A Grammar of the Archaeological Record

0. The Theory

3. The Theory (CAR)

Giorgio Buccellati – February 2016

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3.1: Overview

The theoretical underpinnings of the Grammar are given in a monograph that will be published in book form, under the title A Critique of Archaeological Reason (see also its companion website CAR). It deals, in a fully discursive and linear fashion, with broader theoretical issues, and is not, as such, incorporated in the Urkesh website. The scope of the monograph is illustrated by the Table of Contents, given here in a compact and a detailed format.

However, pertinent substantive issues are treated in a properly digital fashion in a variety of different website environments, to which a link is given here.

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3.2: Compact Table of Contents

Preface
    Chapter 1 - Introduction

PART ONE. Fundamentals
    Chapter 2 - Archaeology and Grammar
    Chapter 3 - Categorization
    Chapter 4 - The search for objectivity

PART TWO. Analysis
    Chapter 5 - Stratigraphic analysis
    Chapter 6 - Typological analysis
    Chapter 7 - Integrative analysis

PART THREE. The Reassembled Construct
    Chapter 8 - The invention of a site
    Chapter 9 - The physical record
    Chapter 10 - The referential record

PART FOUR. The Priviledge Venue
    Chapter 11 - Digital thought
    Chapter 12 - Digital text
    Chapter 13 - The archeological record

PART FIVE. The Wider Frame
    Chapter 14 - The relevance of structure
    Chapter 15 - The critical approach
    Chapter 16 - Hermeneutics
    Chapter 17 - Conclusion

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3.3: Detailed Table of Contents

Preface
    Chapter 1 - Introduction
        1.1   The themes
        1.2   The argument
        1.3   The companion website
        1.4   The public impact

PART ONE. Fundamentals
    Chapter 2 - Archaeology and Grammar
        2.1   The uniqueness of the discipline: archaeology as archaeology
        2.2   A "critical" definition of archaeology
        2.3   Primary definition: inner-referential trace analysis of material cultural remains
        2.4   Secondary definition: extra-referential analysis of material cultural remains
        2.5   Approaches to the two definitions
        2.6   Grammar
        2.7   The impact of grammar
        2.8   A theory of excavation
    Chapter 3 - Categorization
        3.1   Grammar and categorization
        3.2   Definition and definitions
        3.3   Synchrony and diachrony
        3.4   Structural aspects
        3.5   Procedures
        3.6   Minimal constituents, morphems, morphs, allomorphs
        3.7   Technique and method
    Chapter 4 - The search for objectivity
        4.1   Objectivity as calibration of perception
        4.2   The record: stratification and stratigraphy
        4.3   The objectivity of grammar
        4.4   Emplacement and deposition: a basic antinomy
        4.5   Operational aspects of stratigraphic analysis
        4.6   Observation as the foundation of objectivity
        4.7   The nature of strategy

PART TWO. Analysis
    Chapter 5 - Stratigraphic analysis
        5.1   The nature of stratigraphic analysis
        5.2   Emplacement: the overriding significance of contacts
        5.3   Deposition: time as function of space
        5.4   Conceptualization
        5.5   Documentation
        5.6   In praise of theory
    Chapter 6 - Typological analysis
        6.1   The elements: features and items
        6.2   Archaeological typology
        6.3   Formal analysis of single elements: morphology
        6.4   Formal analysis of assemblage: taxonomy
        6.5   Typology and stratigraphy
    Chapter 7 - Integrative analysis
        7.1   A secondary typological dimension
        7.2   The nature of integration
        7.3   Integrative procedures
        7.4   Method: inventory specific
        7.5   Technique: non inventory specific
        7.6   A grammatical approach to style
        7.7   Two types of extra-referential integration
        7.8   The role of integrative analysis within the Global Record

PART THREE. The Reassembled Construct
    Chapter 8 - The invention of a site
        8.1   The reconfiguration of the finds
        8.2   The physical and referential nature of the record
        8.3   The constitutive nature of the record
        8.4   The publication as embodiment of the record
        8.5   Selectivity and the question of "non-data"
        8.6   The great transfer
        8.7   The interpretative filters
        8.8   The basic presuppositions
        8.9   The delay in archaeological publishing
        8.10   A definitive publication
        8.11   The maieutics of archaeology
        8.12   Socially responsible archaeology and the question of identity
    Chapter 9 - The physical record
        9.1   Disposition
        9.2   Conservation
        9.3   Restoration
        9.4   Reconstruction
        9.5   Storage of movable items
        9.6   Curation
        9.7   Access
        9.8   The site as a book
    Chapter 10 - The referential record
        10.1   Reassembling the "raw" data
        10.2   The fragmented evidence and the sequential argument
        10.3   The documentation
        10.4   The narrative
        10.5   Perceptual visualization
        10.6   Virtual reality
        10.7   The stakeholder, proximate and remote
        10.8   Public outreach
        10.9   The grammatical dimension

PART FOUR. The Priviledge Venue
    Chapter 11 - Digital thought
        11.0   Bracing the distance
        11.0   Structuring the data
        11.0   Structuring the argument
        11.0   The implicit argument
        11.0   The narrative argument
        11.0   Digital humanities and digital dimension
        11.0   The para-digital dimension
        11.0   The notion of digital thought
        11.0   A historical perspective on digital thought
    Chapter 12 - Digital text
        12.0   The notion of digital text
        12.0   The reader
        12.0   The author
        12.0   Digital discourse
        12.0   The heightened perception
        12.0   Compositional mechanisms
        12.0   Bibliographical status
    Chapter 13 - The archeological record
        13.1   Archaeological digital thought
        13.2   Conceptual digitality of the archeological data
        13.3   The role of observation
        13.4   "Onthologies" and the semantic web
        13.5   An archaeological record in practice

PART FIVE. The Wider Frame
    Chapter 14 - The relevance of structure
        14.1   Structure
        14.2   The Kantian model
        14.3   Tensionality – the Kantian intuition
        14.4   Tensionality – the implications
        14.5   Inclusivity – the Kantian intuition
        14.6   Inclusivity – the implications
        14.7   Referentiality – the Kantian intuition
        14.8   Referentiality – the implications
        14.9   A systemic cohesiveness
        14.10   The Kantian legacy
        14.11   Para-perception and the transcendental revolution
        14.12   A critique of "human" reason
    Chapter 15 - The critical approach
        15.1   Reason and "reasons"
        15.2   Pure and impure reason
        15.3   Critique, "critical theory", metaphysics
        15.4   Archaeological data
        15.5   Archaeological reason
        15.6   A critique of archaeological reason
        15.7   A critical approach to archaeology
        15.8   Referential levels
        15.9   Observation and degrees of inference
        15.10   A critical approach to stratigraphy
        15.11   A critical approach to typology
        15.12   A critical approach to interpretation
        15.13   Archaeology and philosophy
        15.14   Metaarchaeology
    Chapter 16 - Hermeneutics
        16.1   The question of meaning
        16.2   The premise of grammar
        16.3   Semiotics within hermeneutics
        16.4   The possibility of meaning
        16.5   The retrieval of consciousness: cognitive archeology
        16.6   The two hermeneutics
        16.7   Archeology and history
        16.8   A pre-linguistic hermeneutics
        16.9   Academic alignments and intellectual domains
    Chapter 17 - Conclusion
        17.1   Archaeological reason
        17.2   Grammar and hermeneutics
        17.3   Structural archaeology
        17.4   Archaeology and linguistics
        17.5   Archeology, digitality and philosophy
        17.6   Archeological reason for a living tradition
        17.7   Critique and theory

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