Toward the Identification of Formation Processes

TLDR

Research in experimental archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, geoarchaeology, and vertebrate taphonomy has expanded understanding of cultural and natural formation processes of archaeological sites, and prior knowledge helps archaeologists manage the many possible contributing processes. The paper aims to identify traces of artifacts and deposit characteristics that reveal specific formation processes. The authors categorize observational phenomena into simple and complex artifact properties and deposit properties, and propose hypothesis testing, multivariate analysis, and published data evaluation as analytical strategies. The study shows that identifying formation processes can become practical and routine, a prerequisite for behavioral inference in archaeological research.

Abstract

Research in experimental archaeology, ethnoarchaeology, geoarchaeology, and vertebrate taphonomy has appreciably increased our general understanding of the formation processes—cultural and natural—of archaeological sites. In synthesizing some of these recent advances, this paper focuses on the traces of artifacts and characteristics of deposits that can be used to identify the formation processes of specific deposits. These observational phenomena are grouped into three basic categories that structure the presentation: (1) simple properties of artifacts, (2) complex properties of artifacts, and (3) other properties of deposits. Also considered is the way in which prior knowledge can help the archaeologist to cope with the large number of processes and the nearly infinite combination of them that may have contributed to the specific deposits of interest. Several analytical strategies are proposed: (1) hypothesis testing, (2) multivariate analysis, and (3) use of published data to evaluate formation processes. This paper demonstrates that the identification of formation processes, which must precede behavioral inference and be accomplished by any research endeavor that uses evidence from the archaeological record, can become practical and routine.