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130
By
K. Paddayya
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ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHAEOLOGY
ECOLOGICAL 131
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
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: 133
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
: 137
1965). Fitzhugh's (1972) work on the show how the various components are
Labrador coast is a well-knownexample of interrelated.With the help of a diagram
archaeologicalinvestigations
makingexplicit showingmulti-directional arrows- thisis in
use of the ecosystemperspective. no way inferiorto the present-dayflow
diagramsof boxes and arrows,he graphically
depictedthereciprocalrelationships existing
Coming to the use of systemstheory,we 'between social organization, shelter and
must note that the idea of gaining
clothing, technology, trade, subsistence,
knowledge of the systems or wholes as
language and writing,law, art, science,
importantas thatof thecomponentpartsfor
magic and religion,*and between these and
understandingthe worldaround*us is much thebiophysicalenvironment (Clark 1953:F/g.
earlier than the General Systems theory
6; 1965: Fig. 25).
(Salmon 1978:175). The notion that the
elements forminga sociocultural system
exhibita networkof relationshipsis not new In the lightof theseconsiderationsButzer
to social sciences. A fine example is does not appear to be sayinganythingnew
provided by White's (1964) detailed study when he asks archaeologists to .adopt
of therole played bytechnologicalimprove- ecological and systemstheoryperspectives
mentsin initiatinga series of social changes in their work. It is rather surprisingthat
during the Middle Ages. Without talking even the revised version of his otherwise
recourse to the systems concepts, he famousbook Environment and Archaeology,
has shown how sudden changes in the although it expresses anxiety at the
methods of warfare during the eighth continued preoccupation of environmental
centuryled to the rise of feudal chiefs,how archaeology withdating methods,geomor-
a series of inventionsbetween the sixthand phological theoryand regionalstratigraphy,
tenthcenturiesbroughtradical changés in and displays a welcome switch-overto the
rurallife,ultimatelyprovidingthe basis for ecological perspectivein lieu of his earlier
urbanization,and, finally,how the appli- concern with the reconstructionof 'Plei-
cation of natural power and labour-saving stocene geography' (Butzer 1971: vii),
devices to industrialproduction from the contains no reference to the ecosystem
eleventh centuryonwards laid the founda- concept and the works of Eugene Odum,
tionsforcapitalism. one of its staunch advocates. Quite apart
fromthis omission,we cannot also ignore
the debate that has befcnset in motion in
In archaeology, too, the notion of
betweencultural anthropologyand archaeology in the wake
systemicinterrelationships of the adoption of ecological and systems
components was already recognized by
theoryperspectives.The principalcriticisms
manyworkers.In particular,attentionmust and limitationsone has to contend withare
be drawn to the work of Grahame Clark.
Influenced as he was by the work of brieflyreferredto below.
Radcliffe-Brown,.Malinowski and other
social anthropologists on the primitive As against the earlier work in which
peoples, Clark emphasized that the past culture and environmentwere treated as
cultures must be viewed as integrated "grossand staticcategories,to be typedand
wholes; it is the task of the archaeologistto correlated"(Ellen 1978a: 2%), theecosystem
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ECOLOGICAL ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
ARCHAEOLOGY : 139
suitable for studying practices such as and impel men to action" (Cohen 1974:23).
patternsofcooperation,skills,organizational Magic, rituals,art,ceremonialgiftexchange,
techniquesand knowledge. values, beliefs,joking relationships,taking
on oath, and eating and drinkingtogether
It is also being felt that group selection are some of these symboliccreations. One
and adaptation pose both theoreticaland has to be a fanaticto say thatnone of these
practical difficultiesto the investigator can be identified in the archaeological
(Ellen 19780:124; 1979: 13). It is ratherthe record. If they cannot be understood in
individuals who adápt to environmental termsof the basic biological needs of man,
changes, and this may be accomplished how else could one account for them?
