Modeling the past

archaeology

Miriam N. Haidle

pp. 845-871

in: Winfried Henke, Ian Tattersall (eds), Handbook of Paleoanthropology, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

This chapter looks at the potential explanatory power of archaeology as a paleoanthropological discipline. Through the study of artifacts, archaeology provides insight into human behavior. Five facets of archaeological knowledge can be drawn from the material remains of object-related activities (typological, technological, functional, contextual, and cognitive information), from which other behavioral aspects, like subsistence, settlement, social organization, cultural differences, and the cognitive background, can be derived. Archaeological analyzes face significant constraints, but by integrating results from other disciplines, the limits can be broadened. A brief outline of Paleolithic artifact history shows how this part of the behavior of Homo developed and how it is accessible by archaeological remains. Following the question "What could they do?" the basis of cultural behavior as a crucial aspect in human evolution is traced in its biological, historical-social, and individual dimensions.