The Quality of the Archaeological Record

by Charles Perreault

Paleobiology struggled for decades to influence our understanding of evolution and the history of life because it was stymied by a focus on microevolution and an incredibly patchy fossil record. But in the 1970s, the field took a radical turn, as paleobiologists began to investigate processes that could only be recognized in the fossil record across larger scales of time and space. That turn led to a new wave of macroevolutionary investigations, novel insights into the evolution of species, and a growing prominence for the field among the biological sciences.

In The Quality of the Archaeological Record , Charles Perreault shows that archaeology not only faces a parallel problem, but may also find a model in the rise of paleobiology for a shift in the science and theory of the field. To get there, he proposes a more macroscale approach to making sense of the archaeological record, an approach that reveals patterns and processes not visible within the span of a human lifetime, but rather across an observation window thousands of years long and thousands of kilometers wide. Just as with the fossil record, the archaeological record has the scope necessary to detect macroscale cultural phenomena because it can provide samples that are large enough to cancel out the noise generated by micro-scale events. By recalibrating their research to the quality of the archaeological record and developing a true macroarchaeology program, Perreault argues, archaeologists can finally unleash the full contributive value of their discipline.

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction, History, Anthropology

280 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2019

Reviews

[Michael Lever · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some chapters sparkle, others are repetitious sabre rattling which seem to add little new other than the application of the same verbs to new nouns. There is not anything inherently new in the authors thesis, however his presentation and reworking of essentially core processual concepts can make for either a fresh reminder or for others a current introduction to the field. It is ironic and noteworthy however that a book which places so much emphasis on defining assumptions and avoiding their pitfalls, makes no mention that the 'archaeology' referred to in the title is a very specific and defined subset of the discipline. Historical archaeology for example is left unaddressed even though it's data require equal theoretical consideration.

[William Barrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless you are interested in and conversant with technical statistical analysis, you will find this book pretty heavy, even perhaps boring. If, however, you love archaeological research, you will enjoy the clarity of Perreault's argumentation for understanding the challenge of interpreting archaeological finds. Archaeology is a forensic science rather than a laboratory science (even though from time to time the laboratory analyzes certain recovered artifacts and accompanying materials). That means inaccurate interpretation arises from incomplete contexts, variable time periods, and misapplication of sociological theory. As Perreault demonstrates, there is little room for dogmatism in the field of archaeology. This book presents a sobering analysis of archaeological interpretation in order to be a catalyst for change in how sites are excavated, artifacts handled, sites are compared, and results are reached and reported.