Taphonomy in Focus: Current Approaches to Site Formation and Social Stratigraphy

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Taphonomy in Focus: Current Approaches to Site Formation and Social Stratigraphy" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As the physical accumulations of artifacts, ecofacts, and sediments, archaeological deposits comprise the basic units of empirical analysis and are routinely the focus of methodological concerns. In recent decades, a growing body of literature has emerged that not only focuses on site formation as a set of cumulative taphonomic effects but also as a process of sociocultural, political, and affective negotiation both in the past and present. We seek papers that explore the complex interplay between the empirical and interpretive dimensions of deposition, assemblage, stratigraphy, and other concepts related to the formation of the archaeological record. Papers may address any geographical or temporal setting. We also welcome diverse methodological and theoretical approaches to the theme. Contributors might explore issues of scale, resolution, and temporality; the mnemonic or semiotic roles of deposits and assemblages; challenges and implications presented by contested, multivocal sites and landscapes; archaeological concepts as epistemological metaphor (sensu Foucault), and more.