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The Artificial Small Group Study and Archaeological Excavation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Louis Dupree
Louis Dupree*
Affiliation:
Montgomery, Ala
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Extract

When archaeologists go into the field to excavate, they generally pass up excellent opportunities to contribute to ethnology, physical anthropology, linguistics, or some other branch of this ever-widening subject of anthropology. Before undertaking such extracurricular research, the archaeologist must familiarize himself with the general ethnography of his region. Such tools as the Outline of Cultural Materials (1950) and Notes and Queries on Anthropology, Sixth Edition (1951), can be used to obtain such ethnographic control.

By hiring workmen the archaeologist creates a unique research tool — an artificial small group within an already functioning society. This group is artificial in the sense that it does not arise from the society itself, and is likely to cease functioning after the departure of the diggers. The artificial small group consists of locally hired workmen, plus the archaeological party, and seldom numbers over 50. This artificially created group will become a “face to face” or “natural group” (Coon 1948: 563) as it meets from day to day.

Type
Facts and Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , January 1955 , pp. 271
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1954

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References

Committee of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1951 Notes and Queries on Anthropology [6th ed.]. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Coon, C. S. 1948 A Reader in General Anthropology. Holt, New York.Google Scholar
Murdock, G. P. and Others, 1950 Outline of Cultural Materials, 3rd rev. ed. Behavior Science Outlines, Vol. 1, Human Relations Area Files, New Haven.Google Scholar