Date of Award
4-2003
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Michael S. Nassaney
Second Advisor
Dr. William Cremin
Third Advisor
Dr. Marla Buckmaster
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This study examines issues concerning the theoretical basis of style and ethnicity in archaeology through analysis of a material culture (lithic) assemblage from the Late Paleoindian-Archaic cultural transition period In the Northwestern Great Lakes region of the United States. A theoretical framework utilizing practice theory as expounded by Pierre Bourdieu is applied to an interpretation of both the theoretical and concrete issues involved in this analysis. Using the context of an interpreted ritual/mortuary site, a social archaeology concerned with the social, political, and organizational context of production, use, and deposition of technological objects is developed to address style and ethnicity within a practice theory framework. Rather than focus on the physical environment through a systemic approach to the context of cultural reproduction/social change, an agent-centered approach is attempted, which re-focuses analysis of material culture on the social contexts of style, ethnicity, and technology (material culture).
Recommended Citation
Laidler, Matthew R., "Style, Ethnicity, Technology, and Practice: Analysis of a Material Culture Assemblage from the Paleoindian-Archaic Cultural Transition in the Northwestern Great Lakes" (2003). Masters Theses. 3876.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3876