b y h eat a ction. A n umber o f o ther t echniques h ave b een s uccessfully a pplied t o a rchaeological p roblems o n l esser s cales. T his p aper i s b y n o m eans a n a ttempt t o r e-review o r r eassess t he t echniques o f g eophysical p rospection c ommonly u tilised i n a rchaeological f ieldwork ; T ite ( 1972) a nd A itken ( 1974) c ontain u seful m ethodological c onsiderations, i f a l ittle o utdated, w hilst P ocock ( 1983b) a nd B artlett a nd D avid ( 1984) p rovide r eports o f a n umber o f r esistivity a nd m agnetometer s urveys a s w ell a s b rief d escriptions o f f ield t echniques. F or e lectromagnetic s urvey P archas a nd T abbagh ( 1978) a nd T abbagh ( 1984) a re t he m ost i mportant p apers i n E nglish, w hilst F isher ( 1980) c ontains a n e valuation o f s everal s ubsurface p rospecting t echniques, i ncluding a r adar s ystem. T he b asic p rinciple o f a ny s hallow p rospection m ethod i s m easurable c ontrast w ill e xist b etween c ultural f eatures s urrounding a ssumption ,

t hat a a nd t he

m atrix o f n atural o rigin. T he r ealisation o f t his i .e. s uccessful d etection, c an r arely b e a ssured p rior t o

s urvey. T he p roblem m ay b e a lleviated t hrough a c areful p reconsideration o f t he s ite a s t he c orrect c hoice o f t echnique, a lthough s ometimes h indered b y t he a vailability o f r esources, r equires a k nowledge a nd a wareness o f t he p otential f eatures t o b e e ncountered. T his n ecessitates c lose c ontact w ith a rchaeologists p rior t o t he s tart o f t he s urvey. I n a ddition, a c omplex o f c limatic, t opographical, g eological a nd p edological f actors, n ot e asy t o f oresee w ithout f irst h and e xperience o f t he l and t o b e s urveyed, m ay i nfluence t he s uccess o f a s urvey. T hat a rchaeogeophysical t echniques r arely r espond s olely t o t he ' archaeology ', b ut t o a r ange o f p henomena ( Carr 1 982) i s a f act t hat h as e scaped t he n otice o f m any p otential b eneficiaries; a bsolute m easurements, o r s ignatures, c orresponding t o s pecific t ypes o f f eature a re a lso r arely e ncountered. D espite m easuring a p lethora o f n atural a nd

c ultural

t urbulences,

t he a daptation o f g eophysical

7 2

p rospection t o

t he u pper l ayers o f

t he

e arth

i s

p otentially

a

v aluable

f orm

o f

r econnaissance. T he h ardware a t t he d isposal o f t he a rchaeologist i s g rowing s teadily m ore s ophisticated. I nitial h and-cranked g enerators s uch a s t he ' Megger E arth T ester' ( the o riginal w orthy o f i ts p lace i n t he S cience M useum), w ere r eplaced b y t ransistorised c ircuitry i n t he 1 950's. T oday, m icro-electronics f orm t he b asis o f i nstrumentation u sed b y t he a rchaeogeophysicists, w hilst r esearch i nterest h as f ocussed o n t he o ptimisation o f a n umber o f f actors r elating t o m ore e fficient a nd e ffective s urvey. F or e xample, m uch m ore r apid s urvey c an n ow b e a chieved

t hrough a utomatic d ata-logging s ystems

( Kelly e t a l

1 984)

a nd

c ontinuous r ecording i nstruments f or b oth r esistivity a nd m agnetometry s ystems, e .g. H esse e t a l ( 1986). ' Handshaking' b etween c omputers h as e nabled a n ew s pectrum o f d ata p resentation a nd s emi-interpretation s oftware t o b e a vailable t o t he w ould-be g eophysicist. P ROSPECTION A ND A RCHAEOLOGICAL R ESEARCH E ssentially,

g eophysical

p rospection

i s

a

l ocalised a ctivity i n

r elation t o t he l andscape a s a w hole, w ith t he m ajority o f s urveys u ndertaken p rior t o o r d uring t he e xcavation o f k nown a rchaeological s ites. T he m inimum a im, i rrespective o f c limatic o r t opographic c ontext, i s t he p rediction o f t he p resence o r a bsence o f s ubsurface r emains a nd t he d egree o f d isturbance o r p reservation o f t hose r emains. H owever, t he a uthors f eel t hat much v aluable i nformation i s n eglected, r estricting w orthwhile f eedback, w hen s urveys a re e mbarked u pon s olely f or t he i solation o f a reas o f p rime e xcavational i nterest. T his p osition s hould n ot b e a ccepted w ithout s ome r eservations s ince p rospection d oes h ave a v ital p ractical r ole t o p lay i n r ationalising a nd c o-ordinating e xcavation p rogrammes. T here i s a n ecessity t o g ather a nd c ollate i nformation o n s ite l ocation a nd c ontent i n t he l east e xpensive a nd l east d estructive m anner; p rospection o ften f ulfils b oth n eeds. W e a re a ll f amiliar w ith t he o ft-stated p oint t hat e xcavation i s a n i rreversible, d estructive p rocess n ot s ubject t o r epeatability. I n K ent F lannery 's w ords w e ' kill o ur i nformants' w hilst w e w ork ( Flannery 1 982). Y et, a ll t oo o ften b lind i ntuition i s f oremost i n e xcavation p olicy. I n t erms o f c ost, t ime a nd m anpower w hen l arge a reas h ave t o b e s tripped t o a scertain a n a dequate s patial d istribution o f

f eatures,

A rchaeologists

a re

t he p rice i s n ot a lways r ight. f amiliar

w ith

t he

i mposing

t hreats

a nd

v ulnerability o f o ur h eritage t hrough d ealing w ith a f inite r esource, c hipped a way a nd d istorted b y n atural a nd c ultural a gencies. T he r esponse t o t his t hreat h as b een a m ove i nto t he d omains o f p roblemo rientation a nd t he d evelopment o f r egional p olicy d ocuments. F urthermore, f inancial p ressures a nd s parse b udgets n ecessitate a c areful a nd c autionary a pproach t o t he a llocation o f r esources i n a g iven a rea. T erms s uch a s ' cost e ffective' a nd ' minimal i mpact' a rchaeology a re b ecoming f oremost c oncerns i n t he o rganisation o f a rchaeological f ieldwork. I ntegrating a rchaeology w ith g eophysical p rospection i n t his r ealm i s n ecessarily a p ragmatic r esponse. A s t he c ontinuing e ffects o f r ural i ntensification a nd e ncroachment o f u rban d evelopment o n a rchaeological s ites p ersists, s o w e w ill w itness t he r apid e valuation o f l arge a reas v ia g eophysical s urvey m ethods. I ntegrating a rchaeological p rospection w ith o ther f orms o f r econnaissance a llows t he d evelopment o f a m ethodology o f f ieldwork, e .g. P ryor e t a l ( 1986).

p owerful c ombined O utlined b elow a re

f our a reas w here g eophysics s hould h ave m aximum r esearch a pplication.

7 3

I ntra-site a nalysis I n

t his

s phere

g eophysics

s ettlement c omponents h abitation

a nd

t he

c ategorised w ith ( 1982)

t o

s ite

h as f orged a head,

s ystematic f or

s ettlement

a ttention '.

a dopting

f unction,

C rane

s ite,

I llinois, v ia

e nhancements i nterest u nable

t o t o

o r

t he s ubtle c oncept o f

C arr

a rgues

m easurements

d epletions i n

t he

t he many g eophysicists

w ho

t o

most

f udging o r e ye B ritish

h ave

W e

a nd w e

p romote

h ome

n ew

s hould a void a ttempting

t echniques.

t echniques,

w e h ave

r eveal

f eatures.

s ingle

t oo n egative, t o

t he c hange t o

t he p roblems

o f

t he

f eature

t o p ush t echniques b eyond t heir

t echnical

d evelopments

I t i s i n t he l atter

t hat

w ould

f ield w here s uch p roblem

W hilst w e s hould n ot b e o verawed b y

i n many w ays b een f orced

t rusted m ethods due

w ill

d ejected,

o n s ome s ites n o

t ransects

b eing

s hould b e aware o f

s ituations m ay b e r esolved. a nd

t rudged

f aith

a nalysis o f g rids i n E urope w as a r esponse r esolution.

n utrient

s tatistical a nalysis o f

t he

W ithout

l imits,

a nthropic

U ndoubtedly t his i s o f g reat

s tep away

f rom s ystematic g rids t o r etrograde.

a rea

g eophysicists t he m ethodological

w ould

b e

o f

u se

f or a reas o f s ettlement

a nd

s oil.

o ften

t he c hallenge o f s ites. A t t he

f orm o ne c oherent a nomaly f rom a d ays w ork:

a mount o f f iltering, H owever,

U .S.A .,

r esistivity

s o

I n t he r esisitivity f ield

r ather t han i ndividual f eature. T his i s a r esponse t o u sing r esistance m eters o n t raditionally u nresponsive o ccupation

l ocation o f

d istinguishing

I t a lso o ffers p ossible t esting

t ype o r

' undue c are a nd

t he

p otential

a reas f rom w orking p laces.

o f h ypotheses r elating C arr

i nvolves

o ffers

t o r ely o n t he o ld,

t o a l ack o f i nterest i n

t his

f ield.

n ovel t ried I t

i s

w ith s ome r elief t hat t his a rea h as b een a cknowledged a s u nderfunded a nd t hat p otential r ecipients o f f unds w ill b e more a ctively s ought i n f uture ( Hart 1 985, p p.4-6). S ite d elimitation U ndoubtedly

t his

h as

r escue o perations a nd

o bvious

s cheduling

p ractical a dvantages w ith r espect o f

a rchaeological

a reas.

t o

R esearch

i mplications e xist p articularly t hrough c omparative a nalyses i n t opsoil s tudies.

F or e xample

p articularly d ebris

i n

s pread,

i t h as

l ong

b een

t he M editerranean, t o

p opulation

a

h obby

t o r elate

e stimates.

o f

a rchaeologists,

s ite

s ize,

i .e.

T he

a ccuracy

c ultural o f

s uch

s tatements a re v ital i f p rocessual s tatements a re t o m ake much s ense. T he authors f eel t hat g eophysical methods c an h elp r efine s uch e stimates a nd O ff-site

e radicate g rossly n aive e quations.

p rospection

R ecent

s tudies

h ave s tressed

t han s ite-specific c onnotations w hole r ange o f o ff-site ( Gaffney e t a l

1 985).

t he

f act

t hat human a ctivity h as m ore

( see F oley 1 981).

t races a re e merging a t G eophysical

F rom f ield s urvey

a

t he m icro-regional l evel

p rospection h as

t he

r esolution

t o

t est t he a ssumptions r egarding t he i nterpretation o f s urface a rtefact p atterning a cross a l andscape. A t T hwing, i n E ast Y orkshire, a c omplex l andscape

c onsisting

t hrough a erial ( Pocock

o f

e nclosures,

d itches a nd b anks,

p hotography, w as r evealed w ith

a

f luxgate

n ot r esolved g radiometer

1 983a).

S ite L ocation T he

a pplication

s ettlements o r t han

t he

o f g eophysical

s urvey t o

t he a ctual

a reas o f a ctivity h as n ot b een w idely

p inpointing

o f

s ites

l ocated

74

f inding o f n ew

e xploited

t hrough a erial

( other

p hotography).

D espite t he i nefficient n ature o f s urveying i n t otal t erra i ncognita, v aluable r econnaissance h as b een u ndertaken b y s urveys a head o f t racts o f l and e specially i n p reparation o f n ew p ipelines a nd r oad c onstruction s chemes. B ritish G as g eophysical t eams h ave u ndertaken 7 5 s urveys t hroughout B ritain s ince 1 979 ( Catherall 1 986) n umber o f h itherto u nknown s ites h ave b een l ocated. T he

i mplementation

a nd

a

l arge

o f a ny o f t he a bove r esearch o bjectives, w ithout a

c ombined p olicy o f p rospection w ould r equire a rduous t est e xcavation. I n p articular, o ne o f t he a reas o f g reatest r esearch p otential i s i n t he c ontext o f f ield s urvey. T he r ecent p roliferation o f l iterature o n t he s ubject o f l andscape a rchaeology i s e ncouraging t o n ote, a s i t i s n ot s olely c onfined t o t he m ethodological d ebate, b ut i t i s a lso d evoted t o t he i nterpretation o f d ata c ollected o n m icro-regional a nd r egional s cales ( see f or e xample H aselgrove e t a l 1 985; S hennan 1 985; M acready a nd T hompson 1 985). E ven h ere, h owever, t he b road s phere o f f ield s urvey a nd i ts a lignment w ith t heoretical c onsiderations a re c onstantly b eing q uestioned ( Gaffney a nd T ingle 1 985). T he t wo c omplementary d ata s ets o f p lough z one a nd s ubsurface f eatures r epresent a n i nterpretative c hallenge w ith r espect t o t he a nalysis o f d epositional a nd p ost-depositional f actors. T wo q uotes a mplify t his p oint:" There i s a t acit a ssumption t hat s urface c ollections a re a m ore-orl ess d irect b ut e nfeebled r eflection o f w hat l ies b eneath t he p loughsoil, a v iew w hich p erhaps r eached i ts a potheosis w ith t he w holesale m echanical r emoval o f u nstudied t opsoil i n t he n ame o f ' total e xcavation " ( Crowther 1 983, p .34). " The o ther c ommon m isconception t o b e f ound i n t he l iterature i s t hat t here i s n ecessarily a r elationship b etween m aterial i n p loughsoil, a nd t hat i n u nderlying d eposits o r e arthbound f eatures, s omething w hich i s m ost c ertainly n ot t he c ase, t his i s l argely r esponsible f or a n a ttitude w hich h as s een s urface c ollection d ismissed a s a p ursuit m arkedly i nferior t o e xcavation, a d istorted r eflection o f t he u nderlying r eality, w hen i n f act, t hese g enerally d eal w ith d ifferent a nd p otentially c omplementary f orms o f e vidence" ( Haselgrove 1 985, p .9). C rowther's

w ork

u nderstanding

a t o f

M axey f ield

i s s urvey

o f

p articular d ata

b y

r elevance

d rawing

c rucial

t o

t he

n egative

c orrelations b etween a rtefact c oncentrations r ecoverable f rom t he s urface a nd p loughsoil, a nd s ubsurface f eatures c ut i nto t he o ld l and s urface. H e d raws i mportant b ehavioural i mplications o f l and m anagement, r efuse d isposal a nd m anuring. T he g eneration o f m odels r elating t o " artefact d ynamics o n f armland s ubject t o m iddening a nd d itch m aintenance" ( Crowther 1 983, p .42), a nd t he i dentification o f p ositive a nd n egative c orrelations w ith p loughsoil m aterial a nd b uried c ontexts i ndicates t he v alue o f c omprehensive s urface a nd s ubsurface s tudies. I ntriguing,

a lmost m utually e xclusive,

p atterning h as b een

o bserved

t hrough c ombined t opsoil s ampling f or p hosphate e nrichment a nd e nhanced m agnetic s usceptibility ( see A still a nd D avies 1 985, p .106; P ryor e t a l 1 986). I n t he f ormer t echnique h igh s oil c oncentration l evels m ay b e a ssociated w ith a g radual a ccumulation o ver e xcreta, r eview).

t ime

o f

o rganic

r efuse,

h uman a nd a nimal r emains e tc ( see B akkevig 1 980 f or a u seful A lthough s ignificant r esults h ave b een a chieved b y m easuring

75

p hosphate l evels i n t he t opsoil ( Gurney 1 986), t he r elationship b etween s oil c hemical c hange a nd c ultural a ctivity i s n ot a d irect o ne ( Konrad e t a l 1 983) a nd a rchaeologists h ave r ecently b een c autioned a gainst u ncritical a ssumptions r egarding t he d ynamics a nd d istribution o f s oil p hosphorus ( Keeley a nd B eavis 1 986). E nhanced m agnetic s usceptibility p rimarily r eflects a h eating m echanism, w hich r educes i ron o xides i n t he s oil f rom h aematite t o m agnetite w hich r eoxidises t o m aghaemite, t hus e xhibiting h igher m agnetic p roperties ( Tite a nd M ullins 1 971; T ite a nd L innington 1 986). O n a rchaeological s ites a h igher m agnetic s usceptibility m ay r elate t o h earths, d itches, p its a nd b urnt h abitation a reas. T herefore a c ombination o f p hosphate a nd m agnetic s usceptibility s ampling o f t he t opsoil c an p otentially i nvestigate a r ange o f a ctivities a nd f eatures. H owever, t he s imple e quation t hat h igher p hosphate m easurements c orrelate o nly w ith r efuse a reas a nd m anuring, i .e. e ssentially ' off-site' a ctivity, i s u nlikely ( see C onway 1 983). O n t he S tonehenge E nvirons P roject c ombined g eophysical r econnaissance p inpointed t he l ocation o f t he h enge a nd s uggested a ctivity b oth i nside a nd o utside t he e nclosure d irecting am ore c omprehensive s tudy o f t he t opsoil ( Richards 1 982). I n a ddition , p hosphate a nd m agnetic s usceptibility m easurements e nabled p atterning t o e merge n ot r etrievable t hrough e xcavation t echniques ( Clark 1 983). I ntegrated g eophysical/geochemical s tudies i n s uch a p roject g ive a p otentially v aluable s ource o f " chronological, e conomic a nd e nvironmental i ndicators" ( Richards 1 985, p .35). T he s tudy o f s urface/subsurface r elationships b y t he C .A .B.B.A .G.E. p roject i n B oeotia, G reece ( Bintliff a nd S nodgrass 1 985) h as e ffectively q ueried t he e asy o ptions a ssumed b y s ome M editerranean a rchaeologists. O f t he m any ' sites' l ocated d uring f ieldwalking a n umber h ave b een i solated w ith r espect t o t heir g reater p otential f or y ielding g eophysical i nformation. A n e xample o f s uch a s ite ( PP17) m ay b e s een i n F ig.l. A r esistivity s urvey o f P P17 c overed 2 000 s quare m etres o f t he s ingle p eriod c oncentration o f s urface a rtefacts. A lthough a f ull i nterpretation h as b een p ublished e lsewhere ( Gaffney a nd G affney 1 986), s everal p oints a re r elevant. F irstly, t he h igher a rtefact d ensities d o n ot c orrelate w ith t he s tructure l ocated b y g eophysical s urvey, b ut i n f act l ie u pslope f rom i t. W hilst t he t ile f ragments a ppear t o c orrelate c losely w ith t he s tructure, o r a t l east p art o f i t, i t s eems t hat c eramics a re d erived f rom r efuse d eposits. F urthermore t he t wo g eophysical a nomalies A l a nd A 2 m ay b e i nterpreted a s m iddens, l ying e xternal t o t he b oundary o f t he s tructure. C learly e xcavation b ased o n c rude c eramic t otals m ay b e m isguided p opulation e stimates b ased o n s ite-size m ay s imply b e f ictitious.

a nd

O ther i ntra-site s tudies i n B oeotia a nd b eyond h ave c onfirmed t he b ehavioural t raits o bserved a t P P17. H owever, i t i s a lso a pparent t hat a t s ome s ites s ingle g eophysical s urveys c ontribute l ittle i nformation b y t hemselves. A fter a ll, s ites l ocated b y f ield s urvey a re b y d efinition p lough d amaged; m any r esistivity a rrays l ack s ufficient r esolution t o p inpoint s tructural e vidence t hat h as b een b adly p lough d amaged. I n s uch c ases t he u se o f m agnetic s usceptibility a nd t he p lotting o f r ubble s preads h ave h ighlighted w eak a nomalies i n t he r esistance d ata. A gain, t he B oeotian p roject h as h ad c onsiderable s uccess u sing a p olythetic a pproach t o h eavily p loughed s ites. T he u se o f p hosphate a nalysis w ill b e p articularly i mportant i n t his c ontext a nd t he c orrelation, o r o therwise, w ith c omplementary i nformation w ill s urely f urther t he c redence o f t he ' battery o f t echniques' t ype o f a pproach.

