Title: Culture: a study in applied hunter-gatherer ethnoarchaeology
Abstract: The paper discusses the use of ethnoarchaeol ogy in the interpretation of prehistoric hunter-gatherer cultures, and takes as a case study the application of observations made on the Evenk reindeer hunters (Olenok area, Siberia) to interpreting patterning in the Late Glacial Hamburgian archaeological record of northern Europe. It is argued that a focus on repeatedly appearing cultural features seen in relation to a holistic framework which incorporates the entire range of social behaviours can form a useful interface between archaeology and ethnoarchaeology, because it allows an integrated approach to phenomena with both material and spiritual aspects. The latter are too often ignored in ethnoarchaeology despite their evident impact on spatial patterning in the material record of contemporary hunter-gatherers. It is also suggested that archaeology and ethnoarchaeology should be used in an interactive way, including the development of archaeologica l strategies for checking the ethnoarchaeological extrapolations.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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