Robert W. Preucel

Processual Archaeology and the Radical Critique [and Comments and Reply]

Archaeology isbecoming a broader, more catholic discipline. The positivist foundation of new archaeology is being questioned, and alternative radical approaches are being championed. In an attempt to assess the validity of these new directions, this paper reviews the historical association of spatial archaeology with human geography and examines the radical critique in each discipline. It concludes that radical archaeology does not offer a viable methodology for explaining past cultural patterning and calls instead for a behavioral archaeology, modeled in some respects upon behavioral geography, which takes careful account of individual behavior and is committed to general theory in the explanation of cultural evolution.

The Postprocessual Condition

Previous evaluations of postprocessual archaeology have regarded it more as a critique of processual archaeology than as a viable research program. Today this statement needs to be modified to account for the diversity of frameworks that have grown up within and adjacent to the early postprocessual formulations. These new approaches include various admixtures of structural Marxism, poststructuralism, critical theory, and feminism. Significant philosophical differences separate some of these positions, but rather than being debilitating, the active exploration of these areas holds out new possibilities and prospects both for linking archaeology more securely to the other social sciences and for making unique contributions to the nature of social theory.

Pueblo Settlement, Architecture, and Social Change in the Pueblo Revolt Era, A.D. 1680 to 1696

Abstract In A.D. 1680, the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest united in a revolt that drove Spanish colonists out of Pueblo lands for more than a decade. Dramatic changes in the architecture, spatial organization, and settlement patterns of Pueblo villages occurred during this era as Pueblo leaders sought to revive traditional beliefs and practices. Semiotic and space syntax analyses of 10 Pueblo Revolt-era (1680–1696) villages reveal evidence for an ideology of cultural revitalization, as well as changing patterns of leadership and social interaction. Villages built early in this period exhibit planned communal construction and evidence of strong centralized leadership that resulted in highly structured social interaction. In contrast, later villages are characterized by less centralized leadership and a dispersed layout that facilitated the informal interactions necessary for communal integration in a time of increased migration. The social changes reflected in and shaped by Revolt-era architecture were crucial in the formation of modern Pueblo culture, influencing village alliances and spatial organization down to the present day.

What the New Archaeology Has Accomplished [and Comments and Reply]

The New Archaeology has focussed attention on the fact that archaeology is grounded in common sense and the principles of such basic sciences as geology and biology. Heuristic use of the hypothetico-deductive covering-law model has made all archaeologists recognize the need for explicit statements of how interpretations are derived from data. Archaeologists are not philosophers; they need not be concerned with metaphysical questions about reality. In particular, skepticism strengthens confirmation techniques-it does not jeopardize our knowledge of the past.

Settlement Succession on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico

ABSTRACTPrevious explanations of puebloan settlement pattern change in the northern Rio Grande have largely been atheoretical and unparticularistic. In contrast, this study uses Hudsons theory of rural settlement to explain settlement change on the Pajarito Plateau, New Mexico, from A.D. 1150 to 1550. Quadrat and nearest-neighbor analyses are used to describe settlement distribution, and basic descriptive statistics are used to characterize changes in site size over time. The results of the analyses suggest that despite certain theoretical limitations and methodological problems, Hudsons model provides an important starting point for the explanation of settlement succession in the study area.

The Archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt and the Formation of the Modern Pueblo World

