Typological analysis is a classical archaeological method. Any excavation manual will contain a detailed classification of type; any publication will present catalogs organized accordingly; any museum will display objects in ways that highlight their similarities. Our first section, devoted to organizing knowledge, does just that.
In this section we are rather developing the theoretical aspects of typology, from an epistemic point of view. I follow an approach which takes inspiration from linguistics, as the very term “grammar” implies, as well as the terms “morphology” and “semiotics” which define the two main subcategories of typology.
The linguistic model is useful precisely as a model: it helps in defining the criteria that govern typological analysis. The reason for using a linguistci model is that it helps to define more sharply the method and the criteria we are using, but the model is extended to be more properly applicable to the archaeological data.
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