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ARTIFACTS IN ARCHAEOLOGY: A CARIBBEAN CASE STUDY

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Date Issued:
1981
Summary:
The term artifact denotes a framework for conceptualizing the physio-chemical modification of environmentally occurring raw materials by human, cultural processes. This thesis examines the categories of artifact analysis, and integrates these into a development sequence. This sequence represents the processes which pattern all artifacts. They can be summarized as occurring at four stages: (1) selection of raw materials; (2) construction techniques; (3) artifact use and function; (4) formation of the archaeological record. The result of this integration is a heuristic model that recognizes the unity and complexity of cultural materials, and provides a base for processual studies. A separate part of this thesis employs Strombus gigas shell artifacts from the prehistoric cultures of the Caribbean to indicate the utility of the artifact development sequence as a theoretical conceptualization.
Title: ARTIFACTS IN ARCHAEOLOGY: A CARIBBEAN CASE STUDY.
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Name(s): KEEGAN, WILLIAM FRANCIS.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Kennedy, William J., Thesis advisor
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of Anthropology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1981
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 134 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The term artifact denotes a framework for conceptualizing the physio-chemical modification of environmentally occurring raw materials by human, cultural processes. This thesis examines the categories of artifact analysis, and integrates these into a development sequence. This sequence represents the processes which pattern all artifacts. They can be summarized as occurring at four stages: (1) selection of raw materials; (2) construction techniques; (3) artifact use and function; (4) formation of the archaeological record. The result of this integration is a heuristic model that recognizes the unity and complexity of cultural materials, and provides a base for processual studies. A separate part of this thesis employs Strombus gigas shell artifacts from the prehistoric cultures of the Caribbean to indicate the utility of the artifact development sequence as a theoretical conceptualization.
Identifier: 14072 (digitool), FADT14072 (IID), fau:12677 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1981.
Subject(s): Antiquities
Caribbean Area--Antiquities
Analysis
Strombus gigas
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/14072
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.