James A. Ford and the growth of Americanist archaeology / Michael J. O'Brien and R. Lee Lyman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Brien, Michael J. (Michael John), 1950-

Contributor:

Lyman, R. Lee.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ford, James Alfred, 1911-1968.

Ford, James Alfred.

Indianists--United States--Biography.

Indianists.

Antiquities.

Social archaeology.

Indians of North America.

United States.

Mississippi River Valley.

Archaeologists--United States--Biography.

Archaeologists.

Indians of North America--Mississippi River Valley--Antiquities.

Social archaeology--Mississippi River Valley.

Mississippi River Valley--Antiquities.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xx, 377 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of Missouri Press, [1998]

Summary:

Until James A. Ford's death in 1968, no archaeologist in the United States commanded the same degree of respect among his colleagues. Many may not have agreed with him, but they respected him. A brilliant archaeologist and dynamic personality, Ford found himself at the center of some of the most provocative debates in Americanist archaeology.

James A. Ford and the Growth of Americanist Archaeology tells the story of Ford's role in the development of culture history, the dominant paradigm in the field from roughly 1914 to 1960. By studying Ford's life and the major part he played in the rise and fall of culture history, authors Michael J. O'Brien and R. Lee Lyman explore the underpinnings of the paradigm.

Culture history -- unraveling the history of prehistoric cultures -- consisted of a fairly coherent body of perspectives and methods. This volume provides a fascinating glimpse of how archaeologists began using a variety of methods and units to attain spatial and temporal control over an exceedingly diverse and complex archaeological record. During Ford's era, most archaeologists viewed time as a series of distinct segments. Ford, the chief proponent of the minority view, saw time as a continuum that could be divided into any number of units.

The particular methods worked out by Ford in the Southeast to deal with time received broad notice and extensive use by culture historians. His substantial contributions to culture history and his influence on an entire generation of scholars who adhered to the paradigm ensnared Ford in culture history's inconsistencies. By the 1950s, when archaeologists began recognizing flaws in the paradigm, Ford was singled out for criticism.

Theabsence of critical examinations of Ford's work has led to a false impression of his contributions to the field. James A. Ford and the Growth of Americanist Archaeology provides perspective for fully appreciating Ford's overwhelming accomplishments. No one else working in the lower Mississippi Valley in the 1930s even approached the level of commitment to or knowledge of the region that Ford possessed.

To understand the state of Americanist archaeology today requires an understanding of what culture history embodies. James A. Ford and the Growth of Americanist Archaeology presents a thorough examination of the culture-history paradigm through unique biographical approach.

Contents:

1 Culture History in Americanist Archaeology 1

2 Bringing Chronological Order to the Archaeological Record: The Pre-1937 Years 39

3 LSU and Federal Archaeology: 1937-1941 95

4 Large-Scale Archaeological Surveys: 1942-1951 150

5 Ford on the Defensive

Types and Diffusion: 1952-1956 212

6 The Nature of Culture and the American Formative: 1957-1969 271.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-365) and index.

ISBN:

0826211844

OCLC:

39354311