Papers by Francis Piercemcmanamon
This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachuset... more This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, area considers variation over time as new discoveries led to fuller explanations of the archaeological record in this area. In this case, knowledge about the ancient past of the region is cumulative, but colored by changes in the analytical perspective of researchers during the second half of the twentieth century. Archaeological data in this area has been brought to the surface, literally. through both purposeful archaeological investigations and inadvertent discoveries of archaeological material. The means of data discovery also has affected cultural interpretations during this period. The interpretive variation over lime is matched by change in technical means of how it!formation about the archaeological record is produced, managed, and distributed. The scale of the data. in this case from test unit, to site area, to the Nauset Marsh locality in Eastham, Massachusetts, to southern New England, to all of northeastern North America, affects cultural interpretations, as does the analytical perspective of the investigator.
Northeast Anthropology, 2015
This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachuset... more This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, area considers variation over time as new discoveries led to fuller explanations of the archaeological record in this area. In this case, knowledge about the ancient past of the region is cumulative, but colored by changes in the analytical perspective of researchers during the second half of the twentieth century. Archaeological data in this area has been brought to the surface, literally. through both purposeful archaeological investigations and inadvertent discoveries of archaeological material. The means of data discovery also has affected cultural interpretations during this period. The interpretive variation over lime is matched by change in technical means of how it!formation about the archaeological record is produced, managed, and distributed. The scale of the data. in this case from test unit, to site area, to the Nauset Marsh locality in Eastham, Massachusetts, to southern...
Northeast Anthropology, 2015
This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachuset... more This review of data from and information about the archaeology of the outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, area considers variation over time as new discoveries led to fuller explanations of the archaeological record in this area. In this case, knowledge about the ancient past of the region is cumulative, but colored by changes in the analytical perspective of researchers during the second half of the twentieth century. Archaeological data in this area has been brought to the surface, literally. through both purposeful archaeological investigations and inadvertent discoveries of archaeological material. The means of data discovery also has affected cultural interpretations during this period. The interpretive variation over lime is matched by change in technical means of how it!formation about the archaeological record is produced, managed, and distributed. The scale of the data. in this case from test unit, to site area, to the Nauset Marsh locality in Eastham, Massachusetts, to southern New England, to all of northeastern North America, affects cultural interpretations, as does the analytical perspective of the investigator.
Al Dekin was fascinated by the effect of geographic or spatial scale of archaeological analysis o... more Al Dekin was fascinated by the effect of geographic or spatial scale of archaeological analysis on the level of interpretation about human behavior and culture. In his own work in Arctic archaeology, he (e.g., Dekin 1976a) examined the spatial distribution of artifacts and the composition of artifact assemblages at the intrasite scale as a means of interpreting different human activities and behavior. He also studied the distribution of sites and variation of artifact morphology over larger spatial scales in his Arctic work (e.g., Dekin 1976b). In his general comments on the archaeological remains and investigation of the "frozen family" of the Utqiagvik site in Barrow (Dekin 1984:150-151), Al commented on interpretation at the spatial scale of an ancient house and how one needed to be cautious about assumptions that the archaeological remains in the adjacent midden were contemporaneous with and generated by the family whose remains were discovered in the catastrophically collapsed dwelling.
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Papers by Francis Piercemcmanamon