• Intellectual development of Archaeology• A Prehistory of Archaeology• Radical ideas

• Key ideas and concepts and individuals contributing to the trajectory of modern thought.

Agenda

Prehistory of ArchaeologyParadigms that governed interpretations of ancient civilizations

• Sixteenth century: Arch Bishop Usher declares

earth created on October 23 in 4004 BC, based on biblical genealogy at 7:30 am.

Late Eighteenth-century Enlightenment• Antiquarians are collecting curios and creating Salons

(repositories of interesting objects of art and artifacts.

• Proto-archaeological digs are conducted in search of more ancient objects.

• First scientific observation of previously unconsidered phenomena.

• First systematic attempt to classify ancient materials.

• Antiquarianism; efforts at classification• Interest in antiquities

expands following Napoleon's invasion of Egypt.• Rosetta stone discovered• Hieroglyphics deciphered

(1822) Jean Jacques Champollion,

Important individuals contributing to early archaeological theory and practice

• James Hutton—Charles Lyell: develop concept of uniformitarianism.

• Thomas Jefferson—application of Principle of Superposition, systematic excavation (early 1800s) on his property in Virginia.

Radical ideas• Recognition of

stratigraphy!

• A changing Earth!

• Recognition that there was a time when humans did not know of metals!

• Extinction – not a static environment!

• Great age of Earth hypothesized!

• George Cuvier—studies fossils of extinct animals, sets out rudimentary theory on evolution.

• Thomas Jefferson—Principle of Association

• Jean Lamarck—determines Earth much older than 6000 years based on geology and fossils (early 1800s). Suggests 100s of thousands of years.

• Charles Lyell—expands on principle of uniformitarianism (1830s)

• Charles Darwin—Alfred Wallace establish principle of natural selection (1859) and conceive of evolution of species.

• Christian Thomsen—Three age system

• Jens Worsae—chronological validity to three age system—adds principle of association (1870s)

More people

• Heinrich Schliemann—First systematic excavation linking historic documents to prehistory—stuns the world with discovery of Troy in 1876.• Accidentally Invents

“scientific” archaeology.

• Squire and Davis—systematic recording of earthen mounds in Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. (1870s).

• Provide valuable maps and illustrations for future analysis.

DavisSquire

• Gregor Mendell—works out genetic mechanism for inheritance of traits (1870s-80s).

• If only Darwin had known.

• Karl Marx—links economic basis of societies to political systems—works out a theory of society and capitalism.

• Lewis Henry Morgan—postulates history in stages—links culture stages to technology. Early proponent of unilinear cultural evolution (1860s). This theory is now discredited.

Unilinear Cultureal development

• Postulates that all cultures pass through specific phases from savagery to barbarism to civilization and the stages are bands / tribes/ chiefdoms / states.

• Goes further to link a specific list of “traits” (including technologies) to these stages which could be observed archaeologically to rank societies on a development curve.

Impact of theory

• Unilinear Cultural Development theory influenced interpretation of ancient civilizations and cultures. It created a technologically informed hierarchy of cultures (compared to Victorian era European civilization, which was viewed as a model for the ultimate development of superior civilization).

• This culture paradigm dominated into the early 20th century and influenced Nazi propaganda and was combined with NeoDarwinism to foster the idea of a master race.

Using the trait list

• UCD theory allowed anthropologists in the 19th century to conveniently classify cultures in a hierarchical scale (naturally with white European culture at the top). Moreover, lack of culture complexity came to be equated with evolutionary primitiveness.• Although obvious problems existed in the system

these were generally explained away.

The paradigm shift

• As culture research progressed during the early 20th century many anthropologists questioned the “trait’ list and addressed the glaring problems.

• Multilinear Culture development theory emerged as a new framework for interpretation.

Multilinear Cultural Development• Postulates that the assumption of stages or

linear development is a false premise and unproven by evidence.• Culture stage is not directly linked to technology,

economy, or complexity of social development.• Any society can pass through stages or skip over

so-called stages, even retrograde.

Stop

MCD• Postulates that resources and environment influence culture

development and technological change.• Examples: a stone age culture can be a complex state or a

metals based culture may only rise to level of chiefdom, and so forth.

Significance of these theories• ICD theory fundamentally racist and Eurocentric. Was used to

by colonial empires justify eradication of “uncivilized races.” • MCD forced reevaluation of the accomplishments of ancient

cultures and of modern peoples living under “prehistoric” conditions.

Influence on/of archaeology• Early researchers sought to classify cultures on the linear

continuum.• But inconsistencies and new data from archaeology

contradicted the dominant paradigm and eventually forced a change in ideology in the scientific community.

• As we shall see, concepts of civilization, humanity and evolutionary theory will become tightly interwoven. This is especially true when we examine the fate of Neanderthal.