7 - The Core-Periphery Relationship and the Archaeological Record in Alexandria, Virginia

Abstract

The Core–Periphery Model describes settlement and artifact patterns simultaneously; therefore, it facilitates a holistic interpretation of two data sets that have resulted from separate aspects of the same empirical reality. The analytical integration of the two data sets makes it possible to perceive this reality on a higher interpretative plane than would be possible with either alone. This chapter describes the applicability of the Core–Periphery Model for providing information that can be used as an independent test of urban behavioral phenomena. There exists a dynamic relationship between settlement and artifact patterns, and the data sets that describe them. The Core–Periphery Model has been used successfully by geographers, economists, and historians to delineate developmental patterns, articulating the relationships between core, semi-periphery, and periphery over time. The Core–Periphery Model is applicable on a global scale as well as on regional and local levels. In the Model, the economic center, or core, contains localities that usually are wealthier and more developed than those at the semi-periphery and periphery.