Retrospective and prospective for scientific provenance studies in archaeology /
Provenance has been one of the major scientific applications in archaeology for a hundred years. The 'Golden Age' began in the 1950s, when large programs were initiated focusing on bronzes, ceramics and lithics. However, these had varying impact, ranging from wide acceptance to outright re...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge ; New York :
Cambridge University Press,
[2025].
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| Series: | Cambridge elements. Elements in current archaeological tools and techniques.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Provenance has been one of the major scientific applications in archaeology for a hundred years. The 'Golden Age' began in the 1950s, when large programs were initiated focusing on bronzes, ceramics and lithics. However, these had varying impact, ranging from wide acceptance to outright rejection. This Element reviews some of these programs, mainly in Eurasia and North America, focusing on how the complexity of the material and the effects of human behavior, can impact on such studies. The conclusion is that provenance studies of lithic materials and obsidian are likely to be reliable, but those on ceramics and metals are increasingly complicated, especially in the light of mixing and recycling. An alternative is suggested, which focusses more on using scientific studies to understand the relationship between human selectivity and processing and the wider resources available, rather than on the simple question of 'where does this object come from.' |
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| Physical Description: | 76 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [62]-76). |
| ISBN: | 9781009592192 100959219X 9781009592222 100959222X |