7 6

F igure 1 - I nterpretation o f a r esistivity s ite f rom B oeotia, G reece

s urvey

o n

a n

H ellenistic

4 < i • •

/

/I

I /

/ /

// / / / / /I I / I I I I

I

I

-- -- -- - - / . ,-

-

•

-

• •

/

I

I I I I I • • • I

\

I I I I •

1

; ; I 1 ;

1 I

1 1

/

/ t 1 t •

. .

•

S .

% • % , . .. \

; /

* --______ _

E l _-- -

I

I 1 1 I

I t • S . • • • • ••

\

• • •

_ ,

/ / 1 I

•

/

1 I /

I 1 1 I 1

. . . . . .

/ I I

/

I I I , / I I i

1

I

• % , ; i 1 1 I i

i I / I

1 1

1 1I

I 1

/ / I // // I C V / / 1 < • ./ / . . . . , . .____ , . S . / . • . • . . ., S .• • .. -. .. . . .S S . . . .. • • -\ . . . •, • . , / . ./ . N .. , ./ I • • . I • S .. • • . .. • • • e i l E • • • • 1 1 I /

7 7

T he

i nterpretation

o f

t he

G reek

d ata

s uggests

a

d egree

o f

c onsistency b etween b ehavioural, i .e. d epositional, p rocesses a nd t he d istribution o f a rtefacts r ecoverable f rom t he s urface. C learly, t he p rocesses i nvolved i n t he e volution o f s urface a nd p loughsoil m aterial w ill n ot a lways b e s o r egularly d efined, a s a v ast r ange o f p ositive a nd n egative c orrelations m ay a rise a s a r esult o f d epositional a nd p ost-depositional m echanisms. A rchaeologists h ave b een s low t o g rasp t he i ssues u nder c onsideration h ere. T he e thnoarchaeological l iterature a bounds w ith r eference t o d iscard a nd d isposal p atterns o f a rtefacts ( eg B inford 1 983; G ould 1 979), w hilst t he p ublication d edicated t o e lucidating p ost-depositional t ransforms i s t he e xception r ather t han t he r ule. W hilst q uick t o c laim t he d istinction o f t imed epth o ver t he h umanistic d isciplines, t he t endency i s t o w ave t he b anner o f d istortion, s tress l imitation a nd c omplexity w hen t he i nterference o f p ost-deposition o ccurs. B y i ncreasing t he r ange o f m ethods a daptable t o s tudying t he p ast, t here i s a c orresponding e xpansion o f t he d ata-base. T his, h owever, i s n ot s ufficient w ithout t he d evelopment o f t heories a nd h ypotheses r elating t o t he u nderstanding o f t he c orpus o f d ata r ecovered, a t heme e xplicitly o utlined b y M oore a nd K eene ( 1982). I n t he c ontext o f t his p aper, t he l ocation a nd i dentification o f s patial p atterning i n t he a rchaeological r ecord m ust b e a ssociated w ith i ts e xplanation a nd h ow i t r elates t o o ther f orms o f e vidence. T his v olume h as a risen o ut o f a c onsuming

d esire

t o

q uestion

t he

d irection o f t heory a nd d ata i n a rchaeology. P ryor ( 1983) h as s tated f irmly t hat s o m uch o f t he t heory p ertaining t o t he d iscipline b ears a f eeble r elation t o t he r eality o f a rchaeological f ieldwork. W hilst s ome p ractitioners n eglect a reas o f a rchaeological t hought b ecause i t i s ' theoretical', o thers c onfine t hemselves t o t he s ustained s peculation o f a p articular t heoretical o r i deological s tance. L eo K lejn e xpressed t his v iew m ost e loquently; " there a re n o f ixed c riteria f or d istinguishing t heoretical r ating f rom t heoretical p rating" ( Klejn 1 980, p .13). W hichever s ide o f t he d ividing l ine w e l ie o n , w e f eel t hat p ractical a rchaeogeophysics d eserves t o b e p art o f t he t heoretical d ebate i n a rchaeology. I t i s h oped t hat a rchaeogeophysics i ntegrated w ithin a w ider a rchaeological f ramework i s s een a s a l egitimate a venue o f p ractical a nd a nalytical r esearch. A lthough i t i s n aive t o s uggest t he c essation o f e xcavation, p rospection e mbodies t he c urrently e conomically d ictated t hemes o f ' minimal i mpact' a nd ' cost-effective' a rchaeology a nd a llows t he g athering o f i nformation o utside o f e xcavation b oundaries. T here i s m ore t o a rchaeogeophysics t han l ocating h abitation s tructures f or e xcavation. A rchaeologists d o n ot f ollow w alls t hese d ays, w hy s hould a rchaeogeophysicists?

B IBLIOGRAPHY A itken,M .J., P ress,

1 974

- P hysics a nd A rchaeology.

2 nd E dition.

C larendon

O xford.

A still,G. a nd D avies,W ., 1 985 - " The E ast B rittany S urvey: O ustV ilaine W atershed", p p.101-109, i n M acready,S. a nd T hompson,F.H. ( Eds), A rchaeological F ield S urvey i n B ritain a nd A broad. O ccasional P aper V I, S ociety o f A ntiquaries. B akkevig,S., 1 980 - " Phosphate A nalysis i n A rchaeology: P roblems a nd R ecent P rogress" N orwegian A rchaeological R eview V ol.13(2), p p.73-101.

7 8

B artlett,A . 2 05,

a nd

i n

D avid,A .,

1 984 - "G eophysical P rospecting",

C atherall,P.D.

e t

a l

A rchaeology o f a G as P ipeline. B inford,L.,

a nd

t he

f irst

p p.197-

F eeder:

T he

T hames a nd Hudson ,

1 985

L ondon.

- "T he C ambridge - B radford

f our y ears" J ournal

o f F ield A rchaeology

p p.123-162. 1 982

-

H andbook

o n

A merican A rchaeological P ress, C atherall,P.D., t he

S outhern

B ritish G as C orporation.

S nodgrass,A .M.,

B oeotian E xpedition:

C arr,C.,

T he

1 983 - I n P ursuit o f t he P ast.

B intliff,J.L. V ol.12(2),

( Eds)

S oil

R esistivity

E vanston,

1 986 - "T he a pplication o f

a rchaeological

p resented a t t he

S urveying.

C entral

I llinois. g eophysical

t echniques

s urveying o f c ross c ountry p ipeline r outes",

' Geophysical

S urveying

i n

A rchaeology '

i n

p aper

C onference,

U niversity o f B radford. C lark,A.J.,

1 983

G .S.Maxwell C .B.A .

( Ed)

-

"T he

t estimony

R esearch R eport N o.49,

C onway,J.S.,

o f

T he I mpact o f A erial

1 983

t he

t opsoil",

R econnaissance

p p.117-128.

C rowther,D.,

l and

-

p hosphorus d istribution

f rom a R omano-British hut g roup" J ournal

A rchaeological S cience V ol.10, 1 983

"O ld

i n

A rchaeology.

L ondon.

- "An i nvestigation o f s oil

w ithin o ccupation d eposits

p p.128-135,

o n

s urfaces

i mplications o f r ecent w ork a t M axey,

a nd

C ambs."

modern

S cottish

o f

p loughsoil:

A rchaeological

R eview V ol.2,

p p.31-44.

F isher,P.M.,

1 980 - "A pplications o f t echnical d evices i n a rchaeology:

t he u se o f X -rays, a nd

s ubsurface

V ol.63,

e lectrical a nd

r adar"

e lectromagnetic

d evices

S tudies i n M editerranean A rchaeology

p p.1-64.

F lannery,K.V.,

1 982 -

a rchaeology o f F oley,R., K enya.

m icroscope,

i nterface

t he

"T he

G olden

M arshaltown:

1 981 - O ffsite A rchaeology a nd H uman

B AR S 97,

G affney,C.F.

a

p arable

1 980's" American A nthropologist V ol.84, A daptation

f or

t he

p p.265-278. i n

E astern

O xford.

a nd

G affney,V.L.,

1 986 - "F rom B oetia t o B erkshire:

i ntegrated a pproach t o g eophysics a nd A rcheologiche,

V ol.10,

G affney,C.F.,

G affney,V.L.

r ural

f ield

s urvey"

a n

P rospezioni

p p.65-70. a nd T ingle,M .,

1 985

- "S ettlement e conomy

o r b ehaviour? M icroregional l and u se m odels a nd t he i nterpretation o f s urface a rtefact p atterns", p p.95-107, i n H aselgrove,C., M illet,M . a nd S mith,I.

( Eds)

S heffield,

S heffield.

G affney,V.L.

A rchaeology

a nd T ingle,M.,

f rom

1 985

t he

P loughzone.

G ould,R.A .,

o f

- "T he M addle F arm p roject a nd micro-

r egional s urvey", p p.67-73, i n M acready,S. A rchaeological F ield S urvey i n B ritain A ntiquaries,

University

a nd a nd

T hompson,F.H. ( Eds) A broad. S ociety o f

L ondon. 1 979 - L iving

A rchaeology.

C ambridge.

79

C ambridge

U niversity

P ress,

G urney,D., 1 986 - " Phosphate a nd magnetic s usceptibility s urveys o f t he t opsoil", p p.38-41, i n P ryor,F. e t a l ( Eds) T he F enland P roject N o.I. T he L ower W elland V alley V ol.l. H art,M.,

1 985

- T he F unding o f R esearch i n S cience B ased A rchaeology i n

U niversities a nd P olytechnics. H aselgrove,C., p p.7-30, f rom

1 985

-

H aselgrove,C.,

H esse,A .,

J olivet,A .

a nd S mith,

a nd B eavis,J.,

K elly,M .A., f or

d ata

.

a nd T abbagh,A., s urveying

p ossibilities",

A rchaeology'

a nd S mith,I.

c onference, D ale,P.

l ogging

1 985 - A rchaeology f rom

S heffield.

a rchaeological

a nd

s hallow

p edological

p p.585-594.

p resented

p hosphate measurements: a t

t he

p roblems

' Geophysical S urveying i n

U niversity o f B radford.

a nd H aigh,J.G.B., i n

s amples",

A rchaeology

1 986 - " New p rospects i n

f or

1 986 - " Soil

p aper

( Eds)

S heffield.

( Eds),

University o f S heffield,

p rospecting" G eophysics V ol.51(3),

a nd

f rom p loughsoil a trefact

U niversity o f S heffield,

e lectrical

K eeley,H.

S windon.

M illet,M .

M illett,M .

t he P loughsoil.

d epth

" Inference

i n H aselgrove,C.,

t he P loughzone.

S ERC,

g eophysical

1 984 - " A

m icrocomputer

s ystem

s urveying" A rchaeometry V ol.26(2),

p p.183-191. K lejn,L.S., t he

1 980

- " Archaeology o f t he

1 980's

t hrough t he o bjectives o f

1 970's" N orwegian A rchaeological R eview V ol.13(I),

K onrad,V.A ., B onnichsen,R. i dentification o f t en t housand a reas a t t he M unsungen A rchaeological S cience V ol.10, M acready,S. S urvey i n

Moore,J.A .

a nd K eene,A .S., p p.3-13,

P archas,C.

a nd

e lectrical

M aine"

A cademic P ress,

T abbagh,A ., a nd

c hemical a ctivity

J ournal

o f

1 978

S urveys

1 982 1 982.

s eason",

-

" Simultaneous

l aw

o f

t he

A rchaeological

m easurements

s usceptibility o f

o f

t he g round

i n

p p.682-691.

s urvey a t p p.243-254,

U niversity

t he

( Eds)

N ew Y ork.

m agnetic

1 983a - " A M agnetometer

Humberside,

a nd

a nd Keene,A .S.

p rospecting" A rchaeophysika V ol.10,

G eophysical N o.3,

1 982 - " Archaeology

i n M oore,J.A .

c onductivity

P ocock,J.A ., N orth

L ake T horoughfare, p p.13-28.

" Soil h uman

L ondon.

H ammers a nd T heories.

E .M.

a nd C lay,V., 1 983 y ears o f p rehistoric

a nd T hompson,F.H. ( Eds), 1 985 - A rchaeological F ield B ritain a nd A broad. O ccasional P aper V I, S ociety o f

A ntiquaries,

H ammer",

p p.9-14.

o f

P addock i n

H ill,

T hwing,

P ocock,J.A .

( Ed)

O ccasional

P aper

B radford,

B radford.

P ocock,J.A .,

1 983b - G eophysical

O ccasional P aper N o.3, P ryor,F.M.M., V ol.2(2),

S urveys

1 982.

U niversity o f B radford,

B radford.

1 983 - " Talking

h eads"

S cottish

A rchaeological

R eview

p p.98-101.

P ryor,F.M.M.,

F rench,C.,

T aylor,M .,

- T he F enland P roject N o.I

1 986

C rowther,D.,

80

G urney,D., T he

L ower

S impson,G. W elland

a nd V alley

V ol.l. R ichards,J.,

1 982 - " The S tonehenge Environs P roject:

S cottish A rchaeological R eview V ol. 1 (u ), R ichards,J., i n

t he

1 985

- " Scouring

S tonehenge

V ol.4(1),

t he

e nvirons"

S hennan,S.,

p p.98-104.

s urface:

a pproaches t o

A rchaeological

R eview

1 985

-

E xperiments

s urvey

d ata:

t he p loughzone f rom

i n

t he

c ollection

U niversity o f S heffield,

T abbagh,A .,

t he

1 984

e lectromagnetic

-

" On

p rospection

A rchaeometry V ol.26(2), 1 972

S eminar P ress,

-

a nd

t he E ast H ampshire s urvey.

P rehistory a nd A rchaeology,

C ambridge

c omparison

methods

f or

V ol.13(1),

a nalysis

o f

D epartment o f

S heffield.

b etween

magnetic

a nd

magnetic f eature d etection"

p p.171-182.

M ethods

o f

P hysical

E xamination

i n

A rchaeology.

L ondon.

T ite,M.S. a nd M ullins,C., 1 971 - " Enhancement o f s usceptibility o f s oils o n a rchaeological s ites"

t he magnetic A rchaeometry

p p.209-220.

W ynn,J.C., s pecial

f ar"

p p.27-42.

a rchaeological

T ite,M .,

t he s tory s o

1 986

i ssue"

- " Archaeological P rospection:

G eophysics V ol.51(3),

a n i ntroduction t o

t he

p p.533-537.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS W e w ould

l ike

s timulating

t o

t hank

d iscussions

J ohn

G ater

c oncerning

a nd t he

S teve r ole

D ockrill o f

f or

g eophysics

many i n

a rchaeology. O ur g reatest t hanks must g o t o A rnold A spinall f or i nitially s timulating o ur i nterest i n ( and c orrecting o ur naive p reconceptions o f) t he s ubject. e arlier d rafts o f t his a rticle,

W hilst a ll t hree g reatly i mproved a ny m isrepresentations r emain o ur o wn

m istakes.

