Contemporaneity and Cross-dating in Archaeological Interpretation

Bibliographic Data

ID2563548
AuthorsThomas Carl Patterson
Year1963
Volume28
Issue3
Pages389-392
Publication date1963-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/278283
OpenAlexW2327607241
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited10

That cultural units are contemporary merely means that they are assigned to the same arbitrary division of time, or period. The degree of contemporaneity which is implied when units are assigned to the same period depends upon the duration of the units and the length of the period. Correlation is the alignment of sequences of units or the placement of units with respect to sequences. Synchronic correlation, or cross-dating, involves assigning units to the same period because they are contemporary. When correlations are based on contemporaneity, detailed interpretations of the archaeological evidence are possible. Precise cross-dating permits more detailed statements about cultural process and relationship. Precise cross-dating is possible when units are assigned to periods which have brief spans in time or when reference is made to a chronological framework which is not defined in terms of the archaeological materials. Cross-dating is most credible when both the sequences of units in the different localities and the patterning of each cultural unit are known and understood

Aesthetics · Archaeological record · Archaeology · Art · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Period (music · Sequence (biology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy

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