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Temporal Data Requirements, Luminescence Dates, and the Resolution of Chronological Structure of Late Prehistoric Deposits in the Central Mississippi River Valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Carl P. Lipo ,
James K. Feathers  and
Robert C. Dunnell
Carl P. Lipo
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and the Institute for Integrated Research in Materials, Environments and Society (IIRMES), 1250 Bellflower Blvd., California StateUniversity Long Beach, Long Beach, CA 90840, clipo@csulb.edu
James K. Feathers
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Box 353100, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, jimf@u.washington
Robert C. Dunnell
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS,dunnell@direcway.com
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Abstract

Our ability to order chronologically the archaeological record has long been linked to our capacity to generate explanations. Evolutionary explanations make even greater demands on chronological data requirements than most other approaches. Single date characterizations of deposits are wholly inadequate. Rather, we require distributions of dates that can be used to estimate duration and rates of assemblage formation. In addition, the events dated must have direct archaeological relevance such as artifact manufacture or deposition. In a study of the evolution of social complexity in the late prehistoric record of the central Mississippi River valley, luminescence dates of sherds that have been assigned to a single culture historical type provide a means of determining the chronological character of assemblages derived from large village deposits. In this way, the temporal data requirements for evolutionary accounts can be met reliably.

Résumé

Résumé

Nuestra habilidad de ordenar cronológicamente el registro arqueológico ha estado históricamente vinculada con nuestra habilidad de generar explicaciones. Explicaciones basadas en la teoría de la evolución imponen aun mayores demandas sobre los datos cronológicos que otros enfoques. La caracterización de depósitos basadas en solo una fecha es totalmente inadecuada. En lugar de eso, necesitamos distribuciones de fechas que puedan usarse para estimar la duración y tasas de formación de los depósitos arqueológicos. Adicionalmente, los eventos fechados deben tener relevancia arqueológica directa como deposición o manufactura de artefactos. En un estudio de la evolución de la complejidad social del registro prehistórico del valle central del Río Mississippi, la determinación defechas a través de luminiscencia de tiestos que han sido asignados a un solo tipo cultural-histórico, proveen un medio para determinar el carácter cronológico de colecciones derivadas de depósitos de aldeas grandes. De ésta manera, se puede conseguir confiablemente los datos temporales que la teoría de evolución requiere.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , July 2005 , pp. 527 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2005

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