A Brief Theoretical Introduction

There are likely to be as many archaeological perspectives on technology as there are archaeologists, but this is not to say that there are no recognizable trends in the way archaeology has approached the issue of technology. One, perhaps the most common, especially among archaeologists who are largely involved in rescue projects, is seemingly atheoretical. Elements of material culture that can be argued to have a more or less close relation to technology are carefully described and inserted into wider narratives without much consideration being given to their points of connection with other aspects of society such as ideology or identity. In fact, there is nothing atheoretical about this position, even if the theoretical basis on which it sits is not made explicit (and is sometimes not even acknowledged as such by the archaeologists responsible for it). Theory is not necessarily an argument full of complicated words with philosophical overtones. The assumptions we have, the way we order reality in our heads, is our theoretical position, the framework within which we place and organize the data provided by our senses.

It is necessary to dispel the idea that if we do not openly or consciously embrace the theoretical premises of recognizable theoretical schools (such as processual archaeology or evolutionist archaeology), we are presenting a completely objective description of the archaeological record that can be regarded safely away from the adulteration of theoretical constructs.