ethnographic anaology and cognitive archaeology module 1

Question 1

what is an analogy?

Answer 1

explanation by comparison

Question 2

what are ethnographic analogies based on

Answer 2

behaviours recorded for certain cultures which allows for comparisons

Question 3

what does an anaology require

Answer 3

living or recent group with well-documented lifeways that appear similar to archaeological record

Question 4

why can ethnographic analogies be problematic

Answer 4

because we assume everything in the site is like the comparison
- it doesn’t;t apply to pre-inudtrial state level societies or neandertals

Question 5

what is an emic perspective

Answer 5

interpreting culture from within
- using the perspectives of that culture to understand the behaviours, beliefs etc
(Renfrew argues that in order to understand the past, we must view it through the minds of the ancient people who experienced it.
 This can be described as an emic interpretation of the past.)

Question 6

what is an etic perspective?

Answer 6

interpreting a culture from outside
taking an outsiders perspective, looking at culture objectively

Question 7

what is cognitive archaeology?

Answer 7

the study of the thought processes
1. how people perceive the world
2. how ancient people viewed supernatural
3. their values and principles
4. how ancient views of the world are in art

Question 8

what is processualism

Answer 8

focus on the mundane aspects of the ancient world like technology and subsistence not understanding beliefs or art