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Ecological Interpretation in Archaeology: Part I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

C. W. Meighan ,
D. M. Pendergast ,
B. K. Swartz Jr.  and
M. D. Wissler
C. W. Meighan
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
D. M. Pendergast
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
B. K. Swartz Jr.
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
M. D. Wissler
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
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Extract

Interpretations of man's relationship to his environment are basic to the understanding of archaeological data. Such interpretations are made by almost all archaeologists in the course of presenting their findings, and there is a growing trend toward more precise delineation of human ecology in prehistoric times. Yet much archaeological writing of this sort tends to be sketchy and fragmentary, and techniques of value are often overlooked or ignored. More or less standardized procedures for interpreting prehistoric ecology are still in the process of being worked out, and even the physical techniques of collecting and sorting samples are experimental at present.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , July 1958 , pp. 1 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1958

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