throughthe manipulationof social relations Inevitably, we enter here the realm of
(cooperation, exploitationor conflict)."So philosophyof mind.3
we can only speak of the adaptation of
groups in the sense that it is either the In the psychoanalyticaltraditiondistinct
cumulativeadaptation of individualsor the meanings are given to some of these
manipulative adaptation of powerful symbols. Religion, for example, is an
individualsor collectivitieswithina group" elaborate wish-fulfillment; myth, custom
(Ellen 19786: 124). and fairytale formpart of the repertoireof
human imagination. Ritual acts are not
Fifthly,it has also been recognized that instrumentalacts directed towards any
viewingsocial systemsas 'cyberneticsavages' purpose; they are motivated primarilya
has resultedin a new kindof environmental tergo and fulfilan inner need. Freud has
determinism.Man is a symbol-makingno thus given us the insight that "human
less than a tool-makinganimal; indeed, behaviour is not only a food:getting
Cassirer (1951:26) wants the definitionof strategy,but is also a language; that every
man as an animal rationale to be replaced move is at the same timea gesture"(Langer
by the characterizationanimal symbolicus. 1964: 53). (Structuralist
interpretationsseem
While tool-makingmay be explained in to associate a certaindegree of arbitrariness
terms of food-gettingbehaviour, symbols with symbols.) Langer (1964: 47-51) holds
call for an entirelydifférentexplanatory that symbols representa need unique to
framework(fora cautionarytale describing man, viz., the expressionof ideas through
how the complex ideological - political, the symbolictransformation of experience.
- Animals do have mentaLfunctions,but it is
religious,social, historicaland economic
factors governingthe constructionof the only man who has a mind and can be
19th centurychurches of the New Haven intellectual. The satisfaction of this
Green would have been obscured by the intellectualneed is as importantas that of
employment of ecosystem and systems thebiological urgeslikeeating,drinkingand
theoryapproaches, see Coe 1978). Symbols sleeping.
allow man to develop a characteristic
attitudetowards objects in absentia. They It i$ indeed gratifyingto see that even
are 'objects, acts, relationshipsor linguistic 'tough-mindeď ecological anthropologists
formationsthat stand ambiguously for a like Rappaport, while still holding that
multiplicityof meanings,evoke emotions cyberneticand information principleschara-
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140 K. PADDAYYA
Coming to the explanation of sociocul- Starting from the premise that "social
turalchange,it is beingpointedout thatsys- institutionalpropertiesare imprintedupon
tems theoryplaces undue emphasison ho- theproduction-distributioncycle,"Friedman
meostaticprocessesand ipsofacto attributes and Rowlands(1977) formulatean epigenetic
all changes to violent disturbancesin the model of the evolution of civilization in
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
: 14Í
the Old and New Worlds. Tilley (1981) employed for explainingthe culturalvaria-
adopts what he calls structural-Marxist bilityof the South Pacific Islands. Limited
approach for explaining the growth of similaritytheory has been found to be
farming as also the appearance of megalithic suitable forprobingculturaldiversification
tombs in Europe. Lee (1979: Chapter 15) (fordetails,see Hardesty1980a/
believes that the Marxian perspective is
helpfulforunderstanding the functioning of
he concludes that the ideal In recentyears several ecological models
!Kung society;
of sharing,which is an importanttrait of (whichwere in turnborrowedfrombiology,
their way of life, is a characteristic geographyand economics) have been intro-
duced for integratingdata and formulating
outgrowth of the mode of production
associated withforaging. hypotheses about various aspects of past
societies 7 environment,subsistence,settle-
ment and demographic organization
We may round offour discussionof the (Bettinger 1980). Also of interestare the
models proposed of humanbehaviourin the
ecological and systemtheoryperspectives
face of environmental constraints,e.g.,
by drawingreferenceto the fivethemesof
efficiency and competionmodels in thecase
space, time, complexity, stability and
interaction constituting the essence of of resource scarcity, and resilience and
Butzeťs contextualarchaeology. Although claihping models developed in respect of
these themes form part of the core of unpredictabilityof resources (Hardesty
19806).
