The Ontological Approach: Applying Social Theory to Physically Manifested Culture

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The practice of collections management is changing with the ever-growing technology that is embedded in society today. The museum's visitor no longer receives information on an analog platform, or at least not the majority of it, so why is this the main form of communication between museums and patrons? This creates a necessity for museums to alter their methods of communication between museums and visitors, both academic and public. The design, integration, and accessibility of digitized collections allows visitors to determine a "thing’s" meaning for themselves, instead of having to accept or deny the preexisting representation applied to said "thing." This will create possibilities of expanded representation for objects, cultures, and meaning. The missing component has been access to the cultural heritage devoid of the predetermined and associated meaning. Finally, this work is not designed to negate any of the previous theoretical notions used to derive anthropological meaning, it is purely here to augment and add to the investigative repertoire of both the researcher and the civilian. The creation of a tested and affordable digital integration methodology is not an atheoretical research approach but is a modus-operandi used to answer the looming theoretical ideas which exist within anthropological thought.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24753