Archaeological Cables and Tacking: The Implications of Practice for Bernstein's ‘Options Beyond Objectivism and Relativism’

Wylie, Alison

doi:10.1177/004839318901900101

Cited by 155 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In situations of this kind, Wylie (1989) has suggested an approach that relies on many inferential strands that together implicate certain interpretations and also deny other interpretations. By "tacking" the (hopefully) narrowing gap between possible and impossible interpretations, we approach an interpretation of spatial structure via means other than identification.…”

Section: Archaeological Spatial Structure: Role and Middle-range Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These bodies of theory, however, are neither equally robust nor, in their application to archaeological situations, equally tractable. Therefore, multiple bodies of theory associated with multiple bodies of spatial data must be used in tandem (Wylie, 1989). For this reason, comparative spatial analysis will prove essential for taking information from structural studies beyond analogy and cautionary tales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Describing and comparing archaeological spatial structures

Wandsnider

1996

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Quantitative archaeological spatial analysis today is radically different from that introduced more than 20 years ago. Today spatial analysis is couched in more general formational terms that include earlier functional pursuits. Today spatial analysts (1) focus on individual formationally sensitive artifact or element attributes, rather than on types; (2) use distributional rather than partitive methods and techniques; (3) consider a suite of such attributes to construct the formational history of archaeological deposits; and, least commonly, (4) undertake comparative spatial analysis. An elaboration of the latter tactic is proposed here, that of characterizing spatial structure in terms of structural elements (or "grid cells") and relationships among those elements. This proposal is illustrated through the analysis of five well-known ethnoarchaeological sites with different formational histories. The illustration focuses on the formational process of site maintenance and relies on the relative frequencies of small and large artifacts to monitor the operation of that process. Structural descriptors describe the configuration of grid cells with different artifact size profiles in formationally meaningful terms. Importantly, these descriptors enable the rigorous comparison of spatial structure among and between ethnoarchaeological and archaeological deposits.

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Section: Archaeological Spatial Structure: Role and Middle-range Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Describing and comparing archaeological spatial structures

Wandsnider

1996

J Archaeol Method Theory

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show abstract

“…Following Wylie (1989), Chippindale and Taçon (1998:93) have termed such applications and cross-examinations of multifarious approaches towards the formulation of stronger and more reliable chronologies, 'cabling' (see David et al 2013b for an example).…”

Section: 'Direct' and Indirect Methods: Constructing Scientifically Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

The archaeology of western Arnhem Land’s rock art

David¹,

Taçon²,

Gunn³

et al. 2017

The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia

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“…Several of the individual papers as well as the organization of this issue adopt a comparative approach between the ethnographic present and points in the archaeological past, while others ask archaeological questions of ethnographic data. This temporal "tacking back and forth" (Stahl 2001;Wylie 1989) is critical for establishing the dynamic nature of craft and culinary practice instead of making assumptions of continuity. While archaeological resolution of day-to-day life will always remain more distorted than the present, the use of multiple lines of evidence allows for stronger arguments (Fogelin 2007;Johnson 2011;Stahl 1993;Wylie 1985).…”

Section: Theme 2: Comparative Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%