Paleolithic Culture and Culture Change: Experiment in Theory and Method [and Comments and Reply

Abstract

A debate concerning the meaning of stone artifact and assemblage variability during the Paleolithic has been in progress for some time now. This paper attempts to link theory and method in suggesting specific methods for the investigation of whether stone tools can act as markers of culturally bounded social units, i.e., ethnic groups, in the past. Hypotheses are formulated based on the theory of culture tradition, and test implications are deduced from these. Multivariate and univariate statistical tests and procedures are suggested for assessing the validity of the proposed hypotheses. It is thought that specific questions concerning the nature of Paleolithic culture and culture change can be more fruitfully investigated by an unambiguous formulation of hypotheses based on explicit assumptions of past forms of social organization and human behavior. Further refinement and testing of hypotheses based on alternative theories of explanation of interassemblage variability of Paleolithic artifacts should result in evaluations of past human culture and behavior which will be better approximations of reality.