Time to Reconsider. A Critical Assessment of How Different Interpretations of Variation in Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Central Asia Influenced the Establishment of Chronological Frameworks

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Periodization and the establishment of chronological sequences are integral parts of archaeological discourse. Not only do we use them to diachronically investigate patterns and changes in material culture, but we rely on presumed contemporaneity to discuss interaction and exchange. However, archaeological reconstructions of the past and established chronological frameworks are heavily influenced by differential approaches to interpretation of variation. In this paper I discuss interpretative differences and underlying assumptions of Soviet and Western approaches to the establishment of chronological sequences for Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Central Asia. By comparing the approaches to Yamnaya and Namazga periodization, I highlight the interpretative ramifications of different mental constructs, ideologies, and theoretical conceptions of the past.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38259.0