Experimental archaeology and the earliest seagoing

The Limitations of Inference

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3919660
AutoresJohn F Cherry (Brown University, autor correspondente), Thomas P Leppard (0000-0002-4803-4061, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey)
Ano2015
Volume47
Fascículo5
Páginas740-755
Data de publicação2015-10-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.2015.1078739
OpenAlexW2219689633
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas15
Referências citadas36

Experimental voyaging, of the type made famous by the Kon-Tiki and the Hōkūleʻa, is often considered to provide a means of modelling the performance of ancient seacraft, a relevant variable if we are to understand patterning in prehistoric island colonization and maritime interaction. Recently, in order to bolster claims otherwise dependent on contentious data, some proponents who argue for maritime colonisation as an evolutionarily ancient behaviour have suggested that such experiments provide corroborating evidence for deliberate seagoing by archaic hominins. Here, we examine the epistemological foundation for these claims, and in particular what constitutes the basis for building good analogues in archaeological reasoning and the limitations of inferences drawn from them. We stress the importance of not conflating possibilities with probabilities, and caution against an unwarranted uniformitarianism in making assumptions regarding the cognitive, social, behavioural and technological contexts of archaic and modern humans

Archaeology · Colonisation · Colonization · Epistemology · Foundation (evidence · Inference · Philosophy of biology · Philosophy of science · Prehistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology