Sensationalizing The Archaeological Record: How Modern Cultural Perspectives And Professional Competition Influence Evaluations Of Material Culture

Archaeology is the study of the human past, using evidence of material culture left behind. This thesis examines how archaeologists interpret their evidence with reference to ethnographic and experimental analogy and their own experiences, and how those interpretations may be biased, failing to consider alternative hypotheses. Being human, archaeologists are incapable of complete objectivity. Furthermore, lacking time travel, they must rely on comparisons between the products of human activities observed in the present with those resulting from human activities undertaken in the past. Frequently, when making these comparisons, archaeologists subconsciously or consciously "choose" to argue for or assume one explanation of the evidence while ignoring others. This choice is often influenced by the desire to advance one's career or academic status, or by adhering the current vogue theoretical perspective of the discipline. In this thesis, several case studies involving evaluation of color, material compositions and histories, contexts, and misidentifications are presented to illustrate potentially biased interpretation of archaeological evidence.