Archaeological Analysis Using Binford’s Environmental and Ethnographic Frames of Reference

Binford (2001) constructed environmental and ethnographic data sets specifically for archaeologists to use as tools to leverage learning about the past. While researchers from several other fields ranging from cross-cultural analysis and epidemiology to macroecology have taken advantage of these data, relatively few archaeologists have pursued the kinds of learning strategies Binford imagined. The posters in this session showcase some of the archaeological work that is being done using Binford’s frames of reference and related analytical strategies. Examples span a wide range of geographic and temporal scales, explore ecological components of observed adaptations, and test expectations for what hunter-gatherers might be like against archaeological observation.