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Pots and Evolution: Response to Neff and Schiffer et al.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Helen L. Loney
Helen L. Loney*
Affiliation:
Department of Adult and Continuing Education, University of Glasgow, Crichton University Campus, Dumfries DG1 4ZL, UK
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Abstract

This reply seeks to answer the comments by Neff and Schiffer et al. by stating the following: 1) evolutionary theory in archaeology is limited by the overextension of biological attributes to nonbiological artifacts, such as pottery; 2) evolutionary theory when applied to technological studies has an underlying technological determinist implication, and hence is inappropriate for use in the study of ancient technologies; 3) the subfields and disciplines of ceramic studies in archaeology are becoming increasingly isolated from each other and from the mainstream of interpretation, as evidenced by exclusionary bibliographies, language and study groups; and 4) ceramic studies are best approached on a contextual, case-by-case basis.

Résumé

Résumé

Esta respuesta cuestiona los comentarios hechos por Neff, Schiffer y Longacre, quienes indican lo siguiente: 1) la teoíia evolutiva en arqueología estd limitadapor la sobre-extensión de atributos biológicos a los artefactos no-biológicos, tales como la cerámicd. 2) La teoíia evolutiva cuando es aplicada a los estudios tecnológicos tiene una fundamental implicatión tecnológica determinista y por lo tanto es inapropiada para el uso en el estudio de las tecnológias antiguas. 3) los subsectores y las disciplinas de estudios de cerámica en arqueología estan creciendo independiente mente de unos a otros y de la secuencia principal de la interpretación, según lo evidenciado por las bibliografias exclusionarias, el lenguaje y los grupos de estudios. 4) Los estudios de cerámica son tratados mejor de una manera contextual, basada en casos singulares.

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Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 4 , October 2001, pp. 738 - 741
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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References

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