Archeology
should be a science of history
By Gina Ponce
On-line Forty-Niner
Helping
people to understand why archaeology should
become a science of history was the central
focus of the lecture presented Thursday
by Robert Dunnell, professor of anthropology
at the University of Washington and Mississippi
State University.
Dunnell
said in his lecture, titled “Archaeology,
Evolution and Science: Muddles, Conundrum
and Paradox,” that archaeology can give
us tools to analyze ourselves and construct
scenarios to see what the outcomes of situations
may be.
He
said that science itself is not the subject
matter, but a sense-making system.
There are two elements that distinguish
science, Dunnell said. It employs an empirical
standard of truth and cause is lodged in
theory.
Theories
are something brought to explanation and
there have to be some principles by which
the explanation occurs, Dunnell said.
Dunnell
also said there is more than one kind of
science — historical and ahistorical.
The historical type focuses on the questions
of why, while ahistorical science focuses
on the questions of how.
Carl
Lipo, an assistant professor in anthropology
at Cal State Long Beach, said Dunnell was
chosen to speak because he is an intellectual
grandfather of this department and has had
great influence on it. He has been a central
figure that has pushed for archaeological
science, Lipo said.
“He
was the natural choice,” Lipo said.
Ileana
Bradford, an archaeology major at CSULB,
said what she really got out of Dunnell’s
lecture was the importance of the scientific
study of archaeology. She said she had read
some of Dunnell’s articles previously and
believed them to be well thought out.
“I
would say it’s definitely worth studying
his stuff,” Bradford said. “I admire his
work.”
Dunnell’s
book, “Systematics in Prehistory,” explains
that there is an old archaeology and a new
archaeology.
“The
old archaeology, concerned primarily with
objects and names for the objects, is giving
way to explanatory methods and objectives
of the new archaeology,” Dunnel wrote.
The
presentation emphasized that archaeology
is moving beyond simple descriptions of
artifacts. It is a discipline found in evolution
and science. Archaeology helps people
to understand and explains issues that confront
society today: changing climate, increasing
populations, rapid technological advances,
outbreaks of new diseases and economic disorder.
The
lecture was one of the events held by the
anthropology department and the new Program
for Archaeological Science. Lipo said the
lecture was given to inaugurate the new
program and the Institute for Integrated
Research in Materials, Environments and
Society.
The
Program in Scientific Archaeology was developed
at CSULB to train students with the skills
needed to contribute to the development
of evolutionary theory and the construction
of historical explanations within a scientific
framework.
The
Institute for Integrated Research in Materials,
Environments and Society was designed to
promote cross applications of analytical
techniques and fosters intellectual exchange
between scientists in a broad range of fields.
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