Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction by Paul Bahn

Author:Paul Bahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2012-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

Figure 12

Any of these items on its own will not tell one very much, but if a number of them are found together, in a single archaeological context, then a cognitive archaeologist is on reasonably solid ground in interpreting the evidence as involving a cult usage. The same applies to whole collections of rich objects found in special circumstances, such as the Iron Age weapons thrown into the River Thames, or the great hoards of metalwork in Scandinavian bogs, or the huge quantities of symbolically rich objects (and people) thrown by the Maya into the cenote (well) at Chichén Itzá. It is highly unlikely – though theoretically possible – that all this material ended up in the waters through carelessness rather than through ritual deposition.

All in all, therefore, cognitive archaeology can make some valid assessments of minds which are long vanished from this earth. In other areas, however, it requires enormous optimism, and involves a triumph of mind over matter. At its best, it provides stimulating hypotheses based on historical or modern information – especially from the accounts of the Conquistadors or early missionaries and colonizers – or on careful deductions from the material remains themselves. At its worst, however, it is filled with wishful thinking, particularly where attempts to interpret prehistoric art are concerned: it produces ‘just-so stories’, sheer fiction thought up to explain the material remains, and through which the authors reveal themselves to be frustrated novelists.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.