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Often informed by anthropological material culture studies, but characterised by putting traditional archaeological methods and practices to new uses, research in this field generally aims to make an archaeological contribution to broader social scientific studies of the contemporary world, focusing especially upon contributing methods of studying material things (objects, landscapes ...
Archaeological theory refers to the various intellectual frameworks through which archaeologists interpret archaeological data. Archaeological theory functions as the application of philosophy of science to archaeology, and is occasionally referred to as philosophy of archaeology.
Post-processual archaeology, which is sometimes alternatively referred to as the interpretative archaeologies by its adherents, [1] [2] is a movement in archaeological theory that emphasizes the subjectivity of archaeological interpretations.
Processualism's development transformed archaeology, and is sometimes called the "New Archaeology." With few notable exceptions such as Boston University , universities in America classify archaeology as a sub-discipline of anthropology, while in Europe it is thought to be a subject more like historical studies.
Modern archaeology is the discipline of archaeology which contributes to excavations. [1] [clarification needed] Johann Joachim Winckelmann was one of the founders of scientific archaeology and first applied the categories of style on a large, systematic basis to the history of art. [2] He was "the prophet and founding hero of modern ...
He has written many critiques of contemporary archaeology and has advocated non-traditional approaches, as well as writing extensively on the role of archaeology in contemporary society. His approach is a melding of different theoretical approaches, which focuses on the broad issues of human prehistory and the past.
These range broadly from an empirical archaeology viewed as a science, to a relativistic post-modern concept of archaeology as an ideology that cannot verify its own concepts. Therefore, the search for a unifying explanatory theory is a major concern among philosophers of archaeology.
Archaeology is the study of human activity in the past, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts (also known as eco-facts) and cultural landscapes (the archaeological record).