ARTIFACT CLASSIFICATION

Archaeologists have been developing artifact typologies to understand cultural categories for as long as the discipline has existed. Dwight Read examines these attempts to systematize the cultural domains in premodern societies through a historical study of pottery typologies. He then offers a methodology for producing classifications that are both salient to the cultural groups that produced them and relevant for establishing cultural categories and timelines for the archaeologist attempting to understand the relationship between material culture and ideational culture of ancient societies. This volume is valuable to upper level students and professional archaeologists across the discipline.

Dwight Read offers a methodology for producing systematic classifications of objects that are both salient to the cultural groups that produced them and relevant for establishing cultural categories and timelines for archaeologists.

“This important contribution summarises a lifetime involvement with teaching, developing and debating approaches to artifact classifi cation. Dwight Read brings to this task his own varied contributions and highly-developed logical and mathematical skills…it is a valuable study of some key issues in and approaches to archaeological practice.” —David Frankel, Australian Archaeology

“Eleven carefully crafted, thoughtful chapters span the history, method, and theory of the classification of material culture. Among other topics, Read considers intuitive and objective classifications, paradigms, patterning, numerical taxonomy, modality, and variable redundancy. Read’s research on stone tools and ceramics and his pedagogical skills help fine tune the narrative and make a difficult, complex subject informative, instructive, and readable. Summing Up: Highly recommended. ” – C. C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities in CHOICE

“By the end of the book, Read has succeeded in moving towards this more subtle approach, accounting for changes in the way artefacts are perceived at various points in their lives and creating typologies which arguably correspond to a greater extent with classifications utilised in the past…This book teaches an important lesson: there is no one way to produce typologies, which must be sensitive to context.” —Ben Jervis, Archaeological Review from Cambridge

Dwight W. Read is Professor of Anthropology and Statistics at UCLA. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recognized expert in quantitative archaeology. He has written over 100 articles on theory, analytic methods, kinship, computer applications, biological anthropology, and field projects from California to the Kalahari.