8 1

R OMANO-BRITISH V ILLAS:

P RACTICAL L ESSONS F OR T ACTICAL F IELDWORK

E .Scott a nd V .L.Gaffney

I t

h as

b een muttered i n d ark r ecesses o f a rchaeology d epartments t hat

i f G od h ad m eant R oman A rchaeology t o b e t aken s eriously h e w ouldn't h ave g iven u s R oman A rchaeologists. N ot a ll R omanists d eserve s uch c riticism,

b ut i t

m ethodology

a nd

i s a f act t rivial

t hat t oo

many

p ursuits.

i ndulge

U ndoubtedly

a mongst m any R omanists t hat a s t hey

h ave

d atabase c lutch a t

a re t he

t han p rehistorians t hey t he s tatistical s traws o f

a

i n

u nsatisfactory

t here

" better",

i s a f eeling i .e.

b igger,

s omehow e xempt f rom h aving t o d rowning p rehistorian. T he

R oman d ata b ase i s however o nly g reater i n d egree, n ot k ind, a nd q uantity, n ot q uality. T he n ecessity o f e mploying r igorous a nalytical p rocedures i s o ften i gnored i n R oman s tudies. S uch a n u ndisciplined s tate i s e xemplified t hrough t he u se o f u nqualified j argon, f or e xample t he a ll e ncompassing t erm ' Romanisation'; who e lse c ould u se t his w ord w ith f ull c onfidence a nd p resumably b e s atisfied t hat i ts m eaning w as u nderstood? I t

i s

a pparent

s tandards

r ather

a scendancy f ossilised,

t hat t han

R omanists c riticise

n eed

i s s till a s u rgent a s e ver. B ritish v illas i s a c ase t he

r e-evaluate I t

i s

t heir

o wn

t hat

t he

i ronic

o f a n i nnovative w ork o n R omano-British a rchaeology t o a a p riori t extbook i gnores t he f act t hat i t may n ot b e a

s atisfactory f inal w ord o n t he s ubject.

" Taking

t o

o thers.

i n p oint.

d istribution

T he c all f or r igorous a nalysis

T he s tudy o f t he d istribution o f

O n t his

R omano-British

p resent v ery m uch t he p icture w e e xpect"

o f

R omano-

t opic R ivet h as s aid

( Rivet

t hat:

v illas a s a w hole, 1 969,

I s t his e xpectation b ased o n a s ound k nowledge o f

t hey

p .209). b iases

i n

f ield

w ork s trategies o r c omplacency b uilt u pon k nowledge o f modern l and u se? T he s ame a uthor e xpresses u njustified f aith i n t he c larity o f t he a nd t he

' obvious'

" When w e p lot a ll e venly

d ata

i nferences t hat c an b e d rawn f rom s uch d istributions: t he 6 04

d istributed

o ver

e conomically v iable a t t he

p ossible e xamples...we f ind t hem t o b e f airly t hat

p art

t ime o f

o f

B ritain

t he c onquest"

83

w hich w e d efined a s

( ibid,

p p.209-210).

S uch s uperficial a nalyses d o l ittle j ustice t o t he s o-called ' better' d atabase o f t he R oman p eriod. T erms s uch a s ' economically v iable' ( ibid, p .184), ' productivity' ( ibid, p .185), ' civilised', ' tycoon ' ( ibid, p .198), e markets','free e xchange', ' capitalist f arming' a nd ' recession ' ( ibid, p .200), s hould n ot b e g libly u sed o r R oman s tudies w ill r emain e tic a nd r eactionary. " It r emains t rue, h owever, t hat

A lthough R ivet o bserved, t he p eriod o f R oman-Britain i s n ot i n

t he e pistemological s ense a f ully h istorical p eriod, f or n o r eal l iterature c oncerning i t h as s urvived." ( Rivet 1 969, p .173) M any R oman A rchaeologists s till c ling d oggedly t o t he ' Historical F ramework'. S uch a s tance c an o nly b e t o t he d etriment o f R oman s tudies. S ome r adicals m aintain t hat t he h istorical r ecord, e ven w hen i t m ight p ertain t o B ritain, s hould b e k ept r ight o ut o f R oman a rchaeology. T his i s o bviously a c rucial c ontrast t o t he t raditional R omanist s tance a nd t he b elief t hat R omanists a re i n a p rivileged p osition b ecause t hey h ave t he ' Historical R ecord' a t t heir d isposal. T he H istorical R ecord h as t hus d etermined t he n ature o f R oman a rchaeology; b ecause a ncient a uthors s uch a s V itruvius a nd V arro w rote a bout c ertain t ypes o f b uildings, R omanists h ave t hen i nterpreted t heir o wn w ork i n t he l ight o f t he a ncient t exts. T his i s a n o dd p ractice, e specially i n B ritain, a a part o f t he w orld u nknown t o C ato, C olumella, V arro V arro, T he

e tc. I f t he o ccupants o f t he W interton v illa h ad e ver h eard o f o ne d oubts w hether V arro h ad e ver h eard o f W interton ! ' Historical F ramework'

p rovided b y t he c entral e mpire h as b ecome

a n o bsession f or R omano-British a rchaeologists h oping t o e xplain a rtefact d istributions a nd c ultural e vents. C unliffe h as o ffered a n e xplanation f or t his p re-occupation : " The R omans s eem t o b e f orever w ith u s, e asily u nderstandable t o t he W estern m ind, s tories a nd,

p resenting a w ealth o f i nteresting c haracters a nd g ood t o m any, o ffering a n ostalgic r eminder o f o ur n ow d ead

i mperial p ast" ( Cunliffe 1 984, p .176) C ould i t b e t hat w e h ave i gnored s ubstantive a rchaeological t hrough a n o bsessive d esire t o u nderstand t he R oman ' psyche'?

p roblems

A nother a ttribute c redited t o t he ' Historical F ramework ' i s t he a ssertion t hat t he f ramework c an b e u sed t o ' check' o r ' confirm ' a rchaeological d ata o r t heory. F or e xample: ..the e vidence f or R omano-British v illas i s r emarkably p lentiful;...Quite w hat s ort o f a s ociety a p rehistorian w ould d erive f rom i t i s n ot, p erhaps b eyond a ll c onjecture b ut f ortunately i rrelevant h ere. F or a rchaeological e vidence

i n m aking ( Romanists)

t hese d eductions f rom t he h ave b een a ble t o c onfirm t heir

f indings b y r eference b oth t o t he c hronological s keleton p rovided f or B ritain b y t he a ncient h istorians a nd t o t he s olid b ody o f l iterary a nd e pigraphic e vidence r elating t o t he r est o f t he R oman E mpire" ( our e mphasis)

( Rivet

1 969,

p .173).

T he a rguments a gainst s uch n ecessary. T he h istorical r ecord R omano-British a rchaeology. A n t ested u sing a rchaeological d ata,

a n a ssertion a re b oth p owerful a nd i s n either u seful n or d esirable i n a rchaeological h ypothesis c an o nly b e a nd t he ' historical r ecord' i s n ot a n

a rchaeological a rtefact. H istory a nd a rchaeology c annot c onfirm e ach o ther b ecause w e d o n ot k now h ow t he t wo r elate, o r h ow w e s hould d etect s uch a r elationship. W e s imply d o n ot k now w hat t he a rchaeological r ecord s hould l ook l ike a s t he r esult o f a n h istorical e vent. S ee f or e xample t he a pparent l ack o f a rchaeological e vidence f or t he P icts W ar o f A D 3 67 d escribed b y t he ' reliable ' h istorian A mmianus.

8 4

I f

t he a rchaeological a nd h istorical r ecords a re c ontradictory t hen

o ne o f t he r ecords i s r ejected, o r a n e laborate t heory i s c oncocted t o ' explain' t he d iscrepancy. I t i s, h owever, m ore p robable t hat w e u nderstand t oo l ittle a bout c ause a nd e ffect a nd t he b iases o f t he w ritten r ecord t o b e a ble t o k now h ow t he a rchaeological a nd h istorical r ecords s hould ' meet' i n s pace a nd t ime. O n t hese o ccasions w here s uch a f usion d oes a ppear t o w ork i t t ends t o b e a t a r ather l ow l evel o f r esolution , i nvoking C unliffe's i nteresting c haracters r ather t han e xplaining h uman b ehaviour, c ultural c hange o r o f h ow m aterial c ulture m anifests i tself. R eece h as o bserved: " It s eems t hat t he c autionary l essons f or e xcavations i n a h istoric p eriod w ill n ever b e l earned b ecause w hat d rives s o m any p eople i nto t hat a rea o f e nquiry i s t he h istorical f ramework. T hus m any s ites a re d ug a nd p ublished a s ' surely t he s ite o f...' o r ' undoubtedly f ounded b y...' a nd t hey m ay b e u sed b y t he c redulous a s d ated s ites f or s ome t ime.

U ntil t hey a re r e-interpreted b y

s omeone

w hose

t ypology

t hey

u pset, w hen t hey b ecome ' not t he r efuge b uilt b y R obin H ood i n 1 227, a m istake d ue t o t he e arly d ating o f Z w are, b ut t he f ortifications b uilt b y h is w idow M aid M arion f or h er g randson i n 1 276. I t m ay b e n oted t hat t his i s a f urther p iece o f e vidence f or t he l ate d ating o f Z w are'...for t he c redulous." ( Reece 1 984, p .115) T he a ssumption t hat t here i s o ne t rue a nd t his p ast c an o nly b e w ritten b y k nowing w ho w as p articular b uilding w as b eing r enovated i n a bsurd. T here a re m any p asts t o b e w ritten h ypotheses t o b e u sed ( Hodder

1 984,

k nowable p ast a nd t hat E mperor i n R ome w hen a B erkshire, i s c learly a nd m any s ources o f

p p.28-31).

T he ' Historical R ecord' m ay b e u sed a s a n e thnographic s ource f rom w hich t o f ormulate h ypotheses t o b e u sed w ith a rchaeological d ata, b ut w e m ust b e a ware t hat v irtually n one o f t he s ources s pecifically o r u nambiguously c oncern t he B ritish p rovince. T he ' Historical R ecord' i s o ften u sed t o p ad o ut t he b asic d ata a nd p rovide a g ood s tory. M any R oman a rchaeologists d enigrate ' popular a rchaeology ' a nd i gnore t he f act t hat t hey a ll m entally s tride a cross a ncient l andscapes a ssigning a ncient n ames a nd e vents t o s ites a nd p laces; i n t hat s ense w e a re a ll c loset M ichael W oods. W e s hould p erhaps a lso t ake e xception t o R ivet's d erogatory c omments c oncerning t he p rehistorian 's a bility t o i nterpret t he R omano-British e vidence; h e o bviously a ssumes a p ig's e ar. W e c an h ardly a fford t o b e s mug a bout s uch m atters s imply b ecause w e c an f all b ack o n T acitus. S uch a c ollaboration w ould i n f act b e a n e xciting p rospect. N otably, R omanists h ave, b y a nd l arge, f ailed t o e valuate t he i mpact o f t he R omans o n t he n ative p opulation o f B ritain ; t heir c oncept o f ' explanation '

o f c ultural

c hange

i s

t he

l iberal

u se

o f

t he

w ord

' Romanisation '. S imilar u nqualified j argon t hat h as c ome v ia t he h istorical r ecord, s uch a s ' civilised' a nd, o f c ourse, t he w ord ' villa' i tself, h as b ecome e ntrenched i n t he R omanists' v ocabulary. T his, c oupled w ith t he t rend o f a ssigning f eatures, b uildings a nd s ites t o s pecific e vents w ritten a bout b y a ncient a uthors, g ives R oman s tudies c rucial e pistemological p roblems t o r esolve. T he l atter t rend m ay b e i llustrated b y r eference t o t he g ranaries a t S outh S hields f ort, w hich a ll b ooks o n t he s ubject o f m ilitary R oman B ritain s uggest r elate t he h istorically d ocumented a ccount o f t he m ilitary c ampaign S eptimus S everus. e ither f or t he

H owever, d ate, o r

r epresent a s tockpile f or a ' existence '

t o o f

t here i s n o d irect e vidence f or t his, e qually a s i mportant, t hat t he g ranaries m ilitary

c ampaign.

S imilarly

n ote

t he

o f B oudiccan d estruction l evels a nd a p alace o f C ogidumnus

8 5

at Fishbourne. We may consider how useful the dates that the historical record has provided us with have been. Mentioned above is the case of the Picts' War of AD 367. We might also consider the traditionally crucial dates for the beginning and the end of Roman Britain, AD 43 and AD 410. The beginning and the end? As decisive watersheds protecting the civilised from the barbaric the dates have proved cumbersome, if not simply inhibiting. The beginning and the end of Roman Britain are now two of the most contentious areas of study, if not among Romanists then amongst scholars of the late Iron Age and the early Medieval periods. The dates AD 367 and AD 410 are considered to be highly significant to many archaeologists studying the demise of Romano-British settlement, and villas especially (eg Webster 1969, p.224-227). All too often villas are said to go out of use by, or after, AD 367, any subsequent occupation being treated as squatter activity - perhaps Saxon squatters! Yet the material decline of pottery and _coinage reflects wider problems of the economy, not the "civilized" aspirations of the villa occupiers or the villa owners disappearing. We are studying an economy in decline and not a wholesale ethnic change in villa ownership. Although the date AD 410 no longer holds the mystique accorded by past archaeologists, one wonders how much post-Roman information has been lost through excavating with reference to the preconceptions of the 'Historical Framework' and machine stripping rather than sensible area excavation. Reece's recent stimulating paper on the topic called for a "manifesto for archaeological independence" (Reece 1984, p.113) and a situation in which the material and written sources develop independently. The present muddled interdependence is detrimental to both. Of course Reece has been particularly concerned with the painfully inadequate fit between the coin loss patterns and the historical framework. The only real context for one set of archaeological data is another set of similar material. The overall coin loss pattern provides more information on the Roman economy, and perhaps society, that way! However a similar situation exists for many aspects of Romano-British archaeological fieldwork. We must strive for independence from the historical framework and become more concerned with the material culture itself. Taphonomy must become an area of interest for the Roman archaeologist. Within villa studies relevant problems can be observed. When does a villa merit mention on a distribution map? When it is excavated and proven to be a villa? If so the majority of the field survey data is inapplicable to Romano-British settlement studies, and distribution maps become apparent for what they are: distributions of excavations, territories of past antiquarians and present development strategy maps. It would appear that after decades of debate, villa studies have not come to terms with the archaeological evidence. Yet, should the Romanist feel inspired, a considerable body of relevant literature exists. General works on the value of field survey strategies have already been published (Gaffney and Tingle 1984), whilst detailed evaluations of the significance of survey results have been carried out, e.g. Parker Pearson's study of the relationship of surface to sub-surface artefact densities (Parker Pearson pers. comm.) or the very detailed work carried out by Ammerman (1985) in Calabria, both indicating the relatively small amount of material present on the surface at any one time. Perhaps one of the most relevant studies for

86

v illa p rojects i s t he r ecent w ork c arried o ut a t M addle F arm o n t he B erkshire D owns ( Gaffney a nd T ingle 1 985). H ere a R omano-British s ettlement c omplex h as b een s tudied i n t he c ontext o f a l arge s cale m ultistage s urvey w ith o nly l imited e xcavation c arried o ut t o t est s urvey r esults. T he p atterning e videnced w ithin t he p roject r esults i ndicated t he r elationship o f t raditional a rchaeological s tructures, i .e. b uildings t o c ontemporary p ottery, d iscarded o ff-site. T his p ottery d istribution i s n ot r andom b ut h as b een i nterpreted a s r elating t o s ettlement b ased m anuring e pisodes, c arried o ut t o m aintain l and f ertility. T his d ata h as b een u sed a s a t entative b ase f or b oundary r econstruction , a nd t he b asis f or b ehavioural i nterpretation o f t he v illa e conomy c arried o ut w ithin t his a rea. I n t he f ew i nstances o f e conomic r econstruction o f v illas i n R omanoB ritish s tudies, w e f ind t hat t hey a re u niversally l imited t o i nferences d erived f rom t he p resence o r a bsence o f p lant o r a nimal t ypes w ithin e xcavated s ite s amples. O bviously t his i s i mportant i nformation

b ut

t hey

c annot

b e h eld

t o i nterpret

t he s patial u se o f

l and b eyond s ettlement s tructures. S urely t his i s l imiting i f w e c onsider t he m inute a mount o f l and a ctually c overed b y s uch s ites. C onsidered i n t his l ight t he e mphasis o n t he i mportance o f v illas i s q uestionable, a nd t he l iterary a nd h istorical a pproach b ecomes l argely i rrelevant i n r espect t o m any o f o ur q uestions. W hether t he M addle F arm v illa c orresponded t o V arro's o pinions o f w hat a v illa s hould l ook l ike

i s u nimportant i f w e a re a ttempting t o i nterpret

g eometry t he

o f

a rchaeological

l and u se a round

t erms w e c onsider u seful a re b ehavioural,

t he

t he v illa.

b ehavioural S imilarly,

t heir h istorical

i f

c ontext

i s i mmaterial a s a n i nterpretational t ool. T he i mpact o f R ome d oes n ot e xplain h ow t he f armland a round M addle w as u tilised o r i ts r elationship t o t he v illa. T hese a re a rchaeological q uestions. T he M addle r esults d o n ot s tand a lone. R ecent w ork b y W illiamson ( 1984) i n E ast A nglia a nd a t W harram P ercy ( Hayfield p ers. c omm.) i ndicates t hat t hese a pproaches d emand f urther i nvestigation. O ne s uspects t hat t hey m ay l argely d iscredit t he d istribution m aps s o b eloved o f t raditional R omanists. W hether w e l ike i t o r n ot t he c oncept o f o ff-site s ampling c annot s imply b e d ismissed a s t he p rovince o f a mbitious o r t rendy p rehistorians a s " the s ociety d id n ot e xist t hat l ived, w orked, a te a nd d ied w ithin a s ingle s ettlement s ite" ( Gaffney a nd T ingle 1 984, p .135). A s

r esearch

p roceeds

u pon

s urvey

m aterial,

w e

m ay

b egin

t o

i nvestigate m ore e soteric a spects o f d emography a nd t he R oman e conomy. W e m ay a lso b egin t o s tudy i mplications c oncerning t he c omposition o f s urface a ssemblages. T he d istribution o f t iles f or i nstance m ay c arry a v ariety o f i mplications. I n t he M addle p roject t ile p resence o r a bsence m ay b e l inked t o s ite h ierarchy. H owever i n a c omparative s tudy, t he i ntra-site d istribution o f t ile m ay r eflect f unctional d ifferentiation ( Gaffney a nd G affney 1 986). C ertainly m ore w ork c arried o ut i n s outhwest A merica o n t he r elationship o f c eramics t o s ite h ierarchy c ould b e u sefully f ollowed u p u sing B ritish d ata e t a l 1 981).