archaeologically oriented ecological work
and specifythedirectionsfortheacquisition
of ecological data, they are not of much Referencemustalso be made to Jochim's
help at the levels of interpretationand (1979) detailed considerationof the various
explanation.One would certainlyhave liked aspects of the application of ecological
to see even a briefreview of the general research in archaeology; it is a much more
ecological principlesand models(fora good helpfuldiscussionthanButzeťs all-too-short
discussion of the various aspects of account of the fivethemesof his contextual
theoreticalecology,see Mcintosh 1980). To archaeology. Of special interest are the
be sure, these cannot be blindlyused in dimensions or aspects of past human
archaeologyand may need drasticreformu- ecosystems selected for ecological investi-
lation. In return, archaeology has thè gation.These are a) behaviouralsubsystems
potentialof extendingthe temporalrangeof like subsistence, technology, settlement,
theirapplication. demography, trade, etc., b) geographic
'extent(site, small region or large area), c)
transactionmedia or currency(energy,and
As instances of the use of ecological matter and information), d) level of
principleswe may note thatthe principleof organizai complexity(regional groups and
ecological succession has been employed whole cultural systems), e) systemic
for explainingthe originof state. Stability- processes (homeostasisand change), and f)
timehypothesishas been made use of as the problems, hazards, stresses or demands
organizingprincipleof habitationin desert posed by both environmentaland non-
zones. Biogeographicalprincipleshave been environmental factors. Further, Jochim
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142 K. PADDAYYA
considers the various methods and pro- cultural anthropology in North America
cedures for measuring the variables of whichhas broughthome the awarenessthat
humanecosystemsand èstablishingrelation- its ultimate concern is with the human
ships between them,and also discusses how culturalsystems.5 It is thereforenota matter
the human behavioural subsystems are of accident thatthe New Archaeologywith
reassembledto arriveat an understanding of its emphasison the studyof cultureprocess
man-environment interactions. took shape in the latter region; indeed
'archaeology « as anthropology' paradigm
IV servedas therallying-point of thismovement
(Binford 1962). The general unwillingness
Attentionnow needs to be 'focussed on of archaeologistsin the New World to sever
Butzeťs commentson the 'archaeology as their close association with sociocultural
anthropology' paradigm. As has been anthropology(e.g., Chang 1978: 24-5), the
pointed out earlier,he wants this model to appearance of new journals like theJournal
be replaced by his contextual archaeology of AnthropologicalArchaeology, and the
aimed at the study of the past human explicit recognition being accorded now
ecosystems. Butzer thus inadvertently even in regions outside the New World to
convertshis originalpurpose of identifying the contributionanthropologycan make to
the problems facing environmentalarcha- the archaeologist'sinterpretation of his raw
eology and suggestingmeasures to improve material(Orme 1981)6and the áctual use of
it into one of prescribing the goals of anthfopologicalapproaches forstudyingthe
archaeology; indeed he mistakesthe means archaeological cultures {e.g., Milisauskas
for ends. Contextual archaeology is 1978) are sure signsthattheanthropological
essentiallya strategy,albeit a powerfulone, paradigmhas come to stay.This is however
foracquiring and studyingecological data, not to deny the, differences that exist
whereas the paradigm of 'archaeology as between archaeology and sociocultural
anthropology'refersto the ultimategoals of anthropologyin respect of both basic data
archaeological research. and methods(Eggert 1976); it is in termsof
general theoryand goals of studythat the
two disciplinesare close to each other.
