Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T16:41:31.267Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Experimental Archaeology: A New Outlook

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Saraydar
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Cornell University
Izumi Shimada
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona

Abstract

The potential contributions which imitative experiments can make to archaeology are far greater in scope, complexity, and overall "value" than is commonly realized. A sketch of some of these potential contributions is given and, in support of the claims advanced, a method of measuring the efficiency of hand operated implements is described and then applied in a comparison of different agricultural practices. The results show that experiments can provide important data unobtainable by traditional research methods and aid in the analysis of past subsistence and technological systems.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1973

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Robert, Ascher 1961 Experimental archaeology. American Anthropologist 63:793816.Google Scholar
Bayard, Donn. T. 1969 Science, theory, and reality in the “new archaeology.” American Antiquity 34:376384.Google Scholar
Clarke, David L. 1968 Analytical archaeology. Methuen, London.Google Scholar
Consolazio, C. F., Johnson, R. E., and Pecora, L. J. 1963 Physiological measurements of metabolic functions in man. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Durnin, J. V. G. A., and Passmore, R. 1967 Energy, work, and leisure. Heinemann, London.Google Scholar
Heizer, R. F., and Graham, J. A. 1967 A guide to field methods in archaeology. National Press, Palo Alto.Google Scholar
Rappaport, Roy A. 1967 Ritual regulation of environmental relations among a New Guinea people. Ethnology 6:1730.Google Scholar
Saraydar, S., and Shimada, I. 1971 A quantitative comparison of efficiency between a stone axe and a steel axe. American Antiquity 36:216217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saraydar, S., and Shimada, I. 1971 Human adaptation to a high altitude energy flow system. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University.Google Scholar
White, Leslie A. 1949 The science of culture. Grove Press, New York.Google Scholar