Levels of Archaeological Theory

1. Low-Level—Describe Data (observation/generalization—classification)

2. Middle-Level—Describe Function (Experimental Archaeology/Ethnoarchaeology)

3. High-Level—Explain (Cultural Materialism-Processual Agenda)

4. Postprocessual Critique—Explain(Postmodernist interpretivism)

Ancient Hoko River Fishhooks

Low-Level—Describe Data (observation/generalization—

classification)

Ancient Hoko River Baskets

Low-Level—Describe Data (observation/generalization—

classification)

Basket attributes (Croes, 1977)

Basket shapes (Croes, 1977)

Sample basket type,

(Lachane, BC, ~2000 BP)

Ancient Hoko River Fishhooks

Low-Level—Describe Data (observation/generalization—

classification)

Ancient Hoko River Fishhooks

Middle-Level—Describe Function (Experimental Archaeology/Ethnoarchaeology)

High-Level—Explain (Cultural Materialism-Processual Agenda)

Ancient Hoko River Fishhooks

One way (a materialist approach) to classify (separate) components of a culture

• Infrastructure

– Modes of Production and Reproduction

• Structure

– Domestic and Political Organization

• Superstructure

– Values and Beliefs

Idea

tio

nal

Ad

apti

ve

Hoko River

Musqueam NE

3,000 BP

~1,000 BP

~1,000 BP

~1,000 BP ~2,000

BP

~3,000 BP

~2,000 BP

~3,000 BP

~500 BP

~2,000 BP

Basketry attribute

unrooted

cladogram

Basketry AttributesRooted Cladogram

Hoko River

Ozette

Musqueam NE

Qwu?gwes

AC

ConwayFishtown

Water Hazard

Biederbost

~3000 BP

~2000 BP

~1000 BP

Bas

ketr

y/Et

hn

ic T

rad

itio

ns

Phasesbased on stonebone and shell artifactsCoast Salish Wakashan

3,000 years of cultural identity through specific basketry styles for Squaxin Island Tribe and all Coast Salish Peoples

Slanted CladogramBased on basketry attributes

A

B

C

One way (a materialist approach) to classify (separate) components of a culture

• Infrastructure

– Modes of Production and Reproduction

• Structure

– Domestic and Political Organization

• Superstructure

– Values and Beliefs

Idea

tio

nal

Ad

apti

ve

Ancient Hoko River Fishhooks

Postprocessual Critique—Explain(Postmodernist interpretivism)

Hoko RiverVincent CookeExcavatingA 3000 yr oldCedar BarkCape and Pack Basket

The Post-processual critique rejects:

• The cultural evolutionary generalizations

• The processual search for universal laws

• Explicitly scientific methods

• The processual emphasis on objectivity and ethical neutrality

• The processual view of culture as an extrasomatic means of adaptation

• The processual emphasis on etic phenomena