| Cladistics and Archaeology Contributor(s): O'Brien, Michael J. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0874807751 ISBN-13: 9780874807752 Publisher: University of Utah Press OUR PRICE: $33.25 Product Type: Hardcover Published: August 2003 Annotation: Applying biological theory to archaeology CLADISTICS IS A METHOD used in biology and paleobiology to establish phylogeny: what produced what and in what order. It is a very specific method, developed in Germany in the 1950s and currently the primary phylogenetic method in the world. Cladistics has also been applied to such fields as historical linguistics and manuscript history. If things evolve in a nonrandom way, they may be appropriately studied using this method. In Cladistics and Archaeology, Michael O'Brien and Lee Lyman explore the application of cladistics to archaeology by considering artifacts as human phenotypic characters. Their fundamental premise is that particular kinds of characters (style, artifact type, tool) can be used to create historically meaningful nested taxa. Further, they argue that this approach offers a means of building connections and "life histories" of archaeological artifacts. In order to make a potentially difficult topic more readily comprehensible, the authors have organized the book as something of a primer. Cladistics and Archaelogy includes many figures to illustrate basic concepts, as well as a case study that shows a step-by-step application of cladistics to archaeology. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Archaeology - Social Science | Methodology |
| Dewey: 930.101 |
| LCCN: 2003008908 |
| Physical Information: 1.02" H x 6.32" W x 9.28" (1.39 lbs) 304 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Cladistics is a method used in biology and paleobiology to establish phylogeny: what produced what and in what order. It is a very specific method, developed in Germany in the 1950s and currently the primary phylogenetic method in the world. Cladistics has also been applied to such fields as historical linguistics and manuscript history. If things evolve in a nonrandom way, they may be appropriately studied using this method. In Cladistics and Archaeology, Michael O'Brien and Lee Lyman explore the application of cladistics to archaeology by considering artifacts as human phenotypic characters. Their fundamental premise is that particular kinds of characters (style, artifact type, tool) can be used to create historically meaningful nested taxa. Further, they argue that this approach offers a means of building connections and 'life histories' of archaeological artifacts. In order to make a potentially difficult topic more readily comprehensible, the authors have organized the book as something of a primer. Cladistics and Archaeology includes many figures to illustrate basic concepts, as well as a case study that shows a step-by-step application of cladistics to archaeology. |