Weiskotten and others on this list probably live in artifact contexts that
are quite a bit earlier than our calendar date. The mean date of our
surroundings reflects something, but it isn't the current time.
 
We need to consider life cycle when we try to establish a date range for a
site. Early in adult life, we are consumers. Many of our durable goods are
acquired within a short time. At the end of our lives, we do not consume
durable goods.
 
Aside from my computer and the computer table, the furniture in this room
consists of pieces that are roughly 90, 60, 30, 25, 25 and 20 years old.
They are two desks, two secretarial chairs, an old 78 RPM record cabinet,
and a sofa. The computer desk is four years old, and the computer
components range in age from 1990 to 1998.
 
Judging from this evidence, the room can with confidence be
"archaeologically" dated to 1998 or later, because the newest artifact
dates the deposit.
 
The mean or median dates for the major furnishings will be much earlier, as
at Dan Weiskotten's apartment
 
If you look at the dates of the major furnishings, it will be obvious that
the denizen or creator of the site is a person of "mature" years. The
durable goods obviously were assembled (momentarily discounting the
heirloom factor and Goodwill Industries as a source) many years ago.
 
When we do a site inventory, we might not find the newest artifacts on the
site, but we will find a cluster of artifacts that date to a rather brief
period, which corresponds to the period when the site's occupants were
acquiring the durable goods that they would use for most of their lives.
 
I'm currently testing this proposition in a study of the type faces in a
job printer's shop. I have found that most of the type faces in the shop
were introduced when the shop's owner was a young man. After he was 30
years old, his only new type faces were acquired to meet a customer's
requirements.
 
There is also evidence that automotive enthusiasts tend to collect (or
merely to lust after) the cars that were popular when they first got their
licenses. This helps to explain why the 57 Chevy Bel Air is so popular
among guys with grey crewcuts. Come to think of it, maybe it helps explain
why sexagenarian archaeologists buy ancient "series" Land Rovers.
 
When life cycle is introduced into the dating calculations, "anomalous"
early dates make sense.
 
 
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Ned Heite, Camden, DE  http://home.dmv.com/~eheite/index.html