Association in archaeology Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of past human societies, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data which they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes. Due to the fact that archaeology employs a wide range of different procedures, it can be has more than one meaning and is confusing to the layman A "layman" or "layperson" is a person who is a non-expert in a given field of knowledge. The term originally meant a member of the laity, i.e. a non-clergymen, but over the centuries shifted in definition. Archaeology has been critiqued as a soft science with a somewhat poor standardization of terms.

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Finds and objects

Associated finds or objects refers to a close relationship between two or more objects. Associated objects that can be proved to have been deposited at the same time, through being in the same context In archaeology, not only the context of a discovery is a significant fact, but the formation of the context is as well. An archaeological context is an event in time which has been preserved in the archaeological record. The cutting of a pit or ditch in the past is a context, whilst the material filling it will be another. Multiple fills, seen as, form a genuine or close association. Objects that can only be theorised as being deposited together, either because they were not excavated properly, their excavation Within the practice of excavation, numerous specialized techniques are available for use, and each dig will have its particular features, which will determine the archaeologists' approach. Resources and other practical issues do not allow archaeologists to carry out excavations whenever and wherever they choose. These constraints mean many known records are lost or because they come from different contexts that are in stratigraphically definable phases or groups in association with the original context, are said to be in open association. Finds in association are known as an assemblage and are much more useful than individual ones as greater precision can be assigned to their function, date and provenance Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", means the origin, or the source of something, or the history of the ownership or location of an object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing. Typical uses may cover any.

Contexts and features

Associated contexts are contexts that are shown by virtue of stratigraphic relationships to be near contemporaneous. An example would be a wall context and its associated floor context. This association would bring about the construction in interpretation of phase where associated contexts are shown to be part of the same period of occupation. In the case of the wall and the floor we can say that the floor was in use at the same time the wall was standing. Associations of contexts can be far more complex and tricky to establish. Interpretive tools such as the Harris matrix and stratification Stratification is a paramount and base concept in archaeology, especially in the course of excavation. It is largely based on the Law of Superposition. When archaeological finds are below the surface of the ground , the identification of the context of each find is vital in enabling the archaeologist to draw conclusions about the site and about are instrumental in deducing the associations of contexts on site and by deduction the function of archaeological remains.

See also

References

Categories: Methods and principles in archaeology

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Archaeology in New Zealand special issue 47(4) of 2004 contained a series of nostalgic and historical papers about the first 50 years of the . Archaeological Association. , the volume entitled, Digging Into History, editor Matthew Campbell. ...

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