( Upham

T he h igh q uality s urvey d ata t hat i s b ecoming a vailable i n B ritain i s e xpanding o ur h orizons w ithout r ecourse t o e xpensive, a nd i n s ome c ases, r epetitive e xcavations o f o ur f inite a rchaeological d atabase ( Scott f orth). T he n ovel n ature o f s urvey d ata i s a lso c ontinuing t o d istance t he a rchaeological d ata f rom t he h istorical r ecord. A s o ur a ppreciation a nd e xpectations o f t he a rchaeological

8 7

r ecord

i ncreases,

t he

a bility o f t he h istorical

d iminishes.

I f

r ecord t o a ppear

w e i nsist u pon m aintaining

t o a nswer o ur q uestions

t he l ink w ith t he h istoric

r ecord, w e must a cknowledge t hat t he r elationship i s a n u nhappy o ne. F ar f rom b eing a s ymbiotic r elationship, i t i s b etter d escribed a s m utually p arasitic, a nd, i f t his i s n ot d angerous, v ery l east e xtremely i rritating.

t hen i t

i s

a t

t he

B IBLIOGRAPHY A mmerman,A .J.,

1 985

-

"P low

z one

e xperiments

J ournal o f F ield A rchaeology V ol.12(1), C unliffe,B.W., 1 78.

1 984 - "I mages o f B ritannia",

G affney,C. a nd G affney,V., 1 986 i ntegrated a pproach t o R ural F ield V ol.10, p p.65-70. G affney,V. T heory

i n

a nd T ingle, M ., F ield

S urvey"

i n

C alabria,

I taly"

p p.33-40. Antiquity, Vol.58,

p p.175-

- "F rom B oeotia t o B erkshire: a n S urvey" P rospezioni A rcheologiche

1 984 - "T he T yranny o f t he S ite: S cottish

A rchaeological

R eview

M ethod a nd V ol.3(2),

p p. 1 34-140. G affney,V. a nd T ingle, M ., a nd M icro R egional A nalysis",

1 985 - "T he M addle F arm P roject ( Berks.) i n M acready,S. a nd T hompson,F.H. ( Eds)

A rchaeology a nd F ield S urvey i n B ritain Antiquaries O ccasional P apers V I, L ondon. H odder,I.,

1 984 - "A rchaeology i n

R eece,R.,

1 984

P eriod"

-

"S equence

a nd

S ociety o f

1 984" Antiquity V ol.LVIII,

i s

a ll:

p p.25-32.

o r A rchaeology i n a n H istorical

S cottish A rchaeological R eview V ol.3(2),

R ivet,A .L.F., 1 969 - "S ocial a nd ( Ed), T he R oman V illa i n B ritain.

B eyond.

E conomic

p p.113-115.

A spects",

i n

S cott,E., f orthcoming - " Romano B ritish V illas: a r ecognition" i n M iles,D. ( Ed), O xford U niversity P ress,

R ivet, A .L.F.

d efinition f or Oxford.

U pham,S., L ightfoot,K. a nd F einman,G., 1 981 - "E xplaining S ocially D etermined C eramic D istributions i n t he P rehistoric P lateau S outhwest" A merican Antiquity V ol.46(4), W ebster,G., ( Ed),

1 969 - "T he

p p.822-833.

F uture

o f

V illa

S tudies",

i n

R ivet,A.L.F.

T he R oman V illa i n B ritain.

W illiamson,T.M .,

1 984

A griculture i n N .W.

-

E ssex"

"T he

R oman

C ountryside,

B ritannia V ol.XV,

S ettlement

a nd

p p.225-230.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS W e w ould

l ike

t o

t hank t he

u nwitting i nspiration, T he

s taff

a nd

f ollowing c olleagues

p ostgraduates

U niversity o f N ewcastle u pon T yne, M artin J ones,

f or

a dvice

a nd

o ften

t hough a ny d eficiencies a re o f c ourse o ur o wn: o f

t he

D epartment

o f

A rchaeology,

p articularly N ick H odgson,

R ichard R eece a nd S imon Y ates.

88

a nd

a lso

C AN W E H AVE A P RAGMATIC I NTEGRATED A RCHAEOLOGY?

R .Hingley

I NTRODUCTION T heory a nd D ata A p ragmatic a pproach t o t he a rchaeological s tudy o f s ettlement m ust i nvolve t he i ntegration o f t heory a nd d ata. A n a nalyst's s ubjective v iew o f t he s ignificance o f d ata w ill c ondition t he w ay t hat t he i ndividual o bserves a nd r ecords t he d ata. H owever, a lthough d ata a re c onditioned b y i deas, d ata a re a lso i ndependent o f t he m ind o f t he r esearcher i n t hat t hey e xist i n t he r eal w orld. I f t he r esearcher i s s elf-critical h e/she m ay F urthermore, i f t his i s

p ermit d ata t o c onstrain h is/her o wn i deas. n ot t he c ase o ther c ritically m inded

i ndividuals

s ame

m ay

f it

c hallenge t he i nitial W hat

t he

t heory ( Note

d ata

i nto a d ifferent m odel a nd

t hus

1 ).

t ype o f t heory?

T his p aper i s a d iscussion o f t he t heory b ehind o ne p articular s tudy. T he s tudy i s o f t he s ettlement o rganisation o f I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ocial g roups i n a s mall a rea o f s outhern B ritain. I n o rder t o u nderstand t he s ettlement i t i s c onsidered n ecessary t o c reate m odels t hat d escribe s ocial f actors b ehind s ettlement o rganisation. H ow c an a rchaeologists a ttempt t o d evelop m odels f or t he s ocial s ignificance o f s ettlement d ata? M uch o f t raditional a rchaeology i s b ased o n w hat D avid C larke h as t itled t he ' morphological p aradigm '. T his m orphological p aradigm e mbraces s tudies w hich h ave t he o bjective o f d efining c ross-cultural r egularities i n t he s tructural m orphology o f a rchaeological e ntities ( Clarke 1 972). T he a ssumption b ehind t he m orphological a pproach a ppears t o b e i nferred a bout t he o rganisation c onstruction ( ?or e lucidation) o f ' assemblage' a nd ' culture' t ypes.

8 9

t hat s omething u seful c an b e o f h uman s ociety t hrough t he a h ierarchy o f ' artefact',

A ttempts

t o

c onstruct

a rchaeological

t heory

h ave

m ost c ommonly

a dopted t he m orphological a pproach ( Note 2 ); i ndeed i t h as b een a rgued t hat t he a pproach i s m ore p ractical t han a ny a lternative ( Clarke 1 972; H odson 1 980). H owever, w hat t ypes o f t heory a re d erived f rom t he c onstruction o f a h ierarchy o f a rchaeological e ntities? T he m orphological a pproach w as c reated a nd d eveloped a s a m echanism f or d efining t he d istribution o f a rtefacts i n t ime a nd s pace ( Clarke 1 972; K lejn 1 982, p .30). T he e mphasis u nder t he m orphological a pproach i s o n c reating o rder i n t he m ass o f d isparate a rchaeological e vidence. T he c reation o f o rder i s s een a s m ore i mportant t han t he e xplanation o f o rder. T he m orphological a pproach i s, t herefore, a n h eirloom o f t he d esire o f t he f ounders o f a rchaeological s tudy t o c reate o rderly c lassifications o f t heir e vidence. H owever, t he a pproach i mposes a rbitrary c ategories o n t he a rchaeological e vidence a nd p rovides l ittle i n t he w ay o f u nderstanding o f t he s ocial c ontext o f m aterial c ulture. A s a n a lternative a n a ttempt c an b e m ade t o d evelop m odels t hat s et m aterial c ulture i n i ts s ocial c ontext ( Hodder 1 982; K lejn 1 982). A c ontextual a pproach c onflicts w ith t he b asic a ssumptions o f t he m orphological a pproach. P ast s ocieties w ere r esponsible f or c reating t he m aterial r elics t hat s urvive t hem, t hus a n a ttempt m ust b e m ade t o u nderstand s ocial o rganisation a t t he s cale o f t he s ociety b efore t he a rchaeologist c an t urn t o l ower-order e ntities ( e.g. a rtefact a nd s ite t ypes)

w hich w ere a p roduct o f t hese s ocieties.

T herefore, i nstead o f b eing i nvolved i n t he t raditional ' Neo M ontelian' p rocess o f b uilding m odels u p f rom l ower-order e ntities ( i.e. a rtefacts) t o h igher-order e ntities ( i.e. c ultures) a c ontextual a pproach i nvolves b uilding d own m odels f rom t he t op t o t he b ottom ; e xplaining l ow-order e ntities ( artefact t ypes/site t ypes) i n t erms o f h igh-order e ntities

( social

o rganisation/social

c onventions

e tc). H ow t o A pply t he T heory t o C an

a

c ontextual

t he E vidence

a rchaeology

t hat

i ntegrates t heory a nd d ata b e

i mplemented? H ow c an a rchaeologists a ttempt t o d efine t he s ocial c onventions a nd c onditions t hat c reated t he o rder t hat e xists i n t he a rchaeological

r ecord?

S patial R elations a nd S ettlement S ystems. O ne a pproach t o t he a nalysis o f s ocial s ocieties i s t hrough t he s tudy o f s patial

o rganisation o f p ast r elations i n s ettlement

s ystems. T he v alue o f s ettlement e vidence i s t hat e ach s ociety c an b e e nvisaged a s r epresenting a u nique a daptation o f s ocial c onventions t o t he c onstraints o f i ts p hysical e nvironment; a s s uch e ach i ndividual s ociety m ay b e c onsidered t o h ave a u nique m ethod f or s tructuring s pace a nd s patial r elations ( Grossman 1 971). A ccording t o T hornton, b efore s pace c an r epresent a nything a t a ll t here m ust b e i mposed u pon i t a s tructure o f d ifferentiation, o r ' topology ', w hich a llows r elationships t o b e e xpressed i n i ts t erms ( Thornton 1 980, 1 4).

o ther

T hus a f ully c ontextual s ite c lassification w ill b e d efined i n t erms o f a s ociety 's t opology o f s pace. T he t ypology o f s ites w ill b e d erived f rom t he t opology o f s pace b ecause i t i s o nly t hrough t his t ype o f a nalysis t hat t he s ettlement c an b e p laced i n i ts s ocial c ontext ( Hingley

1 984b,

p .75).

9 0

C oncrete S tudies G eneral r ules, o r l aws, S pace i s a m edium t hrough r elations, b ut s pace s tructuring r elations.

f or t he h uman u se o f s pace d o n ot e xist. w hich s ocieties e stablish s tructuring

i tself d oes T herefore,

n ot d efine t he n ature o f t hese i f a n a rchaeologist w ishes t o

a ttempt t o u nderstand a s ociety's t ypology o f s pace i t i s n ecessary t o c onduct a c oncrete s tudy o f t hat s ociety. B y s tudying o ne p articular a rea a t a p eriod, o r p eriods, i n t ime i t m ay b e p ossible t o r econstruct a n a pproximation o f t he r ules w hich d efined t hat s ociety's t opology o f s pace. A s e ach s ociety c reates i ts o wn r ules f or s tructuring s pace, a r ange o f s tudies o f d ifferent a reas a nd p eriods w ill b e n ecessary b efore a g eneral o verview c an b e g iven o f t he s ocial u se o f s pace b y p ast s ocieties. T he S tructure o f R esearch T he r equirement f or c oncrete s tudies m ay s ound l ike a p lea f or e mpiricism ( Note 3 ); t his i s o nly p artly t rue. T he c ase s tudy ( below), r ather t han b eing p urely e mpirical i nvolves t he i nteraction o f t heory a nd d ata i n t he c ontext o f a c oncrete s tudy. T he p rocess o f r esearch i nvolves d ata c ollection a nd t heory b uilding s o t hat r esearch s hould b e a n i nteractive p rocess. O bservations a re c onditioned b y e xpectations a nd u nless r esearch s tategies a re f ormulated i n t erms o f t he t ypes o f v ariation i n p attern t hat c an e xist i n t he a rchaeological r ecord t hese s tudies m ay m iss t he m ost i mportant f actors o f p atterning i n t he a rchaeological d ata.

o f

T o a ttempt t o d evelop t his p oint f urther a m odel f or r esearch h as b een d eveloped ( Figure 1 ). T his

i nteracting e lements a nd p rovides a

n umber

o f

l evels

t he s tructure m odel h as f our o n

w hich

t he

a ssessment o f a p iece o f a rchaeological r esearch i s p ossible. T hese f our e lements a nd t he r elationship o f e ach e lement t o o ther e lements w ill n ow b e c onsidered. P hilosophy/Knowledge T his i s t he f ield o f k nowledge a nd b eliefs b eyond t he b ounds o f t he p articular s tudy. T he p hilosophy/knowledge b ehind a p iece o f r esearch i ncludes t he r esearcher's k nowledge o f t he s ociety t hat i s b eing s tudied, a dopt.

c ombined w ith w hatever p hilosophy t he

r esearcher

c hooses

t o

P hilosophical i deas a re t hose t hat c oncern t he n ature o f k nowledge a nd h uman s tudy ( for i nstance i deas a bout t he o rganisation o f human s ocieties, a bout s ocial e volution a nd t he r elationship o f t he h uman s ociety t o i ts p hysical e nvironment). K nowledge o f a p articular s ociety i s i deas a bout t he o rganisation a nd s tate o f d evelopment o f t hat a ctual s ociety ( Note 4 ). T he

p hilosophy/knowledge

t hat

e xists

i n

a n

i ndividuals

m ind

i nfluences t he w ays i n w hich d ata a re i nterpreted. D ata D ata

a re t he

s urviving p hysical

9 1

t races o f t he s ociety t hat i s b eing

F igure

1- A M odel

PK

f or

t he S tructure o f R esearch

Do ma in o f P h i losophy a nd K now ledge

D ata

OM EM

Observa t iona l Mode l E xp lana to ry Mode l I n te rre la t ionsh ip o f E lements

9 2

s tudied. T he p rocess o f r esearch i nvolves t he e xamination a nd a nalysis o f d ata i n t erms o f t he k nowledge/philosophy o f t he r esearcher. O bservational M odels A s a ll o bservations a nd d escriptions o f d ata a re c onditioned, o bservations c an b e c onsidered t o r epresent i nterpretations, o r m odels, o f r eality. T he o bservational m odel i s a s implified a nd c onditioned v ersion o f r eality ; i ts p urpose i s t o c reate o rder i n t he t erms o f t he e xplanatory m odel a dopted i n t he s tudy. E xplanatory M odels T hese

p rovide

t he

l ink

b etween

p hilosophy/knowledge

a nd

o bservational m odels; e xplanatory m odels p rovide a n i nterpretation o f o bserved d ata i n t he t erms o f t he p hilosophy a nd k nowledge o f t he r esearcher. E xplanatory m odels d efine t he s ignificance o f t he c lassification o f d ata t hat i s p rovided b y t he o bservational m odels. T hese

s uggestions f or

t he a pplication o f c ontextual

t heory w ill n ow

b e c onsidered i n t he c ontext o f o ne p articular s tudy. I RON A GE A ND R OMANO-BRITISH S OCIETY I N T HE U PPER T HAMES V ALLEY T he s tudy i s o f I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ettlement a nd s ociety i n t he U pper T hames V alley o f s outhern B ritain. T he i deas a nd i nformation a re p ublished e lsewhere ( Hingley 1 984a, 1 984b, f orthcoming a , H ingley a nd M iles 1 984) a nd d etails o f t he s tudy w ill n ot b e g iven i n t his p aper. P hilosophy T his f ield i nvolves t he r esearcher's k nowledge o f t he s ociety t hat i s b eing s tudied, c ombined w ith w hatever p hilosophy t he a nalyst c hooses t o a dopt. I t i s n ot p ossible t o d escribe i n f ull t he p hilosophy a nd k nowledge b ehind t his s tudy; i nstead s ome t hemes w hich a re o f r elevance t o

t he e xplanatory m odels

( below)

a re d iscussed a t t his p oint.

