{"title":"大遗址、大问题、大数据、大问题:美国东南部考古实践的调查尺度和观念变化","authors":"Cameron B. Wesson, J. Cottier","doi":"10.5334/BHA.2416","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Since at least the 1930s, archaeological investigations in the southeastern United States have placed a priority on expansive, near-complete, excavations of major sites throughout the region. Although there are considerable advantages to such large–scale excavations, projects conducted at this scale are also accompanied by a series of challenges regarding the comparability, integrity, and consistency of data recovery, analysis, and publication. We examine the history of large–scale excavations in the southeast in light of traditional views within the discipline that the region has contributed little to the ‘big questions’ of American archaeology. Recently published analyses of decades old data derived from Southeastern sites reveal both the positive and negative aspects of field research conducted at scales much larger than normally undertaken in archaeology. Furthermore, given the present trend toward the use of big data in the social sciences, we predict an increased use of large pre–existing datasets developed during the New Deal and other earlier periods of archaeological practice throughout the region.","PeriodicalId":41664,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the History of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2014-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5334/BHA.2416","citationCount":"10","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Big Sites, Big Questions, Big Data, Big Problems: Scales of Investigation and Changing Perceptions of Archaeological Practice in the Southeastern United States\",\"authors\":\"Cameron B. Wesson, J. Cottier\",\"doi\":\"10.5334/BHA.2416\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Since at least the 1930s, archaeological investigations in the southeastern United States have placed a priority on expansive, near-complete, excavations of major sites throughout the region. Although there are considerable advantages to such large–scale excavations, projects conducted at this scale are also accompanied by a series of challenges regarding the comparability, integrity, and consistency of data recovery, analysis, and publication. We examine the history of large–scale excavations in the southeast in light of traditional views within the discipline that the region has contributed little to the ‘big questions’ of American archaeology. Recently published analyses of decades old data derived from Southeastern sites reveal both the positive and negative aspects of field research conducted at scales much larger than normally undertaken in archaeology. Furthermore, given the present trend toward the use of big data in the social sciences, we predict an increased use of large pre–existing datasets developed during the New Deal and other earlier periods of archaeological practice throughout the region.\",\"PeriodicalId\":41664,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Bulletin of the History of Archaeology\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2014-08-05\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.5334/BHA.2416\",\"citationCount\":\"10\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Bulletin of the History of Archaeology\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.5334/BHA.2416\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"0\",\"JCRName\":\"ARCHAEOLOGY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Bulletin of the History of Archaeology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5334/BHA.2416","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Big Sites, Big Questions, Big Data, Big Problems: Scales of Investigation and Changing Perceptions of Archaeological Practice in the Southeastern United States
Since at least the 1930s, archaeological investigations in the southeastern United States have placed a priority on expansive, near-complete, excavations of major sites throughout the region. Although there are considerable advantages to such large–scale excavations, projects conducted at this scale are also accompanied by a series of challenges regarding the comparability, integrity, and consistency of data recovery, analysis, and publication. We examine the history of large–scale excavations in the southeast in light of traditional views within the discipline that the region has contributed little to the ‘big questions’ of American archaeology. Recently published analyses of decades old data derived from Southeastern sites reveal both the positive and negative aspects of field research conducted at scales much larger than normally undertaken in archaeology. Furthermore, given the present trend toward the use of big data in the social sciences, we predict an increased use of large pre–existing datasets developed during the New Deal and other earlier periods of archaeological practice throughout the region.