While one can readilyagree withButzer
(1975 : 110) regardingthé difficulties
which
the institutionalaffiliationof archaeology
withanthropologymayhave created forthe Whatever may be the practical or
environmentalarchaeologist in respect of organizational considerationswhich influ-
fund-gettingand the not-so-favourable ence us to remindourselves now and then
attitude of fellow anthropologiststowards that archaeology is a social science in its
Undertakingresearchon topics like alluvial own right,it is difficultto dispute Tylor's
history,one cannot ignorethe fundamental (1948:43) contentionthat"Archaeologyper
insights supplied by the anthropological se is no more than a method and a set of
paradigm. In mofctparts of the Old World specialized techniquesfor the gatheringof
archaeology has essentially been and culturalinformation.The archaeologist,as
continuesto be a matterof findingand des- archaeologist, is really nothing but a
cribing objects; it is its association with technician. . ." As concernsgoals, archaeo-
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
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ECOLOGICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
: 145
Likewise;atplace or a regionis 'close' or 'far' ciplinarybridges in the field" and that the
to a personor a groupnot in termsof metric ecosystem perspective employing proce-
distance but by virtueof the degree of its dures like archaeozoology,geoarchaeology
importanceas a centreof meaning. and archaeobotanyhas opened up freshand
excitingvistasin archaeological research,it
Participant observation, intuition and also seems clear that archaeology can
Verstehen are some of the procedures remain indifferentto its new intellectual
suggestedforreachingthehumandimension ecology only at the risk of furnishing
behind the spatial perspective. Although distorted knowledge about man and his
humanisticgeographyhas invitedcriticism past.
in regard to the extentto which presuppo-
sitionlessknowledgeof space is describable To be sure, what has been said above is
(for the charge of phenomenological not to be construedas a call fortakingup
obscurantism,in anthropology,see Harris positions in respect of long-debatedissues
1979: Chapter 11), its importanceas a form like the matter-minddichotomy and the
of criticism is widely recognized. "As man-versus-nature controversy.Rather it is
criticism it provides a potentially useful just beingsuggestedthathumanlifeconsists
functionin reaffirming the importance of of a range of activitiesother than efficient
the study of meaning and value in human feedingand breedingwhichserveto set man
geography, making geographers aware of apart fromotherorganisms;theyconstitute
their, often extreme interpretations of what Mumford (1944:8) calls idolum or
science, and makingscientistsaware of the symbolic milieu and complement man's
social and cultural factors involved in so- naturalenvironment. A meaningfulstudyof
called objective research" (Entrikin 1976: these activitiescan be done onlyin termsof
632). frameworks adopted from other socio-
cultural sciences. Just as it is heavily
Conceptual changes of the kind noted dependenton theproceduresand techniques
above in respect of geography aré also of natural sciences for the recovery and
manifest in varying degrees in other analysisof artefactualand ecofactual data,
disciplines connected with the human archaeology has much to gain from the
phenomenon - psychology,anthropology, interpretiveapproaches of the sciences of
economics, sociology, history,and even man.
literatureand finearts.Owing to influences
fromphilosophical trendslike phenomeno- One final consideration. While the
logy,existentialism,hermeneuticsand their ecological, quantitativeand other appro-
more recent reformulations, these subjects aches developed in recent decades have
are undergoinga process of humanization broughtsome disciplineto the"undisciplined
after flirtingwith trends of positivistic empiricaldiscipline"that archaeologyis, it
persuasion for periods of varyingduration. is regrettable that we are still shy of
Archaeology,as a pursuitof the past, is no examiningthe largersocial relevanceof our
less concerned with the human dimension pursuit. From the work of contemporary
than any of these disciplines. While it is schools of social thoughtlike the Frankfurt
impossible to dispute that environmental School of Critical Theory, it is clear that
archaeology is "one of the oldest interdis- knowledge cannot be dissociated fromthe
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146 K. PADDAYYA
NOTES
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:
ANDTHE ECOLOGYOF ARCHAEOLOGY
ECOLOGICALARCHAEOLOGY 147
theEarlyHistory
ofMankind (1865)andLubbock's wouldhavebeenmade,eitherbyTylorandLubbock
PrehistoricTimes (1865). Subsequently, Tylor's themselvesor bytheirpublic.Therewas butone
workhasbeentakenas partofthefoundations of subjectintheseyears,
maninhisprecivilised
state,
anthropology,whereasLubbock,betterknown ànd archaeologyand anthropology
coverged to a
perhapsas LordAvebury, is seenas a pioneerof greaterdegreethaneverbeforeor since"(Orme
Withhindsight,
archaeology. thisis fairassessment, 1981: 14-15).
butduringthe1860sit.isdoubtful
thatthedistinction
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