Abstract
It has been observed several times that there is no clear definition of what ethnoarchaeology actually is. However, it could be said this need to define ethnoarchaeology on a daily basis adds to the richness of this discipline, which constantly evaluates its connection to other scientific domains.
It is undeniable that ethnoarchaeology has broken away from archaeology, enriching itself with new and wider perspectives. The analysis of formative processes of the archaeological record is no longer the fulcrum of ethnoarchaeological research, even if it is still of primary importance. Nowadays ethnoarchaeology is open to different themes that are still connected to each other, just like the mechanisms regulating relationships among individuals and their adapting to different lands and societies. Consequently, field research has become more varied and is no longer only connected to the field methods of archaeology.
The comparison of archeological data with information from local informants is now a key aspect of research because it allows for the understanding of complex social and economic problems. Nowadays ethnoarchaeology can be considered a precious strategy of research in many different situations or cultural realities.
For example, ethnoarchaeological research is clearly important in the study of nomadism and can give interpretative criteria for the development of archaeological pastoralism in the steppe regions. In fact, the possibility of studying the camps while they are in use or once they have been abandoned means that it is also possible to study the complexity of the socio-economic problems of pastoralism.
Nevertheless, it is clear that ethnoarchaeological research is not only the use of ethnographic comparisons but that it is a field of research that comprehends the use of analogy. Discussions about ethnoarchaeology are also present in the Italian context of research.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, Margherita Mussi, at the XLVI scientific conference of the Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory “150 anni di Preistoria e Protostoria in Italia” (23–26 Novembre 2011, Roma), stressed the position that Pigorini held against the possibility of paleolithic art in many Italian prehistoric sites.
- 2.
The 1970s and 1980s in Italy are called the“lead years”, using the title of the movie by Margarethe Von Trotta “Die Zeit Bleierne” (1981), in which the director described the contemporary and analogous situation in West Germany.
- 3.
Particularly he re-discusses the organization of material production and he is interested in bringing a conceptual framework that “might allow for future correlation with locational studies of settlement hierarchy” (Tosi, 1984:22).
- 4.
This was mainly due to the skepticism of the academic establishment as noted above.
- 5.
The International Ethnoarchaeological Conference “The Intangible Elements of the Culture in the Ethnoarchaeologica Research” was held in Rome on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of November 2012.
- 6.
At the 1st Conference (Roma 1998) there were presentations by 13 pre-protohistorians, 1 Orientalist, 1 Islamist, 1 medievalist, 1 ethnologist and 1 historian. At the 2nd Conference (Mondaino 2001): there were presentations by 26 pre-protohistorians; 1 medievalist, 2 ethnologists, 4 classicists; 2 Americanists; and 1 historian. At the 3rd Conference (Mondaino 2004); there were presentations by 22 pre-protohistorians; 1 ethnologist; 3 classicists; and 1 Americanist. At the 4th Conference “Ethnoarchaeology and formational processes” (Roma 2006): there were presentations by 32 pre-protohistorians; 5 classicists; 2 medievalists; 1 Americanist, and 1 historian. At the 5th Conference “Ethnoarchaeology: current research and field methods” (Roma 2010): there were 44 presentations 18 by foreigners and 24 by Italians of whom there were 34 pre-protohistorians, 1 Americanist, 2 classicists, and 1 historian.
- 7.
For example, the research by Peroni’s disciples, mentioned above, such as C. Giardino, F. di Gennaro and C. Moffa.
- 8.
As Vidale, De Guio and Cazzella, mentioned above, have demonstrated.
- 9.
The knowledge of charcoal production in the various ages is important in order to understand the dynamics which have regulated a large part of human cultures since the beginning of the metal age until the industrial revolution and, in some cases, even after.
- 10.
Historically, this is because of the silence of any literary sources, as charcoal makers made up a sector of the population who were considered to be on the fringe of society. Consequently, there is no comprehensive data about the processes of manufacture, nor is there such data on the protagonists involved in the production.
- 11.
In the 1990s an ethnoarchaeological study took place to research the last Italian charcoal makers, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. The research was conducted among some communities and documented their manufacturing activities and lifestyle, before their nomadic life was abandoned in favor of a sedentary way of life. Currently, few charcoal makers are still active in Italy and these few are mainly sedentary; although the traditional process of making charcoal continues, they have completely subverted all the dynamics that characterized their nomadic existence: their nomadic life conditioned by the seasons, temporary housing, traditional means of transport, sporadic relationships with the towns and relative cultural isolation.
- 12.
Consequently, parameters were provided that could be used to understand the charcoal production in different periods, as well as useful stratigraphic comparisons for the excavation of ancient charcoal pits and piles.
- 13.
Although there is undoubtedly a historical change taking place.
- 14.
In 2002 the Italian Association of Ethnoarchaeology—Onlus, with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in collaboration with the National University of Ulaanbaatar, began an ethnoarchaeological study concerning nomadic camps in different regions of Mongolia, in order to verify differences and repetitions regarding the socio-cultural and/or environmental aspects of the camps. The project was directed by Francesca Lugli. The architect Graziano Capitini is responsible for the graphic documentation and photography.
- 15.
On the basis of data derived from the scientific literature, and according to ethnoarchaeological data, nomads normally move between 3 and 4 times a year and sometimes as many as 32–35 times, depending on the region and the climate. The distance between the camps ranges from approximately 4/6 km up to 150 km, in the case of drought or other environmental problems.
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Lugli, F. (2013). Ethnoarchaeology in Italy. In: Marciniak, A., Yalman, N. (eds) Contesting Ethnoarchaeologies. One World Archaeology, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9117-0_3
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