I t i s p ossible t hat I ron A ge s ociety o ver s outhern B ritain a s a w hole w as l acking i n a ny f orm o f c omplex s ocial d ifferentiation. T he a rchaeological r ecord f or t he e arly/middle I ron A ge p rovides o nly l imited

e vidence

f or

w ealth a nd

s tatus d isplay a nd t his i s i n m arked

c ontrast t o t he e vidence f or e arly/middle B ronze A ge a nd R omano-British s ociety i n s outhern B ritain. I t h as b een s uggested t hat, w ith t he c ollapse o f r egional e xchanges ystems i n t he l ate B ronze A ge/early I ron A ge, a n i ncreased e mphasis o n a rable a griculture o ccurred ( Bradley 1 978, p .123; 1 980, p .17; J ones 1 984). I t i s p ossible t hat t he r eproduction o f i ndividual I ron A ge s ocial g roups w as r elated t o t he c ontrol o f t erritory b y t he c ommunity a nd t hat s tatus w ithin s ociety m ay h ave b een d efined t hrough k inship i n r elation t o t erritory ( Hingley 1 984b, p .75). M echanisms H owever,

o f

l eadership

c learly e xisted w ithin I ron A ge s ociety.

t he d egree t o w hich p ower

w as

b ased

o n

f orce

r ather

t han

c ustom i s u ncertain. P robably

t he m ost i nfluential m odel f or p olitical

e arly/middle I ron A ge i s t hat d eveloped b y C unliffe

9 3

i nequality i n t he

t o e xplain t he

s o-

c alled ' developed h illforts' o f s outhern B ritain. C unliffe h as a rgued t hat t hese s ites w ere r edistributive c entres w ith d efined t erritories a nd m ay b e s een i n t he c ontext o f t he d evelopment o f c hieftains. D eveloped h illforts a re t hought t o h ave s erved a s c entral p laces f or t he p rocessing, s torage a nd r edistribution o f r aw m aterials ( Cunliffe 1 984a , 1 984b). T he e vidence f or d eveloped h illforts a cting a s c ollection a nd d istribution c entres f or s ome i tems ( eg s urplus g rain) i s c onvincing, h owever t he i dea t hat t hey a re m ajor c entral p laces a nd a re l inked t o t he d evelopment o f c hiefdoms h as n ot b een d emonstrated c onclusively ( Collis 1 985; A very 1 986). N evertheless, e ven i f d eveloped h illforts d id f orm t he c entral p laces o f e volving e conomic/ p olitical s ystems i t i s u ncertain t hat a c hief/king w as i n c harge. I s i t p ossible t hat t hese d efended s ites w ere a c ommunal r esponse t o c onditions o f r esource s carcity? T his i s n ot t he p lace t o f ollow u p t hese s uggestions i n d etail. H owever, i t i s o f r elevance i n t his p aper t hat d eveloped h illforts a re a r egional p henomenon i n s outhern B ritain ( Cunliffe 1 978, F igure 1 6:2; 1 984b, F igure 2 :24). T he s ites o ccur i n a r egular d istribution o ver m uch o f s outhern B ritain, b ut t here a re l arge b lanks i n t he d istribution. T he c hronology a nd f unctions o f t he s maller a nd m ore p oorly d efended h illforts t hat o ccur i n o ther a reas o f s outhern B ritain ( e.g. t he M idlands a nd t he e ast) a re n ot e ntirely u nderstood. N evertheless i t s eems p ossible t hat t hese r elate t o a v ariety o f c onditions, f or i nstance c onditions o f t emporary p olitical i nstability, o r

c onditions

g roups, e lite. I n

o f p ermanent i nstability o n t he b oundary b etween s ocial

r ather t han t o

c ontrast,

t he e stablishment o f a

p owerful

s tarting i n t he l ate I ron A ge,

a dministrative

a nd p articularly a fter

t he R oman c onquest, t here i s a d ramatic c hange i n t he s ocial a nd e conomic o rganisation o f s ocial c ommunities i n s outhern B ritain. T hese c hanges w ere c reated b y t he e nforcement o f p eace a nd i ncentives t o p roduce a nd e xchange s urplus p roduce.

t he

c reation

o f

I t h as b een s uggested t hat i n t he I ron A ge t erritory w as c ontrolled b y c ommunities. I n t he R oman p eriod c ommunal c ontrol m ay h ave b een r eplaced g radually, o r e ven s uddenly, b y p rivate o wnership o f l and b y i ndividuals ( eg R ivet 1 969, W ightman 1 975), o r r estricted l ocal s ocial g roups ( Wightman 1 975; S tevens 1 966; S mith 1 978, 1 985). I n a ddition ,

m arket e xchange w ould

m ore s ignificant a nd w ould

h ave

m ade

s eem t o h ave b ecome p rogressively t he

o wnership

o f

s laves

a nd

t enants m ore l ucrative. T he d evelopment o f p rivate o wnership a nd m arket e xchange o f s urplus p roduce a re t wo o f t he f actors b ehind t he i ncreasing w ealth o f i ndividuals w ithin t he R oman P rovince ( Rivet 1 969; T odd 1 978). L inked t o t he c reation o f s urplus w ealth b y s ome i ndividuals i n t he R oman c ountryside i s t he o vert d isplay o f w ealth t hrough t he o wnership o f a s ymbol o f s tatus. T he v illa w as c learly a p opular m echanism f or d isplaying w ealth a nd s tatus i n t he R oman P rovince o f B ritain ( see p age 4 0). H owever,

v illas a re n ot e venly d istributed o ver t he

w hole

P rovince

( eg R ivet 1 969; P ercival 1 976) a nd t his p robably i ndicates t hat t he c onditions w hich l ed t o t he c onstruction o f v illas v aried f rom a rea t o a rea. C onstraints t o s urplus a ccumulation c ould i nclude l imitations o n t he p roductivity o f t he l and, d istance f rom r oads a nd m arkets a nd a lso,

9 4

p erhaps, s ocial c onstraints t hat d eterred t he c onstruction o f a s ymbol o f o vert w ealth d isplay ( Hingley f orthcoming a , f orthcoming b ). D ata/Observational M odels T he s urvey w as o f a s mall 3 5 b y 3 0 k ilometre a rea o f t he U pper T hames V alley i n O xfordshire ( Figure 2 ; H ingley 1 984a, F igure 5 :3). T his a rea a ppears t o h ave b een m arginal t o l ate I ron A ge p olitical a nd u rban d evelopments ( Hingley f orthcoming a ). T his b oundary l ocation c ontinued i nto t he R oman p eriod w hen t he a rea w as p robably i n t he t erritory o f t he D obunni, b ut w ith t he t ribal b oundary o f t he A trebates j ust t o t he s outh ( Hingley 1 985, p .209). I n t he s outh o f t he s urvey a rea a re t he c lays a nd g ravels o f t he O xford C lay V ale a nd i n t he n orth a re t he O xford U plands. T he g ravels o f t he v alley p rovide v aluable f ertile a rable s oils a nd a re a pparently d ense i n P rehistoric, R omano-British a nd M edieval s ettlement. I n c ontrast t he l imestone u plands h ave l imited e vidence f or s ettlement b efore t he M edieval p eriod, a lthough s ome s oils i n t his a rea a re q uite f ertile ( Hingley a nd M iles

1 984).

A s ignificant v ariation a ppears t o o ccur w ithin t he s urvey a rea i n b oth t he I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ettlement e vidence. I t h as b een r ealised f or a n umber o f y ears t hat t he f ertile g ravel t erraces o f t he U pper T hames g ravels a re d ense i n I ron A ge o ccupation a nd t hat s ettlements a re t ypically ' open' ( in o ther w ords n ot e nclosed w ithin a p hysical b oundary; B radford 1 942; H arding 1 972, 1 974; B enson a nd M iles 1 974; H ingley a nd M iles 1 984). S ites o n t he O xford U plands h ave b een f ar h arder t o f ind ( Bradford 1 942) a nd, o n p resent e vidence, t he p attern o f s ettlement d oes n ot a ppear t o b e n early a s d ense a s o n t he g ravels. I n a ddition i n t his a rea e nclosed s ettlements s eem t o p redominate i n t he s ettlement l andscape, w ith ' banjo' e nclosures b eing p articularly c ommon ( Hingley a nd M iles

1 984;

H ingley

1 984b).

I t h as a lso b een r ealised f or a n umber o f d ecades t hat t he c ontrast b etween t he O xford U plands a nd t he O xford C lay V ale i s m aintained i nto t he R oman p eriod. T aylor d iscussed t he d ifference b etween t he r iver v alley, w here ' villages' a nd ' farmsteads' p redominated a nd t he l imestone u plands, w here v illas a ppeared t o p redominate ( Taylor 1 939). T his p attern f itted t he d istribution d rawn b etween v illage a nd v illa z ones o n C ranborne C hase b y C ollingwood ( Collingwood a nd M yres 1 936). O ther a uthors h ave a lso d rawn a ttention t o t he d istinction b etween v illa-less v alleys a nd t he v illa-strewn u plands o f t he U pper T hames V alley ( Stevens 1 966; M iles 1 982; H ingley 1 984b, f orthcoming a ). T hus

i n

t he

I ron

A ge

a nd

R omano-British

s ettlement e vidence a

d istinction h as b een d rawn b etween u pland a nd v alley. I n t he v alley t he d ensely o ccupied I ron A ge l andscape i s r eplaced i n t he R oman p eriod b y a l andscape t ypified b y n on-villa s ettlements. I n c ontrast o n t he O xford U plands d ispersed a nd i solated I ron A ge s ettlements g ive w ay t o a l andscape o f v illas. H ow c an t hese o bservations b e e xplained? E xplanatory M odels E xplanatory m odels s hould r elate o bservations t o p hilosophy/ k nowledge. T he d evelopment o f l ogical a nd c oherent e xplanatory m odels o n t he b asis o f a c onsideration o f t heory a nd d ata w as t he o bjective o f t his s tudy. A n umber o f m odels h ave b een d eveloped a nd t hese w ill n ow b e d iscussed.

9 5

F igure 2 - T he S urvey A rea w ith P hysiographic a nd S ocial R egions

9 6

B oundaries a nd I ron A ge S ocial G roups A n a ttempt h as b een m ade

t o i solate

s ocial g roups b y t he a pplication

o f a t heory w hich a ccounts f or t he n ature o f b oundaries i n t he s ettlement l andscape ( Hingley 1 984a, 1 984b). T his e xplanatory m odel r elates p hysical b oundaries ( i.e. d itches/ramparts) a nd s patial b oundaries ( i.e. s ocial g roups.

l ong d istances i n s pace)

t o

t he d efinition o f l ocal

W here m arked p hysical a nd/or s patial b oundaries e xist ( for i nstance i n t he O xford U plands i n t he I ron A ge) i t i s a rgued t hat a c learly d efined l ocal s ocial g roup w as i n e xistence. I n c ontrast t o t his s ituation w here c lear p hysical a nd s patial b oundaries a re a bsent ( as i n t he O xford C lay V ale) i t i s a rgued t hat c losely d efined s ocial g roups w ere o f l esser s ignificance a nd b roader r egional s cale ( Note 5 ).

t hat c ommunities w ere d efined a t a

T his m odel i s r ather d eterministic, o f r estricted r elevance a nd r equires q ualification. A lthough t hey w ere s mall s cale t he i solated s ocial g roups o f t he O xford U plands w ere c learly n ot c losed b reeding g roups. T he e xplanatory m odel f or t he s ignificance o f b oundaries a nd s pace o nly t akes o n r elevance i n r elation t o a o rganisation o f t erritory a nd p roduction.

s econd

m odel

f or

t he

M odes o f P roduction a mong I ron A ge S ocial G roups I t

i s

a rgued

t hat

t he o rganisation o f t he c ommunity i n t he v alley

a nd u plands i s r elated d irectly t o t he c ontrol a nd e xploitation o f t erritory ( Note 6 ). A bove i t w as s uggested t hat t he c ontrol o f t erritory w as o n ab roadly c ommunalistic b asis i n t he I ron A ge o f s outhern B ritain ( page 9 1). I n t he U pper T hames V alley t his c ommunal o wnership i s m anifest i n t he d ivision o f a rable f rom p asture b y t he i ndividual c ommunity. H owever t he s cale a t w hich a rable a nd p asture a re d ivided v aries b etween t he t wo t ypes o f o rganisation. I n t he u plands t he m ost c ommon t ype o f s ettlement i s t he b anjo e nclosure ( Note 7 ; H ingley a nd M iles 1 984). I t c an b e a rgued t hat i n t he u plands t he d ivision o f a rable f rom p asture i s a t t he s cale o f t he s ingle s ettlement ( Figure 3 ). T he d omestic s ettlement i s w ithin t he e nclosure ; a rable l and i s a round t he e nclosure a nd d efined f rom t he s ettlement b y t he e nclosure d itch ; t he t rackway r uns f rom t he s ettlement t owards p asture l and a nd t he a rable l and i s p rotected f rom g razing a nimals b y l inear d itches t hat r un f rom e ither s ide o f t he t rackway ( Hingley 1 984b,

p .80;

H ingley f orthcoming a ).

I f t his i nterpretation i s c orrect

t hen b anjo

e nclosures

a re

m ixed

f arms a t t he s cale o f t he s ingle s ettlement. O ther o val, r ectangular a nd d efended e nclosures o ccur i n t he O xford U plands a nd t he s ignificance o f t hese e nclosures a s p roductive u nits i s l ess o bvious. F urther w ork w ill b e n ecessary t o e stablish w hether a rable a nd p asture a re d ivided a t t he s cale o f h e s ingle s ettlement o n a ll o f t hese s ites ( Hingley f orthcoming a ). I n t he v alley c o-operative c ommunities w ere p robably r ather l arger i n s cale. H arding i dentified t he s o-called ' Lower W indrush M ultiple S ettlement', a g roup o f f our s ettlements l ocated t o f unction a s a b arrier b etween f ertile a rable l and o n t he g ravel t erraces a nd p asture o f t he f loodplain ( Harding 1 972, p .11n ; 1 974, p .27). R ecently i t h as b een a rgued t hat H arding's f our s ettlements a re a ctually p art o f a m ore

9 7

F igure 3 - T he d ivision o f a rable f rom p asture i n B anjo e nclosures a nd M ultiple S ettlements. N ote t hat t he a rea c overed b y t he M ultiple S ettlement i s f ar g reater t han t he a rea o f t he t erritory o f t he B anjo e nclosure, a lthough i n t he d iagram t hey h ave b een r educed t o t he s ame s cale.

P 4.

e 9

• 4 7

I i 7s i

7

1 '

9

9

l i 9 7

/ 1

7

/

4 ,

e 4 '

f

94 e 7 97 f

BANJO ENCLOSURE

N i f

MULT IPLE S ETTLEMENT P hys ica l B oundary . '

S e t t lemen t

/ /

A rab le

4 -

P as ture

9 8

e xtensive a nd c omplex p henomenon , a g roup o f s ettlements w hich f ormed a r ing d efining a n i sland o f s econd/third t errace g ravel f rom f loodplain/ f irst t errace g ravel ( Note 8 ; H ingley f orthcoming a ). I n t he c ase o f t he L ower W indrush M ultiple S ettlement a nd o ther p ossible M ultiple S ettlements i n t he v alley a c ommunal d ivision o f a rable f rom p asture c an b e i dentified a t a s cale a bove t hat o f t he s ingle s ettlement ( Figure 3 ). T his p attern i s s imilar t o t he ' girdle p attern ' o f s ettlement r ecognised a s t ypical o f ' gwely ' s ettlement i n M edieval W ales ( Jones 1 985, p .163). T he g irdle p attern o f s ettlement i s r elated t o c ommunal o wnership o f a rable a nd p astures a s a re t he M ultiple S ettlements o f t he I ron A ge i n t he O xford C lay V ale. T he

e xplanatory

m odels

f or

b oundaries a nd I ron A ge s ocial g roups

( above) r elated t he d ense o pen s ettlements o f t he v alleys t o c ommunities d efined a t a b road r egional s cale a nd t he i solated e nclosed s ettlements o f t he u plands t o i solated a nd i ndependent s mall s cale s ocial g roups. B y s tudying s ocial r elations o f p roduction i n t he t wo a reas i t i s p ossible t o a rgue t hat t he s cale a nd o rganisation o f t he c ommunity i s r elated t o t he p roductive a ctivities o f t wo s ocieties w ith d iffering o rganisation. I n t he O xford U plands i ndividual c ommunities c ontrolled t erritory, w hile i n t he v alley t erritory w as c ontrolled a nd e xploited o n t he b asis o f t he M ultiple S ettlement. H ierarchy a nd I ron A ge S ettlement E vidence f or s ocial h ierarchy i s r estricted

i n

t he

a rchaeological

r ecord; n evertheless o ne t ype o f s ite t hat c ould b e t aken t o s uggest i nequality h as b een i gnored i n t he d iscussion a bove: h illforts o ccur b oth i n t he O xford C lay V ale a nd i n t he O xford U plands. T he h illforts o f t he s urvey a rea a re p oorly u nderstood d ue t o t he l ack o f e xcavation o n s ites o f t his t ype ( Hingley 1 984b, f orthcoming a ; H ingley

a nd M iles

1 984).

H owever h illforts a re i nvariably s mall s cale

a nd w eakly d efended i n c ontrast t o t he d eveloped h illforts o f W essex. I n a ddition r ather t han b eing a t t he c entre o f t erritories, a s i s c laimed f or t he W essex d efended e nclosures, c urrent e vidence a ppears t o i ndicate t hat t hese s ites a re m arginal t o t he d ense a reas o f I ron A ge o ccupation i n t he U pper T hames V alley ( Hingley f orthcoming a ). I t i s p ossible t hat t he d efended e nclosures i n t his

a rea

r epresent

n ucleation a nd d efence o f c ommunities o n t he e xposed p eriphery a nd p oint o f i nteraction b etween t he c ommunities o f t he v alley a nd t he u plands. T hese d efended e nclosures m ay s imply h ave r epresented t he s trongly d efended f armsteads o f s ocial g roups t hat l ived i n t he s parsely p opulated a nd p olitically u nstable r egions o f t he U pper T hames V alley.

a nd

H owever, t he h illforts o f t he s urvey a rea a re v ery p oorly u nderstood e xcavation o f a s ite w ill b e n ecessary b efore t he s uggestions

c oncerning t he p lace o f h illforts i n I ron A ge s ociety c an b e

a ssessed.

