Regional Approaches To Mortuary Analysis

In both survey and excavation, the geomorphological analysis of land­ scapes has become increasingly important in the analysis of archaeological ma­ terials. Evolving survey methods have led to experiments with nonsite and distributional data recovery as well as the critical evaluation of the definition and role of archaeological sites in data recovery and analysis. Ethnoarchaeology-the use of ethnography to sharpen archaeological understanding of cultural and natural formation processes-has concentrated study on the formation processes underlying the content and structure of archae­ ological deposits.

We avoid all weak points of our debate and all the uncer­ tainties of our models. In this volume we analyze the anthropological and biological disagreements and the positions taken on the origins of modern humans, point out difficultieswith the inter­ pretations, and suggest that the concept of the human origin can be explained only when we first attempt to define Homo sapiens sapiens.

.It is undisputed, due to the extensive research of the Leakeys and their colleagues, that the family Hominidae originated in Africa, but the geographic origin of Homo sapiens sapiens is less concretely accepted. This volume is based on the Field Museum of Natural History Spring System­ atics Symposium held in Chicago on May 11, 1991. Two schools of thought existon this topic.

Evolving survey methods have led to experiments with nonsite and distributional data recovery as well as the critical evaluation of the definition and role of archaeological sites in data recovery and analysis. Ethnoarchaeology-the use of ethnography to sharpen archaeological understanding of cultural and natural formation processes-has concentrated study on the formation processes underlying the content and structure of archae­ ological deposits.

These actualistic studies consider patterns of deposition at the site level and the material results of human organization at the regional scale. The last 20 years have witnessed a proliferation of new approaches in archaeolog­ ical data recovery, analysis, and theory building that incorporate both new forms of information and new methods for investigating them.