What are the goals of Processual Archaeology?

Definition. We use the phrases “New Archaeology” or “processual archaeology” to mean a problem-oriented, generalizing rather than a particularizing approach toward archaeological data, with the goal of advancing knowledge about social, cultural, and political processes characterizing past human societies.

What is classical style in archeology?

Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about in Latin and Greek texts.

What does a classical archaeologist do?

Classical archaeology is the study of the material culture — the artifacts, sites, monuments, and landscapes — of the ancient Mediterranean world. While we focus principally on the civilizations of Greece and Rome, other areas, notably Egypt and the Near East, can also form an important part of the concentration.

What are some post Processual approaches to Archaeology?

Within the post-processualist movement, a wide variety of theoretical viewpoints have been embraced, including structuralism and Neo-Marxism, as have a variety of different archaeological techniques, such as phenomenology. …

What is the difference between Processual and post Processual Archaeology?

In brief, processual archaeology strictly used the scientific method to identify the environmental factors that influenced past human behaviors. The post-processualists rejected the deterministic arguments and logical positivist methods as being too limited to encompass the wide variety of human motivations.

What are the main characteristics of Processual Archaeology?

Binford was explicitly looking for evidence of patterned repeatable processes, a “regular variability” that might be looked for and found represented on archaeological sites left by Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. With the scientific approach aspired to by processualists came a need for lots of data to examine.

What is an example of Processual Archaeology?

Archaeologists working in the 1960s, such as Lewis Binford, developed the theory of New Archaeology, which tries to understand the forces that cause cultural change. New Archaeology is also known as Processual Archaeology. For example, Binford conducted an ethnographic study among the Nunamiut of Alaska.

Who is the father of Processual Archaeology?

Lewis R. Binford

When did feminist Archaeology start?

Feminist archaeology initially emerged in the late 1970s and early 80s, along with other objections to the epistemology espoused by the processual school of archaeological thought, such as symbolic and hermeneutic archaeologies.

Is archeology male dominated?

Among the articles surveyed in the major journals, Bardolph found 71.4 percent were lead-authored by men and 28.6 percent by women. The regional journals revealed nearly identical numbers. In addition, the data were consistent over time.

What is an ethno archaeologist?

Ethnoarchaeology aids archaeologists in reconstructing ancient lifeways by studying the material and non-material traditions of modern societies. Ethnoarchaeology also aids in the understanding of the way an object was made and the purpose of what it is being used for.

Can I be an archaeologist with a history degree?

The Steps to Become an Archaeologist The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that becoming an archaeologist requires at least a master’s degree in archaeology; anthropology; or a related field, such as history.