Theories and Movements
Cellular Theory of Prehistory
The cellular theory of prehistory was dreamed up by German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who believed that if you looked hard enough, you could find the archaeological roots of each particular ethnic group as a segregated, intact whole.
Cognitive Archaeology
Cognitive archaeology is a theoretical underpinning of archaeological research that is interested in the material expression of human cognitive concepts.
Cultural Ecology
Cultural Ecology is an anthropological theory put forward by Julian Steward, that considers adaptation to environment as the paramount driver in cultural change.
Cultural Evolution
The theory of cultural evolution was proposed by British archaeologist A.H.L. Fox Pitt-Rivers in the early 20th century.
Culture-People Hypothesis
The culture people hypothesis is the theory that specific material culture and characteristics (like pot decorations and projectile point types, etc.) can be associated with a particular cultural group.
Eastern Agricultural Complex
The Eastern Agricultural Complex refers to the whole range of plants that were selectively tended by Native Americans in eastern North American and the American midwest before corn and beans reached there
Economic Archaeology
A subdiscipline of archaeology or maybe just a byproduct, economic archaeology is the study of how people control their economic resources, most particularly but not entirely, their food supply.
Periphery Theory
The Periphery Theory (also known as the Marginal Area Theory) concerns the origins of the domestication of animals.
Human Behavioral Ecology
Archaeologists use the theoretical method of Human Behavioral Ecology to study specific human groups as they change over time (decades, centuries, millennia).
Post Modernism in Archaeology
Post-modernism is a philosophical movement that touches on almost all forms of science and culture.
New Archaeology
The 'new archaeology' movement of the mid-twentieth century changed the direction of the field, at least in the Americas.
Oasis Theory
The Oasis Theory is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture.
Post-Processual Archaeology
Post-Processual Archaeology is, more than anything else, a critique of processual archaeology.
Principle of Limited Possibilities
The principle of limited possibilities is a rebuttal argument against hyper-diffusionist theory.
Processual Archaeology
Processual Archaeology is the study of process, that is to say, investigations of the way humans do things, and the way things decay.
Propinquity Theory
The Propinquity or Oasis Theory is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture.
Urban Archaeology
The branch of archaeological science called urban archaeology is concerned with the study of cities.
Structuralism
Structuralism, which started out as a theory of language, ended up impacting most of the social and historical scieces including archaeology during the latter half of the twentieth century.
Urban Revolution
Archaeologists use the term Urban Revolution to refer to the suite of behaviors that seem to occur at the same time as people begin to move into cities.
Urbanism
Urbanism is the word used by archaeologists to describe the process that drove people to live in cities.
Social Evolutionism
The several theories known broadly as Social Evolutionism were born out of ideas created during the 18th century Enlightenment, and reworked in the mid-19th century.
Turnover Pulse Hypothesis
The Turnover Pulse Hypothesis was constructed by paleoanthropologist Elizabeth Vrba to explain the appearance of an extensive evolutionary shift world wide, that led to early hominin forms in Africa.
Turnover Pulse Hypothesis
The Turnover Pulse Hypothesis was constructed by paleoanthropologist Elizabeth Vrba to explain the appearance of an extensive evolutionary shift world wide, that led to early hominin forms in Africa.