Table of Contents
Why is it that archaeologists have to be wary about preservation biases?
Two common phenomena affecting the archaeological record, ‘time averaging’ and preservation biases, are particularly problematic in this regard. Preservation biases affect the likelihood that material remains (e.g. artefacts) and their original spatial relationships are preserved in the archaeological record.
Is there bias in Archaeology?
Archaeologists increasingly have become aware of the effects of bias and have made strides to identify and correct for error introduced in such areas as sampling and recovery techniques. Much less attention has been paid to the significance of bias introduced during artifact analysis.
What are some biases in Archaeology to be aware of?
Conceptual biases are biases caused by the classification of data under preconceived concepts. These play an important role at all scales and stages of archaeological enquiry and include the tendency to study only some geographical, typological, and chronological parts of the available archaeological record.
What can affect archaeological interpretations?
They were influenced by their culture, limited knowledge of other cultures, training in the archaeological paradigm of the time, and experience. Cultural and current events can also bias scientific explanations.
What is preservation bias?
Preservation bias – factors that affect the potential for an organism to become a fossil. Preservation potential – environmental conditions of ecosystems that affect the potential for organisms to become fossils.
Is self serving bias a theory?
Thus, we subconsciously rely on this self-serving bias as a way of maintaining our self-esteem. Although the linkage between self-esteem and the self-serving bias is a leading theory, psychologists have identified several other reasons for why this bias is so prevalent among individuals.
What is ethnocentrism in Archaeology?
Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture. Archaeologists cannot fully study and understand another cultural group’s society, customs, and language if they are passing subtle judgment against the very cultural group they are studying.
What other factors and processes might bias the preservation and or visibility of archaeological sites?
Archaeological field survey data can be biased by many factors, such as ground visibility conditions (e.g. vegetation, plowing) and geomorphological processes (erosion, deposition).
How do archaeologists interpret their findings?
Archaeology is based on the scientific method. Archaeologists ask questions and develop hypotheses. They use evidence to choose a dig site, then use scientific sampling techniques to select where on the site to dig. They observe, record, categorize, and interpret what they find.
What archaeological theory represents Archaeology theories?
Archaeological theory refers to the various intellectual frameworks through which archaeologists interpret archaeological data. Other archaeological theories, such as Marxist archaeology, instead interpret archaeological evidence within a framework for how its proponents believe society operates.