S urplus P roduction a nd D isplay a mong R oman C ommunities A s u sed b y a rchaeologists t he

t erm ' villa'

i s u sually r eserved f or a

d welling t hat o ccurs i n c omparative i solation a nd i s ' Romanised' i n f orm ( Note 9 ; C ollingwood 1 930, p .113). A lthough i t i s n ot p ossible t o d efine a c lear d emarcation o f v illas f rom n on-villa a rchaeological

e vidence ( Percival

1 976,

9 9

p .15),

s ettlements

u sing

a rchaeologists c ommonly

d etermine a v illa b uilding b y t he u se o f b uilding s tone a nd t ile ( as o pposed t o t he u se o f t imber, d aub a nd t hatch i n n on-villa b uildings) a nd o ften t hrough t he o ccurrence o f t esselated/mosaic p laster, h eated r ooms a nd b ath s uites.

f loors,

p ainted

T o m any a rchaeologists t he e xistence o f a v illa b uilding i n t he a rchaeological r ecord i ndicates t he l ocation o f a p rivate e state b elonging t o t he v illa o wner. I n f act t he l ink b etween v illa a nd p rivate e state i s a n a ssumption ( Slofistra 1 983). A v illa, a s d efined f rom a rchaeological e vidence, i s a s tatus i ndicating b uilding f orm a nd n o m ore. T he c onstruction o f a v illa b uilding c learly f ormed a f ashionable w ay o f i nvesting a nd d isplaying w ealth i n t he R oman c ountryside. T he s urplus a ccumulated

t o c onstruct a v illa c ould h ave b een d erived

f rom i ndustry a nd t rade a nd n eed n ot b e r elated t o s urplus p roduction t hrough o wnership o f a n e state ( see H ingley f orthcoming b f or t he o ccurrence o f v illa-type b uildings i n ' towns' a nd ' villages' a s w ell a s i n r ural l ocalities). H owever, a griculture a nd l and o wnership w ere t he m ain f orms o f w ealth i n t he m ore ' civilized' P rovinces o f t he R oman E mpire ( Duncan J ones 1 974, p .33) a nd t his m ay s uggest t hat m any v illas w ill h ave b een r elated t o o wnership, o r a t l east t o c ontrol o f a n a rea o f l and ( Hingley f orthcoming b ). V illas w ere p robably t he h omes o f i ndividuals ( or p erhaps o f s ocial g roups; N ote 1 0) w ho h ad b een a ble t o e xpand o r i ntensify p roduction a nd t o m arket e xcess g oods c reating a s urplus. T he v illa b uilding s ymbolises c ontrol o f t erritory a nd c ontrol o f s urplus w ealth. T he a bsence o f a v illa b uilding m ay i ndicate t hat t he s ocial g roup w as n ot c reating s ufficient s urplus t o b uild a v illa, o r t hat i t w as n ot i nvesting t he s urplus i n t he f orm o f a s ymbol o f t he r elative s uccess o f o ne ( or a f ew) w ithin t he c ommunity ( Hingley f orthcoming b ), o r t hat t he g roups c oncerned d id n ot h ave c ontrol o ver t he s urplus t hat t hey c reated. M ode G roups

o f

P roduction a nd S urplus D isplay a mong R omano-British S ocial

O ne f urther e xplanatory m odel h as b een d eveloped t o e xplain c omparative d evelopment o f t he O xford U plands a nd s tagnation o f t he O xford C lay V ale i n t he R oman p eriod. T he a rgument i s r elated t o s uggestions m ade a bove a bout I ron A ge m odes o f p roduction i n t he t wo a reas. I n t he u plands i ndividual

s ocial g roups c ontrolled t erritory a t

t he

s cale o f t he s ingle s ettlement. T hese i solated a nd i ndependent s ocial g roups, w hen b rought w ithin t he o rbit o f t he R oman E mpire, w ere a ble t o e xpand p roduction. I n t his r egion t he v illa b uilding w as a s ymbol w hich f itted i n w ith t he g eneral c ompetition f or s tatus a nd w ealth. T his i s t he r eason f or h e d ensity o f v illas i n t his r egion o f t he U pper T hames V alley. O n t he g ravels I ron A ge l ocal s ocial g roups w ere b ound i nto b roader c ommunities b ased o n t he M ultiple S ettlement. T hese M ultiple S ettlements r epresented t he c ommunal d ivision a nd c ontrol o f t erritory b y a g roup o f s ettlements. T he b asis o f p roduction i n t his r egion w as c o-operation a nd i n t his a rea t he v illa, a s a s tatus s ymbol, w as a lien t o s ociety. T he d evelopment a nd d isplay o f s urplus w ealth b y o ne s ocial g roup w ould h ave d estroyed t he c o-operative b asis o f s ocial

1 00

o rganisation. A s a c onsequence n on-villa e xclusion o f v illas i n t he c lay v ale. T hus

t he

c ommunal

s ettlements o ccur t o

t raditions o f p roduction c onstrained

d evelopment i n t he v alley.

t he

' economic'

I n t he u plands t he i solated a nd c ompetitive

n ature o f t he i ndividual c ommunity p romoted t he i ntensification o f p roduction, t he d evelopment o f e states w ith m asters a nd t enants, s urplus p roduction a nd w ealth d isplay ( Hingley f orthcoming a ). T his m odel i s d erived f rom a s tudy b y C ollingwood o f R omano-British c ommunities o n C ranbourne C hase. C ollingwood s uggested t hat a r egion o f ' villages' o ccurred a nd t hat i n t his a rea t he e conomy w as r igid a nd u nprogressive b ecause o f t he m inute s ubdivision o f t he l andscape a nd l imited q uantity o f ' capital' c ontrolled b y i ndividual f armers. I n c ontrast t o t his m ore s ubstantial a nd i ndependent f armers l ived i n i solated f arms a nd w ere a ble a fter t he c onquest t o a dopt R oman w ays o f l ife a nd t o c onstruct v illas ( Collingwood a nd M yres 1 936, p .214).

i t

T he s pecific m odel d eveloped b y C ollingwood i s d eterministic i n t hat r educes e xplanation t o t he n ature o f t he m aterial e nvironment

( density o f s ettlement) w ithout s ufficient c onsideration o f t he s ocial r elations t hat g o h and i n h and w ith d iffering p atterns o f s ettlement. T he e xplanatory m odel p roposed i n t his s tudy e xplains c omparative d evelopment a nd s tagnation i n t erms o f c ontrasting r esponses t o t he n ew c onditions c reated b y t he R oman i nvasion o f B ritain. C ONCLUSION T he i ntention o f t he s tudy r eviewed i n t his p aper w as t o i ntegrate t heory a nd d ata t hrough a c oncrete s tudy o f a p articular s ocial g roup o r s ocial g roups. A r ange o f e xplanatory m odels h ave b een d eveloped i n a n a ttempt t o i nterpret t he d ata f or I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ettlement a nd s ocial o rganisation i n t he s urvey a rea. T he r esult i s a r ather b road a nd c oarse i nterpretation o f I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ociety a nd t he d evelopment o f s ociety t hrough t ime. W hether t his a pproach i s c onsidered t o r epresent a c ontextual s tudy d epends o n h ow t he t erm i s d efined. T he e xplanatory m odels a re c learly n ot d efined i n e xactly t he t erms w ith w hich i ndividuals i n t he I ron A ge a nd R omano-British c ommunities o f t he U pper T hames V alley t hought. T he d etails o f a s ociety 's t opology o f s pace ( see a bove) m ay b e f orever b eyond t he g rasp o f t he a rchaeologist. H owever, i t i s p ossible t hat s omething o f t he u nderlying o rder i n t he a rchaeological r ecord f or t he I ron A ge a nd R oman p eriods i n t he U pper T hames V alley h as b een g rasped a nd a n a ttempt m ade t o e xplain t his o rder w ithout b lindly f orcing a p reconceived m orphological p aradigm o nto t he e vidence. W hether t he a pproach a dopted i n t his s tudy i s a ccepted b y o thers p robably d epends o n t wo f actors. T he f irst f actor i s t he c loseness o f f it b etween t he o bservation _ il/explanatory m odels a nd t he d ata f or I ron A ge a nd R omano-British s ociety i n t he s urvey a rea, t he s econd, o n h ow c losely t he p hilosophy/knowledge b ehind t he s tudy c orresponds w ith t hat o f o ther i ndividuals w orking w ithin t he f ield o f I ron A ge a nd R omanoB ritish s tudies.

1 01

N OTES ( 1) T his i s b ased o n t he a ssumption t hat e vidence e xists i n i solation f rom i deas a nd t hus t hat e vidence, a lthough c onditioned b y i nterpretation, c an a lso c hallenge i t. ( 2)

C larke

t itled

i t w as i nitially

t he a pproach ' Montelian '

u tilised

b y

M ontelius

o r

' Neo-Montelian '

( Clarke

1 972,

b ecause

1 973).

T he

m orphological a pproach i s a lso t he b asis o n w hich C hilde i dentified a rchaeological c ulture ( 1929, v -vi) a nd t he a pproach c an b e i dentified i n m any r ecent s tudies ( je H odson 1 964, 1 980; D oran a nd H odson 1 976; C larke 1 978). ( 3)

H aselgrove,

i n a r eview o f a n

e arlier

a rticle,

a greed

w ith

t he

c ontextual i deal b ehind t he s tudy, b ut a rgued t hat t he a im o f c ontextualising s ettlement e vidence h ad n ot b een a chieved i n t he c ase s tudy ( Haselgrove 1 984). H aselgrove s uggested t hat c lassifications t hat r elate t o t he u se o f s pace b y p ast s ocieties c annot b e d eveloped p urely t hrough t he u se o f a rchaeological e vidence a nd t hat t he p articular s tudy i nvolved p ost-hoc a ccommodative a rguments i n r elating u nits o f s ynthesis t o t he a ctual a rchaeological s ituation ( Haselgrove 1 984). H owever, a s t his p aper i s i ntended t o d emonstrate, t he a pproach a dopted i n t he c ase s tudy i s n ot p urely e mpirical. ( 4) F or i nstance, i deas c oncerning t he f unction o f k inship, s ocial h ierarchy, o r c apital i n a p articular s ociety ; a lso i deas a bout t he p osition o f t he

s ociety i n t he s cale o f w orld h istory.

( 5) T his m odel i s s imilar t o o ne d eveloped b y H aselgrove a nd A llon i n a d iscussion o f I ron A ge/Romano-British s ettlement i n C ounty D urham. H aselgrove a nd A llon a ttempted t o r elate s ettlement m orphology t o a spects o f s ocial a nd e conomic o rganisation o f t he s ocieties c oncerned. T he s uggestion i s t hat a n e nclosure d itch i s s ocially a nd e cologically a ppropriate t o a l argely d ispersed p opulation r aising s tock i n a w ooded l andscape. p roduction i ndividual

A s a c ontrast t o t his a g reater e mphasis o n c ereal i s c ommonly a ssociated w ith d enser p opulation , w here s ettlements b elong t o o rganised, l arger s cale, s ocial a nd

p olitical u nits ( Haselgrove a nd A llon 1 982,

p .49).

( 6) T he c oncepts ' mode o f p roduction ' a nd ' social r elations o f p roduction ' h ave b een d efined i n a n umber o f w ays ( see L aw 1 978; C opans a nd S eddon 1 978; B onte 1 979; K ahn a nd L lobera 1 981). R ather t han i mposing s ix s upposed p hases o f w orld h istory o n t he e vidence t he a pproach a dopted i n t his s tudy r elates e ach i ndividual s ociety t o i ts o wn m ode o f p roduction ( Bonte 1 979, 1 981; G odelier 1 978, 1 979 a nd a rticles i n C rummy a nd S tewart

1 981).

( 7) B anjo e nclosures a re a d istinctive t ype o f I ron A ge e nclosure. F irst d iscussed b y P erry ( 1972), t his e nclosure t ype o ccurs a cross B ritain a nd i n C ontinental E urope. B anjo e nclosures h ave b een i nterpreted i n t wo w ays i n t he l iterature, a s s tock c orraling e nclosures a nd a s f armsteads w hich i ntegrate i nfield a nd o utfield ( Hingley 1 984 b , p p.73-4). ( 8)

I n

t he

M ultiple S ettlement a rable

i s l ocated o n t he w ell d rained

a nd f ertile s econd t o f ourth t erraces a nd p asture o n t he w et, b ut r ich, f loodplain a nd f irst t errace. T hese i deas a re e xplored i n m ore d etail i n a nother a rticle ( Hingley f orthcoming a ).

10 2

( 9)

F or t he d efinition

o f

e vidence s ee R ivet ( 1969,

v illas

f rom

p p.178-82)

a rchaeological

a nd P ercival

( 1976,

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l iterary

p .13).

( 10) I n t he C lassical w orld v illas w ere o ften o wned b y i ndividuals ( e.g. R ivet 1 969). A n umber o f v illas m ay h ave b een t he p roperty o f a s ocial g roup ( i.e. e xtended f amily o r g roup o f f amilies) r ather t han a i ndividual ( see S tevens 1 966; S mith 1 978). I n a r ecent a rticle o n t he v illa a t B arnsley P ark S mith h as a rgued t hat a k in g roup o f t hree f amilies l ived a t t he s ite p rior t o t he c onstruction o f t he v illa a nd t hat t hey w ere c onverted i nto a m odified k in g roup l iving w ithin t he h all v illa ( Smith

1 985).

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A MANIFESTO F OR P RAGMATIC ARCHAEOLOGY

R .Yorston w ith C .Gaffney a nd V .Gaffney

I ntroduction i mpression g iven b y a rchaeological d ebate d uring t he T he o verwhelming e ighties i s o ne o f d isillusionment. T he o ptimism o f t he " New t he s ixties a nd t he a pparent f riction o f a cademic A rchaeology" o f eventies h as b een r eplaced b y a s ituation i n w hich d ebate d uring t he s m any p ractitioners, a cademic o r o therwise, a ppear u nsure o f t he d irection o f t he d iscipline. P erhaps o ne o f t he most c riticised f acets o f a rchaeological d ialectic h as b een t he i ncreasing f ragmentation o f t he s ubject i nto a b ewildering n umber o f " schools" ( Pryor 1 983). T he p roblem i s n ot s imply o ne o f " Academic v ersus F ieldworker" a lthough i t i s o ften r epresented t his w ay. T he e ver e xpanding n umber o f j ournals a nd s cholarly w orks o n a rchaeology w itness t he b attle o f t he " isms" a nd " ists" d uring t he l ast t wenty y ears. D iversity i n i tself i s n othing n ew t o a rchaeology. T he d iscipline i s a " broad p arty" a nd i n a ttempting t o i solate t he m yriad f orms o f h uman b ehaviour w e h ave n ecessarily r esorted t o a w ide r ange o f i deological a nd p ractical t echniques. S ome v ariety o f o pinion m ust t herefore b e e xpected. H owever, w hen d iversity s imply b ecomes e legant a nd s emi-ritual c ontradiction, w ith n o p ossible u seful o utcome, t he s ituation d emands r adical a ction. A c omparable s ituation c an p erhaps b e s een i n C larke's ( 1973) a ssessment o f t he a rchaeological s tatus q uo d uring t he l ate s ixties. O ur l oss o f i nnocence h as t urned i nto t he n umbing e xperience o f m id-life c risis. W ithin t his v olume, a nd t he c onference u pon w hich i t w as b ased, i s e vidence o f a r eaction a gainst t his s ituation. A p osition h as b een a cknowledged w hich d enies a f ixed a nd r estrictive t heoretical s tance, w hilst p roviding a n a nalytical b ase t hat c annot b e s imply l abelled a s e mpiricist. I n a ttempting s uch a r adical b reak t he p ath h as l ed t o w hat m ost p eople w ould a dmit i s a r ather v ague s tance e ntitled " pragmatism". I t m ust b e a cknowledged t hat t he t erm p ragmatism h as y et t o a chieve t he f ormal s tatus i n a rchaeology w hich w ould a llow u s t o s et f orth a c oncise d efinition o f i ts m eaning, w e a re s till e xploring t he

10 7

b oundaries o f a rchaeological p ragmatism. B ut, i f p ragmatism e ither r econciles o r r emoves s ome o f t he c ontradictions p resent i n c ontemporary a rchaeology, s ome e ffort s hould b e e xpended i n d efining i ts w orking p rinciples. I t i s t oo e arly t o s atisfy t hose w ho a sk f or d efinitions o f p ragmatic a rchaeology, a nd y et w e must u se t he t erm, c onfidently b ut e mpirically, i f w e a re t o d efine i ts m eaning. P ragmatism S ince t he u se o f t he t erm p ragmatism i n a rchaeology i s r elatively n ew, i t i s v aluable t o c larify t he r esonances f rom o ther f ields i n w hich t he c oncept i s u sed a nd w hich w ill i nform o ur o wn a pproach t o p ragmatism. A lthough n one o f t hese i nterpretations w ill h ave p recisely t he s ame f lavour a s t he u se o f t he t erm i n a rchaeology, i t i s s till v aluable t o c onsider t hem a nd s o d efine t he c ontext f or o ur l ater d iscussions. T he m ost i nfluential u se o f p ragmatism w hich w e s hould c onsider i s t he a pplication o f t he t erm i n p hilosophy. T he C oncise O xford D ictionary t ells u s t hat, p hilosophically s peaking, p ragmatism i s t he " doctrine t hat e stimates a ny a ssertion s olely b y i ts p ractical b earing u pon h uman i nterests". A s a p hilosophy, p ragmatism g rew u p i n N orth A merica i n t he e arly 2 0th c entury ( see C .Gaffney t his v olume). I ts c hief e xponents a t t hat t ime w ere C harles S . P ierce, W illiam J ames a nd J ohn D ewey. A s a p hilosophy,

p ragmatism i s r elated

t o e mpiricism.