Abstract The Pueblo Revolt and its aftermath (A.D. 1680–1696) was a crucial period in the history of the American Southwest. Previous studies of this era have focused primarily on the causes of the revolt, often casting it as an isolated and anomalous event. This article takes a different approach, investigating the effects of the revolt era on Pueblo cultures and communities in the years, decades, and centuries that followed the uprising of 1680. Recent archaeological research on ancestral Keres and Jemez villages in the northern Rio Grande reveals evidence for cultural revitalization and ethnogenesis in the wake of the revolt. The long-term implications of revolt-era diaspora and migration are also reviewed as well as the role of memory and oral traditions of this tumultuous period in the formation of modem Pueblo cultures and communities. Abstract La rebelión de los Pueblos γ sus consecuencias (1680–1696) fue un período crucial en la historia del sudoeste estadounidense. Los estudios anteriores de esta era se han centrado sobre todo en las causas de la rebelión, comúnmente exponiéndola como un acontecimiento aislado y anómalo. Este artículo toma un acercamiento diferente, investigando los efectos de la era de la rebelión en las culturas y comunidades Pueblos en los años, las décadas, y los siglos que siguieron la insurrección de 1680. La investigación arqueológica reciente sobre las aldeas ancestrales de Keres y de Jemez en el septentrional del Río Grande revela evidencia para la revitalización cultural y de etnogenésis en la traza de la rebelión. Las implicaciones de largo plazo de diáspora y de migración en la era de rebelión también son nuevamente analizadas, así como el rol que tuvo la memoria y las tradiciones orales de este período tumultuoso en la formación de las culturas y las comunidades modernas Pueblo.

Theory in Archaeology

Archaeological theory today is a vibrant tapestry of competing approaches and agendas which mutually constrain and enable one another. Current areas of research include functionalism, behavioralism, adaptationalism, selectionism, structuralism, poststructuralism, interpretivism, Marxism, neo-Marxism, phenomenology, structuration theory, theories of practice, cognitive archaeology, and the archaeology of gender. Some of these approaches have been imported wholesale from the humanities and social and natural sciences, while others represent novel reformulations, or extensions of existing theories. Of growing concern to many archaeologists is the degree to which specific social contexts shape the practice of archaeology. These issues are particularly well illustrated in the cases of nationalist, feminist, and postcolonial archaeologies.

Envisioning Utopia: Transcendentalist and Fourierist Landscapes at Brook Farm, West Roxbury, Massachusetts

Brook Farm, Massachusetts, is perhaps the most famous of the 19th-century utopian communities in America. When it was founded in 1841, its guiding vision was provided by the distinctive New England philosophy known as Transcendentalism. Yet, only three years later, in 1844, it publicly embraced Fourierism and became known as the Brook Farm Phalanx. Archaeological work is providing new information on how these ideologies were inscribed in the landscape, showing that the architectural features built during the Transcendentalist period helped create certain habits of thought and action that actively resisted the complete transition from Transcendentalism to Fourierism.

A prospective study on the psychological effects of therapeutic abortion

Abstract This study was conducted to assess the effect of therapeutic abortion on the emotional state of the patient. Prior to abortion, 57 women were interviewed and given several psychometric tests. Patients were unmarried, ranged in age from 12 to 36 years, and were predominantly black, protestant, of lower socioeconomic class, and multipara. Mean pre-abortion scores on the tests placed patients about midway between normal and neurotic patients in their emotional distress. Test scores obtained from 43 patients 4 weeks following abortion revealed statistically significant reduction in distress in most outcome measures. A total of 60% of these patients stated that they felt “relieved” and “better” at this time. We conclude that this patient group did not experience psychological ill effects from abortion. Until unwanted pregnancies can be reduced to their lowest level by more effective contraceptive counseling, therapeutic abortion remains a humane and valuable treatment for unwanted pregnancy.

Ceramics and Ideology: Salado Polychrome Pottery@@@Sourcing Prehistoric Ceramics at Chodistaas Pueblo, Arizona: The Circulation of People and Pots in the Grasshopper Region

For decades archaeologists have used pottery to reconstruct the lifeways of ancient populations. It has become increasingly evident, however, that to make inferences about prehistoric economic, social, and political activities through the patterning of ceramic variation, it is necessary to determine the location where the vessels were made. Through detailed analysis of manufacturing technology and design styles as well as the use of modern analytical techniques such as neutron activation analysis, Zedeno here demonstrates a broadly applicable methodology for identifying local and nonlocal ceramics.