rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Epistemology and the evaluation of archaeological theories
    sub title: an empiricist approach, with a case study from the Mimbres region of Southwestern New Mexico
  name:
    name part: Ellis, Gordon Lain.
    role:
      role term: creator
  type of resource: text
  genre: bibliography
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: xx
    date issued: 1998
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: print
    extent: 2 volumes : illustrations, maps ; 28 cm.
  abstract: methodology in archaeology: what makes archaeological claims believable? Any methodology of archaeology is subservient to the methodology of induction. Empirical knowledge is inductive to its core, so determining whether archaeological inquiry produces something that counts as empirical knowledge means assessing the inductive soundness of the results. Theories are believable only inasmuch as they name plausible causes, and these causes cohere with evidence and stopping rules. The "available evidence rule'' underlies induction because we can only use what we have to establish empirical truths. "Stopping rules'' underlie induction because they are the background knowledge that shapes what counts as evidence or a cause. Theories lie along a continuum of believability amid bodies of evidence and background beliefs. Theories are metaphysical if their conclusions do not follow from causes. They are provisionally interesting if the causes are vague or the evidence sketchy. They become more interesting as causes become more clearly specified, or evidence more robust. They are continued when fair causal comparison shows that one provides a better causal account than its rivals. Consequently, theory evaluation reduces to two questions. "Are the stopping rules, evidence, and causes internally coherent?'' Regardless of method, a virtuous circle of induction must emerge. "How does this theory stack up against its rivals?'' Because theories cannot be tested against an unconceptualized world, the only thing left is to compare the causal world, the only thing left is to compare the causal comparison with an unconceptualized world, there is room for alternative theories even when there is no room for rivals. An examination of Minnis's (1985a) theory of Classic Mimbres collapse shows how a theory's believability depends on coherence between stopping rules, evidence, and causes. Minnis names population, climate, and inadequate food sharing networks as the causes of collapse, and const…
  note: by Gordon Lain Ellis.
  note: Vita.
  note: "Major Subject: Anthropology".
  note: Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc.
  note: Ph. D. Texas A&M University 1998.
  note: Includes bibliographical references: pages 476-508.
  subject:
    topic: Major anthropology
  identifier: 99-03111 UMI
  identifier: http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login
  related item:
    location:
      url: http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login
  record info:
    record content source: TXA
    record creation date: 990412
    record change date: 20190325093422.0
    record identifier: in00001481628