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A Pot is Not a Rock: A Reply to Neff, Glascock, Bishop, and Blackman

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James H. Burton  and
Arleyn W. Simon
James H. Burton
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Archaeological Chemistry, Department of Anthropology, 1180 Observatory Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706-1393
Arleyn W. Simon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–2402
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Abstract

There are some fundamental errors in the arguments of our critics: equating acid extraction with bulk techniques; confusing extractability, the signal of interpretive interest, with analytical error; and, most importantly, presuming that the influences of behavioral choices of prehistoric potters are unwanted “noise” in the data. In confirmation of our original statements, Neff et al., demonstrate that neutron activation analysis (NAA) and acid extraction are independent methods, that the data are not commensurate, and that acid extraction is sensitive to technological choices of prehistoric potters. We agree emphatically. Because ceramic vessels are not idealized geologic materials mined from quarries, but complex technological products, richly embedded with behavioral attributes, we see this behavioral sensitivity of acid extraction as its virtue, not its vice. Acid extraction is a viable compositional tool currently producing significant archaeological results.

Resumen

Resumen

Hay algunos errores fundamentales en los argumentos de nuestros críticos: primeramente la equiparación de la extracción de ácido con técnicas que miden quimicamente el total de los elementos de la muestra (bulk techniques) confundiendo ”extractibilidad,” la señal que nos interesa interpretar, con “error analitico,” y, más importante, la suposición de que las influencias de las opciones de conducta de los ceramistas prehistóricos son un tipo de interferencia analítica no deseada en los datos. De acuerdo con nuestras declaraciones originales, Neffet al. demuestran que el método de activación neutrónica (NAA) y la extracción de ácido son métodos independientes, que los datos no son comparables, y que la extracción es sensible a las elecciones tecnológicas de los ceramistas prehistoricos. Nosotros estamos completamente de acuerdo. Sin embargo, vemos en la extracción de ácido esta sencibilidad al comportamiento del ceramista como su virtud, no como su defecto, ya que las vasijas de cerámica no son materiales geológicos idealizados extraidos de los yacimientos, sino productos tecnológicos complejos, ricamente constituidos con atributos de comportamiento. La extracción de ácido es una herramienta viable para revelar la composición de los materiales, que actualmente está produciendo importantes resultados arqueológicos.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , April 1996 , pp. 405 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1996

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