I t i s

a rgued

t hat e xperience i s a n ecessary c ondition f or k nowledge. U nlike e mpiricism, h owever, p ragmatism p laces a g reater s tress o n t he p ractical c onsequences o f k nowledge r ather t han o n t he m eans b y w hich k nowledge c an b e o btained. T he p ragmatist a lso f ollows H egel i n r ejecting p hilosophical d ualism : r eality i s t aken t o b e c onstructed f rom t he i nterplay o f b oth m ind a nd m atter. T he p ragmatist p hilosophy h as a n umber o f i mportant i mplications f or o ur t reatment o f k nowledge. C urrent r eality i s c onsidered t o a rise f rom e mpirical o bservations a nd a s s uch i s i mperfect: i t c onsists o f a m ixture o f k nowledge a nd e rror. I n p art t his i s d ue t o v ariations i n t he e nvironment i n w hich o ur e xperiences a re o btained. I n e very c ase i t i s p articular i nstances o f t he w orld w hich w e c an s tudy, a nd t he p articular c ontext w ill d etermine t he r esults o f o ur i nquiry. T his i s n ot t o d eny t he p ossibility o f g eneralisation, b ut i f w e a re t o a void e rror w e must h ave a n e xplicit a cknowledgement o f t he t entative n ature o f o ur c onclusions. A c onsequence o f t his f allibilistic v iew o f k nowledge i s a r eadiness t o r econsider o ur h ypotheses i n t he l ight o f n ew e xperience. T he

p hilosophy

o f

p ragmatism f ound a p ractical a pplication i n t he

f ield o f s ocial g eography. I n g eography, p ragmatism h ad a c onsiderable i nfluence o n R obert E . P ark a nd t he C hicago s chool o f u rban s ociology. O f p articular i nterest t o P ark, i n a ddition t o t he p hilosophy o utlined a bove, w as t he i mportance i n p ragmatism o f e mpirical o bservation a nd t he p ractical a pplication o f k nowledge. T he s tudies o f t he C hicago s chool w ere c haracterised b y a n e mphasis o n t he v alue o f p ractical f ieldwork i n g aining k nowledge w hile a t t he s ame t ime s eeking t o b ecome i nvolved i n t ransforming s ociety f or t he b etter. I n t his w ay t he h umanistic t endencies o f p ragmatism a re b olstered b y e mpiricism. O ther g eographers h ave r ecognised t he v alue o f p ragmatism i n t heir f ield. T hus, F razier w rites: " There i s a nother w ay t o d istinguish b etween

10 8

t he

p ragmatic

a pproach

a nd o ther a pproaches.

I t i s

a ction-oriented, u ser-oriented a nd e xtends t he e xperimental m ethod t o i nclude e valuation a nd i mplementation. T he r esearch i s u ndertaken f or t he p urpose o f s olving a n i mmediate p roblem a nd r esults a re m eans t o a n e nd f or s ome t arget p opulation." ( Frazier 1 981, p .67). A t a m ore m undane l evel w e s hould r emember t hat ' pragmatism ' i s i n c ommon u se a s a w ord t o m ean a matter-of-fact a pproach t o p ractical p roblems. I n t his c ontext i t h as n egative a ssociations w ith e xpediency a nd p edantry. T here a re a lso p ositive a ssociations w ith a h ard-headed, c ommon-sense a ttitude i n w hich p ractical d ue i mportance.

c onsiderations a re g iven t heir

P ragmatism i n A rchaeology I n e xpect

s eeking t o i ntroduce t he t erm p ragmatism i nto a rchaeology w e t hat i t w ill n ot h ave p recisely t he s ame m eaning a s i t d oes i n

o ther

s ubjects.

T here a re f eatures o f p hilosophical, g eographical a nd

e veryday p ragmatism w hich w ill b e c arried o ver i nto a rchaeology, b ut t here a re s ome s pecific f eatures w hich a re i napplicable. T he p recise m eaning o f t he t erm i n a rchaeology w ill o nly b ecome c learer a s d ebate c ontinues. O ur p ragmatic v iew o f k nowledge t ells u s t hat t otal c larity w ill n ever b e a chieved. H aving

t hus s et t he s cene, w e a re

d efinition o f B riefly, t hen,

n ow

i n

a

p osition

t o

g ive

a

s ome k ey c oncepts c ontained i n a p ragmatic a rchaeology. a p ragmatic a rchaeology s hould h ave t he f ollowing

c haracteristics: i t

s hould b e h umanistic

i t

s hould a ccept t he c ontext-dependence o f k nowledge

i t s hould b e f ree i n i ts u se o f h ypotheses i t

s hould u se

t heory a s a ' leading p rinciple '

T hat a rchaeology i s a h umanistic s ubject s hould b e o bvious, b ut t his s imple f act h as s ometimes b ecome l ost a mid t he t heoretical w allowings o f t he N ew a nd N ewer A rchaeology. I t i s t oo e asy f or t heoreticians t o b ecome s o e ngrossed i n t heir s tatistics a nd s ystems t heory t hat t hey f orget t he h uman s ide: t he i ndividuals w ho f ashioned t he s ocieties a nd a rtefacts t hey s tudy, a s w ell a s t he i ndividuals w ho e xtract t hose a rtefacts f rom t he s oil. P erhaps t he n atural c onsequence o f s uch a bstraction i n a h umanistic s ubject c an b e s een i n r ecent d abblings w ith c ognitive a nalysis. A ttempts t o g et " into" t he m ind o f p ast human g roups r arely r ise a bove m odern o bservation s wathed i n a c loak o f s tatistical a nalysis o f d ubious a pplicability ( C.Evans 1 985). P ragmatism, h owever, r ecognises t he v ital i mportance o f t he h uman e lement, b oth i n t he f ormation o f t he a rchaeological r ecord a nd p erhaps a s i mportantly i n t he w ay w e i dentify, c ollect a nd h ence i nterpret t hat r ecord. P erhaps w e s hould n ote t hat s ite t aphonomy c ontinues t hrough t he p ost-excavation p rocess a nd e nds w ith t he f inal d istortion o f t he s ynthesist's p en. T he

c ontext-dependence

o f

k nowledge s hould c ome a s n o

1 09

s urprise

t o

t he a rchaeologist, w ho h as l ong b een w arned a bout t he d angers o f h istoricism a nd e thnocentrism ( see S cott a nd G affney t his v olume). S ince t he c ontext i n w hich w e a re s eeking a rchaeological u nderstanding i s c onstantly c hanging, a s i s t he e mpirical k nowledge o n w hich a ny s uch u nderstanding i s b ased, t here c an n ever b e a f inal a nswer t o t he p roblems o f a rchaeology. J ames L ewthwaite m ade t his p oint t o a rgue t hat t he t ask o f a rchaeology, l ike t hat o f h istory, i s n ever-ending a nd t hat s ucceeding g enerations w ill a lways f ind n ew a pproaches t o p roblems i n t he l ight o f t heir o wn c ircumstances ( Lewthwaite 1 986). I n s uch a c ontext t he r igid i deological s tructures e pitomised i n a rchaeological s chools o f t hought c annot j ustifiably e xist, a lthough a f ruitful d ialectic c an c ontinue a s t he r esult o f a n e ver c hanging d atabase a nd c ultural v iewpoint. T he e mphasis o n t he ' scientific m ethod' f avoured b y s ome p ragmatists, a nd b y m any a rchaeologists i n t he p ast, s hould b e t empered b y t he p ragmatic p rinciple t hat i t i s r esults w hich c ount: " Thus, f or t he p ragmatist, t ruth i s d efined a s w hatever ' works b est' i n a g iven s ituation. O bviously, g iven t his p rinciple, f ixed l ogic, o r f ixed f ormal s ystems o f i nvestigation, a re m ore l ikely t o a ct a s s traightjackets t han a s u seful t ools f or e nquiry. V alid m ethods h ave t o r emain i nstrumental t o a ctual p roblems a nd, t herefore, m ust r emain f lexible, a nd s ensitive t o t he c hanging c onditions o f e nquiry" ( Jackson a nd S mith 1 984, p p.71-72) I n a rchaeological t erms t his m ay b e s een a s a c all f or e clecticism i n t he u se o f t echniques a nd f or a f ree-ranging u se o f h ypotheses t o e xplain o bservations. I n p art t his i s a r esponse t o t he c hanging c ontexts o f o ur e xperience, w hich r equires u s t o c onstantly r e-evaluate o ur t heories a nd h ypotheses. T here a re a lso a rguments f rom r ecent p hilosophy o f s cience ( summarised b y Y orston t his v olume) t hat a l ess r estrictive i nvestigational m ethod i s r equired. F eyerabend i n p articular h as a rgued f or a n a narchistic a pproach a s a m ore h umanitarian a lternative t o t raditional v iews o f s cientific p rogress. T he i ntroduction o f ' science ' i nto t he d iscipline o f a rchaeology w as n ot m eant t o i nhibit a rchaeological i nterpretation ; n or s hould t he t erm ' scientific a rchaeology ' b e ' undisciplined d iscipline'.

e quated

w ith

a n a cceptable f ace o f o ur

T he f oregoing m ay h ave g iven t he i mpression t hat o pposed t o t heory. T his i s c ertainly n ot t he c ase.

p ragmatism i s T he p ragmatist

r ecognises t ha v alue o f t heory a s a ' leading p rinciple ' t o g uide i nquiry a nd p rovide a c onvenient w ay t o t hink a bout t he o bjects o f e xperience: " In g eneral, t he p ragmatist's a nalysis a nd i nterpretation o f t he m eaning o f t heoretical t erms c onsists o f a g eneral d escription o f t he e xperimental c onditions i n w hich a c ertain k ind o f o peration p roduces a c ertain s et o f e mpirical ( ie p ractical, c onceivable) ( Thayer 1 968, p .376) T heory,

t hen,

T heory o nly h as m eaning

i n s o

c onsequences"

i s s een a s a t ool f ar a s i t

1 10

o f t he p ractical w orker.

p rovides

a

d escription

w hich

c an b e a pplied

t o e xperience.

I t i s t herefore v ital

t hat t heory s hould

b e f ormulated i n s uch a w ay t hat i t c an b e g iven p ractical a pplication. T he e xtent t o w hich s uch a s ituation o ccurs w ithin a rchaeology c an b e g auged b oth b y t he w idespread d issatisfaction d isplayed b y f ield w orkers a nd t he n eed t o p ublish w orks o f t his n ature. T here i s o ne s ense i n w hich a rchaeology m ay n ot c onform t o t he p ragmatism o f t he s ocial g eographer, a nd t hat i s i n t he i mportance o f a ction. O ne a spect o f t he p ragmatism o f p ragmatic g eographers i s t heir e ngagement w ith s ocial i ssues i n a v ery p ractical s ense. A rchaeology i s g enerally n ot a menable t o p ractical a pplications i n t he s ame i mmediate s ense a s i s g eography.Notable e xceptions c an b e c ited, e .g. t he w ork c arried o ut b y U NESCO a rchaeological t eams i n L ibya, w here r esults o f a s tudy o f h istoric i rrigation a nd l and u se s ystems o n S aharan f ringe m ay b e a pplied i n c ontemporary s ituations ( Barker J ones 1 985). T he m ore u sual a pplication o pen t o a rchaeology i s i n p rovision o f c ultural h istory. i mmediacy o f t he a ctions i n

A lthough w hich t he

t he t he a nd t he

t his d oes n ot h ave t he s ocial g eographer c an b e

i nvolved, t he p ragmatic s tance n evertheless p romotes t he w ider i mportance o f c ontext. B y p roviding a c ontext w hich i s m eaningful i n h uman t erms, t he c ommitted a rchaeologist c an a ssist i n t he f ormation o f s ocial u nderstanding f ar b eyond t he b oundaries o f t heir s ubject. F inally, p ragmatism.

w e c ome t o t he e veryday i nterpretation o f t he t erm T here a re a n umber o f w ays i n w hich a rchaeology must b e

p ragmatic i n t his s ense. A t a t ime w hen f unds a re l imited t here i s t he o bvious a dvantage o f t aking a h ard-headed a nd p ractical a pproach t o t he w ay i n w hich i nvestigations a re c onducted. T his i s n ot a n a rgument f or e xpedient c ost c utting o r a n e xcuse f or u nsatisfactory w ork. I f c ertain s tudies a re n ot s een t o b e c ontributing t o t he a dvancement o f t he s ubject t hen t hey s hould b e c ut b ack. T here i s a nother l evel a t w hich a rchaeology h as l imited f unds: t he f unds o f i ts r aw m aterial, t he a rtefacts w hich f orm i ts t angible s ubject m atter. A p ragmatic a pproach t o t he e xploitation e ssential. A lthough

o f t hese f inite a nd d ecreasing r esources i s t his p ragmatism m ay m anifest i tself i n a n

o pportunistic c oncern f or r escue a rchaeology, i t s hould a lso i nform t he e xperimental s trategies o f a ll f ieldworkers f aced w ith l imits o n t ime, b udget a nd s tamina. S uch a s ituation s hould b e e xplicit. T he r escue d ream o f t he s eventies d ied a l ong t ime a go. W e s hould a void t he s ituation e ncountered d uring t he l ate s eventies i n w hich t he r epetitive e xcavation o f p articular t ype s ites l ed t o a s tockpile o f r edundant i nformation. P ragmatism i s n ot t o b e s een a s a n e xcuse f or u nnecessary e xcavation. S ome a ttempt t o b lend a p ragmatic r esearch p rogramme w ith t he r ealities o f f inancial s trictures c an b e s een i n t he p lanning d ocuments t hat w ere p roduced d uring t he e arly e ighties ( e.g. E llison 1 981). I t i s u nfortunately a m oot p oint a s t o w hether t hese d ocuments w ere f lexible e nough t o s urvive u ncritically t he e conomic r igours o f t he p ast s even y ears.

1 11

C onclusions T he f elt

a dvantages

o f t he p ragmatic a rchaeology o utlined a bove w ill b e

i n a n umber o f a reas.

w ith t he p ragmatic T heory. P ryor ( 1983) b ecome i ncreasingly I n

p ragmatic

O ne p articular

a pproach i s h as e xpressed d istant

a rchaeology

a ppreciation

o f

t he

p roblem

f rom t he c oncerns o f t here

e rror

w hich

away

f ield a rchaeologists.

c an

b e

n o

i nherent

i n

k nowledge

d ependence o f k nowledge e nsure

f alls

t hat o f a n A rchaeological G eneral t he c oncern t hat G eneral T heory h as

t hat.

G eneral

D oing a way

T heory:

a nd

w ith

a n

t he c ontext-

G eneral

T heory

d oes n ot d o a way w ith t he n eed f or t heoreticians, h owever. T he n eed f or models t o a ct a s f ormalisations o f e mpirical k nowledge c onfirms t he p lace

o f

t he

n ecessary f or t heoretical t he

t heoretician i n t he e nterprise o f a rchaeology. t he

f ieldworker

w orld,

t o a cknowledge t hat h e o r

I t i s a s

s he w ork

f rom t he p rinciples o f s tratigraphy u pwards,

t heoretician t o a cknowledge

t he e xistence a nd

i n

a

a s f or

r elevance o f t he r eal

w orld. A r eliance o n c oncepts a nd m ethods t ransplanted f rom o ther s ubjects s hould b e r eplaced b y a n e xplicitly a rchaeological m ethod r ooted i n t he e mpirical

s oil

i ncluding

o f t he

s ubject.

t he s ciences,

i ts t urn s hould o ther d isciplines.

s hould

C ross-fertilisation f rom o ther f ields, a lways b e w elcomed,

a nd

a rchaeology

i n

s eek t o p ropagate i ts f indings a nd t echniques i nto B ut t he p ragmatic a rchaeologist s hould n ever f orget

t he e mpirical b asis o f h is o r h er s ubject. O f

c ourse,

v iewing a rchaeology f rom a p ragmatic v iewpoint d oes n ot

s olve t he u ndoubted p roblems w hich n ow f ace t he s ubject. S imply d enying t he e xistence o f G eneral T heory w ill n ot d o a way w ith t hose w ho p lace

f aith

i n

i t.

W e

a re

a ssisted,

t hough,

b y

t he

g eneral

d isillusionment w ith t he N ew A rchaeology w hich h as f ollowed

i ts f ailure

t o d eliver n ow .

p ragmatists

t he p romised g oods.

I n t hat s ense w e

a re

a ll

B IBLIOGRAPHY B arker,G.

a nd

J ones,B.,

t he S aharan f ringe:

1 985

- " Investigating A ncient A griculture o n

t he U NESCO L ibyan V alleys S urvey",

p p.225-241,

i n

M acready,S. a nd T hompson,F.H. ( Eds) A rchaeological F ield S urvey i n B ritain a nd A broad. S ociety o f Antiquaries O ccasional P aper 6 . C larke,D.L., V ol.47,

1 973 - " Archaeology:

t he

l oss

o f

i nnocence"

E llison,E.,

1 981

-

P olicy f or A rchaeological

1 980-85.

W essex A rchaeological C ommittee,

E vans,C.,

1 985

- " Tradition a nd

I nvestigation i n W essex

S alisbury.

t he C ultural L andscape:

o f p lace" A rchaeological R eview f rom C ambridge V ol.4, F razier,J.W., 7 3,

A ntiquity

p p.6-18.

1 981

i n H arvey,M .E.

J ackson,P.

- " Pragmatism:

g eography a nd

a nd H olly,B.P.

a nd S mith,S.J.,

( Eds)

a n

a rchaeology

p p.80-94.

t he r eal w orld",

1 984 - E xploring S ocial G eography.

A llen a nd U nwin,

L ondon.

L ewthwaite,J.G.,

1 986 - " Archaeologists i n

112

p p.61-

T hemes i n G eographic T hought.

A cademe:

a n

G eorge

i nstitutional

c onfinement?", p p.52-87, i n A rchaeology a t t he I nterface.

B intliff,J.L. a nd B AR S 300, O xford.

P ryor,F., 1 983 - " Talking V ol.2(2), p p.98-100.

H eads"

T hayer,H.S.,

1 968 - M eaning a nd A ction.

113

S cottish

G affney,C.G .

A rchaeological

B obbs-Merrill, N ew Y ork .

( Eds)

R eview

A GAINST O BJECTIVITY

R ichard B radley

' I k now - t he f act i s n ot u nnerving T hat w hat i s d one i s d one, t hat n o p ast d ies, T hat w hat w e s ee d epends o n w ho 's o bserving A nd w hat w e t hink o n o ur a ctivities'. W .H .Auden,

L etter

t o L ord B yron

T his v olume h as b een p art c ase s tudy a nd p art m anifesto.

