Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:07:26 -0700 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
We seem to be drifting from the original question. There are a lot of
rabbit trails this is heading down. I'd like to redirect this back to
the "how does the stuff (material culture) tell us about ethnicity?" I
think we're getting too lost in modern ethnic identities and the outward
symbols we use to categorize each other. Let's look at stuff! Are we
not archaeologists?
It's not just the stuff. It's how the stuff is used and thought of.
For example, my father served in a unit during the Second Great War (WWII)
which had "headhunters" attached to it. One Christmas (let's leave aside
the bridging of these two cultures with that concept), my father presented
an army sheet to his favorite ally. The fellow beamed his approval of
the gift and promptly wrapped it around himself as clothing. Clearly these
two people were coming from vastly different reference points as regards
the application of this one artifact. (By the way I'm sure my father
did things with material culture which were equally as amusing to the "headhunte
rs.")
People think about things, such as technological possiblities, differently.
To some the dead moose is meat , a trophy, and fur. To others it is meat,
fur, thread, building materials, grease for the hair, and a sled! It's
the same moose but whether we view it as merely food or food and a variety
of technologies. Such differences may have a lot to do with this ethnicity
thing we're struggling with. If we are talking about "archaeological cultures",
as they most certainly do not translate well into ethnological cultures,
then a big part of the picture has to become not just the laundry list
of material culture but how the components interact and are used. I'm
going to cut this short before I start using terms like divergence and
convergence and quoting Bordes and Binford. No sense in repeating fights
from over 20 years ago.
It's not much help with the Iroquois question but then the Iroquois are
not an "archaeological culture" and that might be the rub. Ask an Iroquois...
the answer might surprise you.
Walk in Beauty. Terry
|
|
|