25 research outputs found
Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology: Triangulation and Traceability
When radiocarbon dating techniques were applied to archaeological material in the 1950s they were hailed as a revolution. At last archaeologists could construct absolute chronologies anchored in temporal data backed by immutable laws of physics. This would make it possible to mobilize archaeological data across regions and time-periods on a global scale, rendering obsolete the local and relative chronologies on which archaeologists had long relied. As profound as the impact of 14C dating has been, it has had a long and tortuous history now described as proceeding through three revolutions, each of which addresses distinct challenges of capturing, processing and packaging radiogenic data for use in resolving chronological puzzles with which archaeologists has long wrestled. In practice, mobilizing radiogenic data for archaeological use is a hard-won achievement; it involves multiple transformations that, at each step of the way, depend upon a diverse array of technical expertise and background knowledge. I focus on strategies of triangulation and traceability that establish the integrity of these data and their relevance as anchors for evidential reasoning in archaeology
Neurosurgical intervention in the diagnosis and treatment of Balamuthia mandrillaris encephalitis
Between the Household and the World System: Social Collectivity and Community Agency in Overseas Chinese Archaeology
The Plurality of Parting Ways: Landscapes of Dependence and Independence and the Making of a Free African American Community in Massachusetts
Sacred Landscapes: Material Evidence of Ideological and Ethnic Choice in Long Island, New York, Gravestones, 1680–1800
Scottish historical archaeology: international agendas and local politics
Historical archaeology as practiced in Scotland is divergent from the
mainstream tradition of historical archaeology/post-medieval archaeology that
dominates North America and the English-speaking world. Cultural and historical
forces have shaped an historical archaeology with a deeper time depth, which
extends back into the Middle Ages. It also focuses on different subjects reflecting the
political concerns associated with Scottish national identity. Examples drawn from
Glasgow’s history are used to illustrate the distinctiveness of the Scottish tradition
and how it is evolving. I argue that one of its strengths of Scottish historical
archaeology is that it provides a corrective contrast to the subjects and approaches
which dominate historical archaeology in the English-speaking world