I ndividual

p apers h ave e xtended f rom t he p hilosophy o f s cience t o t he b reaking o f p ots. T hey c overed s uch a r ange t hat i t i s i mpossible t o s ummarise t hem h ere,

b ut t he b asic p oint i s w ell

t aken a nd s hould c ommand g eneral

a cceptance - t heory a nd p ractice must c ome t ogether i n p ursuit o f a ttainable e nds. T his i s h ardly a n ew i dea, b ut i t d oes n eed r estating - a nd r estating i n a s tructured m anner. M y p aper d oes n ot a ttempt t o g o o ver t his g round a gain. R ather, i t c onsiders t he i mplications o f t his t ype o f a pproach f or a rchaeology a s i t e xists a t t he m oment i n B ritain. A s t hese c omments a re i ntended t o b e p rovocative, l et m e s ay t hat t hey w ere s uggested b y t he p apers, a nd n ot b y i ndividual a uthors. Iw ish t o a ddress t hree i ssues: t he p lace o f ' objectivity ' i n f ield a rchaeology; t he r ole o f t he s pecialist; a nd t he p ossibility o f a ' science-based a rchaeology'. I t ake i t a s a xiomatic a bout p eople i n t he p ast.

t hat a rchaeology i s c oncerned w ith i deas I t i s n ot a bout a rtefacts a nd n ot a bout s ite

f ormation - s tudies o f t hese a re s imply m eans t o a n e nd. I w ould c ontend t hat s uch p riorities a re a ll t oo r arely o bserved. T he a ppeal t o ' middle r ange t heory ' h as r esulted i n a s trident d efensive p edantry, j ust a s t he m inute d ocumentation o f a rtefacts h as t aken o n a n o bsessive c haracter o f i ts o wn. T he f inal r eport o f a f ield p roject may h ave l ittle t o d o w ith i ts o riginal r esearch d esign. I s tress t hese w ords

' research '

a nd

115

' design '

a dvisedly.

R esearch i s

about asking questions, and without questions there can be no 'answers'. If we lack an awareness of current interpretations (which are theoretical by their very nature) it is difficult to ask questions at all - whether those questions are too modest or too ambitious is quite another matter. At the same time, excavation and field survey are distinctive methods of enquiry; they are not just techniques. It is impossible to embark on either without first predicting the form that the archaeological record is likely to take. All too often this is treated as routine, when in fact it is one of the hardest stages of research. It cannot be done intelligently without resort to theorising at a high level of specific detail. Why, then, is there such a fashion for objective, 'value-free' recording systems, which are brought into play once these predictions can be tested in the field? To reduce a complex archaeology to a spider's web of neutral 'contexts' is to stop short of conducting the very research for which excavation or survey were intended. To relegate any real analysis to post-excavation work seems to me to be a failure of nerve. If a 'context' could not be identified as a post hole in the ground, why should this be any easier once it has been destroyed by excavation? As I understand the papers in this volume, a pragmatic archaeology is one which asks sensible questions of the archaeological record and answers them through appropriate techniques. A standardised, 'objective' recording system certainly provides an insurance against error, but it can also involve an abdication of responsibility, for it imposes on the archaeological record a uniformity which it cannot be expected to possess. It is on the identification of variation and contrast in the field that many lasting interpretations are founded. Techniques cannot be learnt by rote and must not be transferred uncritically from one piece of work to another. They have to be thought out afresh each time, and in relation to the particular questions being asked. All forms of fieldwork must be sufficiently flexible to deal with the predictable and the unpredictable, and this will not be easy unless excavation and publication are in the same hands. None of this should be taken to imply that records can be unsystematic or sloppy, or that they should be unintelligible to third parties, but I would argue that 'objectivity' is a dangerous doctrine to follow. Those working in the field pay too high a price for this loss of flexibility. Let me try to illustrate this point with a few examples. Ever since the work of General Pitt Rivers in the late nineteenth century, archaeologists have followed an ideal of 'objective' recording, but any investigation of the influences that helped to shape their observations reveals the fallibility of that posiiion. Pitt Rivers did not find post hole buildings because his favoured method of excavation by narrow trenching did not permit him to see them, save in exceptional circumstances. He knew that post holes could exist - they occur in several of his site plans - but he selected his field methods according to his ideas on the nature of prehistoric houses. That understanding was based on his knowledge of the ethnographic record. No amount of retrospective work on his publications or his site archive could restore what went unnoticed. What has been treated as Pitt Rivers' objectivity was in reality a partial view, based on judgements of which he himself was well aware. The same applies to his appreciation of sequence which now seems such an enigmatic feature of his work. He did not establish the 'phasing' of his settlement sites, but nonetheless the General had his own conception of stratigraphy and applied this consistently in the field. This was not a method of building a

116

s tructural s equence, a s w e k now i t t oday: h is r eal i nterest w as i n t he e volution o f m aterial c ulture, a p roblem w hich a rose d irectly f rom h is i nvolvement i n a nthropological t heory. I t i s a m isreading o f h istory t o

t reat

t he

G eneral

a s

t he

f ounder

o f

a v alue-free e xcavation,

w hatever h is o biter d icta o n t he q uestion. W e c an m ake t he s ame p oint f rom m ore r ecent f ieldwork, a lthough I a m t oo t imid t o q uote m any e xamples. M ost a rchaeologists w ould p rivately a ccept A uden's d ictum t hat ' what w e s ee d epends o n w ho's o bserving', b ut t hey m ight t reat t his a s e vidence o f a d angerous f allibility. I n f act w e c an o nly i dentify t hose p henomena t hat w e a lready c onceive a s p ossibilities, a nd w e f acilitate t hat p rocess b y o ur c hoice o f f ield p rocedures. T hat i s w hy t he l ast b uildings a t W roxeter l ook s o much l ike t hose a t H en D omen. I t i s f or t he s ame r eason t hat s ince t he p ublication o f P hilip B arker's i nnovative w ork o n t hose s ites v ery s imilar b uildings o f o ther p eriods h ave b een i dentified e lsewhere, s ometimes b y B arker's o wn p upils. A s till m ore s triking e xample i s t he ' diffusion ' o f s take-built h ouses, a fter t heir r ecognition i n w ell p reserved d eposits a t S outh C adbury. S uch s tructures c an h ardly h ave b een a bsent f rom I ron A ge s ites e xcavated b efore t he 1 960's, b ut a fterwards t he t ype s pread r apidly, f irst t o I ron A ge s ites e xcavated b y f ormer m embers o f t he C adbury t eam, a nd m ore r ecently t o s ettlements o f o ther p eriods. A gain my p oint i s a r ather p ragmatic o ne: w e c an s ee o nly

t hose

f eatures w hich w e c an i magine a s p ossibilities - a f orm o f

m odel b uilding, w hether w e l ike i t o r n ot - a nd w e s ee

t hem b y a dopting f ield m ethods d esigned f or A

s atisfactory

f ield

a rchaeology

i s

o ne

h elp

o urselves

t o

t he p urpose. w hich

i s r igorous b ut

f lexible. I ndividual t echniques c an o nly b e c onsidered i n r elation t o t he p roblems t hat t hey i nvestigate, a nd t hese p roblems s hould r un t hroughout a p roject, f rom i ts c onception t o i ts p ublication. I n t his p rocess o f t his

c reativity i s a s i mportant a s o bjectivity. A t elling e xample t ype o f a rchaeology i s t he w ork o f F rancis P ryor a nd h is t eam

i n e astern E ngland. F rom i ts i nception a t F engate t o t he c urrent w ork a t E tton a nd F lag F en, f resh t echniques h ave b een t hought o ut t o d eal w ith s pecific a rchaeological p roblems. S uch m ethods e xtend f rom s ieving

t o

d yke

s urvey,

a nd

f rom

p hosphate

a nalysis

t o

s oil

m icromorphology. T he r esult i s a r unning d ialogue b etween f ieldwork a nd i nterpretation i nformed b y p articipation i n t he w ider t heoretical d ebates w hich e nliven p resent-day a rchaeology. I nterpretation i s n o l onger a l uxury t o b e l eft t o o ther p eople - n ow i t l ies h eart o f t he e nterprise. I

r eferred

t o

P ryor's

' team '

a t

t he

v ery

o n a nalogy w ith t he r esearch t eams

f ound i n t he s ciences. I t s eems c urious t hat f ield r eports i n a rchaeological j ournals s o o ften h ave o nly o ne a uthor. T his a pplies t o v ery f ew o f t he a rticles i n a s cientific p ublication l ike ' Nature '. A t eam

w orking

e ffective t han c ollaborators,

t ogether

o n

t he

s ame

p roblems

a m astermind, t railing a l ike S now W hite a nd t he

i s

l ikely t o b e m ore

s quadron o f S even D warfs.

s pecialist W herever

p ossible, c ommunication s hould t ake p lace o n s ite, a nd i t i s e ssential t hat a ll t he p articipants i n a p rogramme o f f ieldwork s hould c ontribute t o t he b asic r esearch d esign a nd s hould a gree f rom t he o utset o n w hich a re t he q uestions t o b e a sked. I f t hat m eans t hat m embers o f a f ield u nit h ave t o b ecome t heir o wn s pecialists, t he g ain i n i ntegration s hould m ore t han c ompensate f or t he n ecessary p eriod o f t raining. A gain c urrent w ork i n t he F enland p rovides a m odel f or t his a rrangement. M any p ublications r eveal a d ifferent d ivision o f l abour. A s ingle a uthor i s c redited w ith t he

117

' main t ext', w hilst w ork o n

o ther

a spects

o f

t he

p roject

i s

r elegated

t o a ppendices.

S ometimes t his

r esults f rom i ntellectual a rrogance, b ut I s uspect t hat m ore o ften i t h appens b ecause t he s pecialist r eports h ave s uch a h ermetic c haracter t hat t hey c annot b e i ntegrated i nto t he o verall i nterpretation - p ut s imply, t he p ots t ake o ver. A lternatively, t he s pecialist r eport m ay n ot a ddress a rchaeological i ssues a t a ll. W hat

i s t he a ppropriate r elationship b etween

t hose

i n

t he f ield a nd

t heir s pecialist c olleagues? T he e ssential f eature s hould b e a n a bility t o d iscuss t he w ork o n e qual t erms. T here h as t o b e mutual c omprehension a nd m utual r espect. A s much a s a nything e lse, t his i s w hat t he u niversities s hould b e a ble t o d evelop. N o f ield a rchaeologist s hould b e f orced t o a ccept a s pecialist c ontribution w hich d eparts r adically f rom t he a greed r esearch d esign, a nd i t i s p art o f t he s pecialist's r esponsibility t o e nsure t hat w hat h e o r s he p roduces i s c omprehensible t o a n a rchaeological a udience. W e must t ry t o a ttain a h igh q uality o f s pecialist w ork, b ut w e must a lso i nsist t hat i t i s r elevant t o t he m atter i n h and. S urely, t hat i s a t t he h eart o f a p ragmatic a rchaeology. T he c hances o f s uch a n i ntegrated a pproach l ook i ncreasingly r emote. J ust a s n ew a nalytical m ethods b ecome p art o f t he c ommon c urrency o f f ield r esearch, t he s pecialists w ho u ndertake t hem a re c utting t hemselves o ff f rom t he r est o f t he a rchaeological c ommunity. S pecialist s tudy g roups p roliferate, w hose m embers t alk o nly t o o ne a nother. S ome o f t he e nvironmentalists, f or e xample, a re u ncertain w hether t hey w ish t o b e a rchaeologists a t a ll. T he c hoice o f n ames i s s ignificant - a re t hose w ho s tudy a nimal b ones t o b e k nown a s z ooarchaeologists o r a rchaeozoologists? S uch s pecialist g roups a re t oo i ntrospective, a nd I c an a lready f oresee t he d ay w hen t hey r ecommend t hat o nly c ertain p eople c an m ake a l iving b y s tudying ' their' p art o f t he a rchaeological r ecord. A t t he s ame t ime, s uch s pecialists m ay m ake m ore a nd m ore e xtravagant d emands o n r esources, u ntil w hat w as a n a ncillary a ctivity b ecomes a n e ntire s ub-discipline w ith e laborate p rocedures o f i ts o wn. W e l earn m ore a bout l ess a nd l ess, a nd s oon t he m ost v ocal p roponents o f a n i ncreasingly f astidious a nalysis d iscover t hat t hey a re u nable t o w ork w ith a ny m ethodologies b ut t heir o wn. B y r ejecting t he w ork o f t heir p redecessors, t hey s ecure t he f ield f or t hemselves, a fter w hich t hey a re l oath t o c ommunicate w ith a nyone e lse. T his i s a lso a d anger w ith t he d evelopment o f w hat i s n ow c alled ' science-based a rchaeology '. T hat c haracterisation i s i nappropriate, a s w hat i t d escribes i s u sually a s cience-assisted d iscipline. I f, a s I b elieve, a rchaeology i s t he s tudy o f t he h uman p ast, i t must c oncern i tself w ith t heory b efore i t c omes t o g rips w ith t echnique. A n a rchaeology w hich i s f ully i ntegrated i nto t he s ciences m ay l ead a n u neasy e xistence, a s i t w ill n ecessarily b e c oncerned w ith t he p hysical p roperties o f d ifferent c ategories o f d ata. S cientific a nalyses d o h ave a c entral r ole i n a ny c reative a rchaeology, b ut t he c rucial r elationship i s b etween t hese t ypes o f m aterial a nd t he p eople w ho u sed t hem. F or i nstance, w e s tudy t he c ompositions o f p ottery o nly a s a m eans t o a n e nd, a nd i t i s p otentially d isastrous f or t hose w ho d o t he w ork t o l ack a n e quivalent a wareness o f a rchaeological i ssues. T oo f ew p rojects f unded i n r ecent y ears h ave h ad much i mpact o n t he s ubject, s ince t heir i mportance h as b een a lmost e ntirely i n t he d evelopment o f t echniques, A rchaeology

f ew c an

o f w hich n ever b e

b ecame g enerally a vailable a fterwards. a s cience w hilst i t i s c oncerned w ith t he

i nvestigation o f h uman s ocieties. A nalysis o f t heir p hysical b yp roducts h as a n i mportant r ole t o p lay, b ut t o e levate t his p rocess t o

118

t he s tatus o f a n i ndependent d iscipline i s i ntellectually b arren - a s cience o f t echnicians. I t i s l ike r eading a murder m ystery i n w hich t he p athologists h ave o usted t he d etective. I s tress t his c riticism s ince i t i s s o s imilar

t o

m y

c omments

o n

f ieldwork. B ritish a rchaeology i s e xperiencing a w orrying f ailure o f n erve. R ather t han t alk a bout t he p ast, m any o f i ts p ractitioners a re o bsessed b y t echniques f or t heir o wn s ake. T oo much o f t he c urrent l iterature h as a r ather d efensive a ir, a s i f t he t rue t ask o f t he a rchaeologist i s n ot t o s ay a nything y et - i f t he s ubject i s t o c ome o f a ge, i t s eems t hat i t must a mass m ore a nd m ore p rimary o bservations, h iding i ts e ssential p edantry b ehind a d octrine o f s cholarly d etachment. S uch m ethodological p osturing h as a h ollow r ing w hen w e a sk t he p ublic t o p ay ; a nd o ne d ay t hey w ill f ind u s o ut. I h ave a rgued f or a f lexible a rchaeology - o ne w hich i s c oncerned w ith a chievement a s w ell a s i ntrospection, w ith j udgement a s w ell a s d etachment. I a ccept t hat a m ore p ragmatic a pproach m ay w ell b e n eeded. I t i s t ime t hat t hose w ho d o a rchaeology w ere p repared t o t ake r esponsibility f or t heir a ctions. O ur p redecessors w ere l ess i nhibited, a nd a s t he d evelopment o f t he s ubject s hows, i n t he l ast a nalysis n o o ne c an b e i noculated a gainst e rror. T he d istinguished n eurologist O liver S acks h as d escribed a p atient s uffering f rom a c ondition v ery s imilar t o B ritish a rchaeology. T hat p atient w as h ighly i ntelligent b ut w as t he v ictim o f a b izarre c omplaint. T o q uote S ack 's a ccount, ' he s aw n othing a s f amiliar. V isually, h e w as l ost i n aw orld o f l ifeless a bstractions. I ndeed h e d id n ot h ave a r eal v isual w orld, a s h e d id n ot h ave a r eal v isual s elf. ( 1985, n ote:

H e c ould s peak a bout t hings b ut d id n ot s ee t hem f ace-to-face ' p .13). O ne e xample w ill p erhaps b e e nough t o s trike a f amiliar

" What i s t his?'

I a sked, h olding u p a g love.

' May I e xamine i t?' h e a sked.... ' A c ontinuous s urface,' h e a nnounced

a t

l ast,

' infolded o n

i tself. I t a ppears t o h ave ' - h e h esitated - ' five o utpouchings, i f t his i s t he w ord.' ' Yes,' I s aid c autiously. ' You h ave g iven m e a d escription. N ow t ell m e w hat i t i s.' ' A c ontainer o f s ome s ort?' ' Yes,' I s aid, ' and w hat w ould i t c ontain?' ' It w ould c ontain i ts c ontents!' s aid D r P w ith a l augh.

' There

a re many p ossibilities. I t c ould b e a c hange-purse, f or e xample, f or c oins o f f ive s izes. I t c ould....' I i nterrupted t he b army f low. ' Does i t n ot l ook f amiliar? D o y ou t hink i t m ight c ontain, m ight f it, a p art o f y our b ody?' N o l ight o f r ecognition d awned o n h is f ace." ( Sacks 1 985, p .13) D o w e d o a ny b etter?

B IBLIOGRAPHY S acks,O., L ondon.

1 985

-

T he M an w ho M istook h is W ife

11Q

f or a H at.

D uckworth,