Archeology Theory Ch 1-7
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Midterm Extra Credit
Why is theory relevant to archeological practice or, to put it another way, why is common sense not enough, according to the author (Johnson) of your theory textbook?
Theory is relevant to archeological practice because as archeologists we need to justify what we do, we need to evaluate one interpretation of the past against another, to decide which is the stronger, we must be explicit in what we do as archeologists, and finally we don’t ‘need’ theory we all use theory whether we like it or not. What Johnson means by this numerous list of why theory is relevant is that archeology is very important and should not be ignored, we as humans should know what happened in the past or at least try to reconstruct it, learn from it, and in turn make better judgements about the future. And obviously common sense is not enough when it comes to working with archeological finds and studies because these findings take time and plenty of evaluation to process accurately and thinking outside the box is necessary.
What are the consequences of the normative view of culture, according to Johnson?
The consequences of the normative view of culture according to Johnson are that artifacts are expressions of cultural norms like ideas in peoples heads and lastly that those norms define what ‘culture’ is. What Johnson means by the first one is that culture depends on a number of different traits coming together rather than on one trait alone. And what Johnson means by the second consequence is that cultures tend to be viewed as unchanging which is a big mistake because there are always outside forces pushing for new change.
What is “social constructivism”?
Social Constructivism is the belief that scientific knowledge is not purely objective, but is at least partly or entirely socially constructed. Which means that the scientific knowledge is not neutral of information from cultural norms and values, but is actually made up in support of significant values...
Why is theory relevant to archeological practice or, to put it another way, why is common sense not enough, according to the author (Johnson) of your theory textbook?
Theory is relevant to archeological practice because as archeologists we need to justify what we do, we need to evaluate one interpretation of the past against another, to decide which is the stronger, we must be explicit in what we do as archeologists, and finally we don’t ‘need’ theory we all use theory whether we like it or not. What Johnson means by this numerous list of why theory is relevant is that archeology is very important and should not be ignored, we as humans should know what happened in the past or at least try to reconstruct it, learn from it, and in turn make better judgements about the future. And obviously common sense is not enough when it comes to working with archeological finds and studies because these findings take time and plenty of evaluation to process accurately and thinking outside the box is necessary.
What are the consequences of the normative view of culture, according to Johnson?
The consequences of the normative view of culture according to Johnson are that artifacts are expressions of cultural norms like ideas in peoples heads and lastly that those norms define what ‘culture’ is. What Johnson means by the first one is that culture depends on a number of different traits coming together rather than on one trait alone. And what Johnson means by the second consequence is that cultures tend to be viewed as unchanging which is a big mistake because there are always outside forces pushing for new change.
What is “social constructivism”?
Social Constructivism is the belief that scientific knowledge is not purely objective, but is at least partly or entirely socially constructed. Which means that the scientific knowledge is not neutral of information from cultural norms and values, but is actually made up in support of significant values...