Material Culture

Abstract

Before outlining this section concerned with material culture I should perhaps try to be explicit about the philosophy which guides me in archeological matters. It is my conviction that archeological work does not transcend antiquarianism (a legitimate and justifiable occupation) unless the specimens and the observational data are regarded as reflecting some cultural situation. For me a continuing circular preoccupation with artifacts is sterile. The only excuse for excavation, it seems, is that ever-present hope that by means of archeological search we can catch a meaningful glimpse of, or a series of moments in, a once dynamic living culture. In this interest, of course, I am not alone.It seems to me we are interested in archeological specimens because we are in reality, and at some distance, and often obscurely, working with a way of life, for which the observed relationships and the artifacts are the meager documentation. One freely admits that the archeological record is very incomplete; it is, moreover, heavily weighted towards the material things.