首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Nature and Aims of Archaeology Introduction A)Archaeology is partly the discovery of the treasures of the past, partly the m
The Nature and Aims of Archaeology Introduction A)Archaeology is partly the discovery of the treasures of the past, partly the m
admin
2015-01-31
17
问题
The Nature and Aims of Archaeology Introduction
A)Archaeology is partly the discovery of the treasures of the past, partly the meticulous work of the scientific analyst, partly the exercise of the creative imagination. It is toiling in the sun on an excavation in the deserts of Central Asia; it is working with living Inuit in the snows of Alaska. It is diving down to Spanish wrecks off the coast of Florida, and it is investigating the sewers of Roman York. But it is also the painstaking task of interpretation so that we come to understand what these things mean for the human story. And it is the conservation of the world’ s cultural heritage against looting and against careless destruction.
B)Archaeology, then, is both a physical activity out in the field, and an intellectual pursuit in the study or laboratory. That is part of its great attraction. The rich mixture of danger and detective work has also made it the perfect vehicle for fiction writers and film-makers, from Agatha Christie with Murder in Mesopotamia to Steven Spielberg with Indiana Jones. However far from reality such portrayals may be, they capture the essential truth that archaeology is an exciting quest—the quest for knowledge about ourselves and our past.
C)But how does archaeology relate to disciplines such as anthropology and history that are also concerned with the human story? Is archaeology itself a science? And what are the responsibilities of the archaeologist in today’s world, where the past is manipulated for political ends and "ethnic cleansing" is accompanied by the deliberate destruction of the cultural heritage?
Archaeology as anthropology
D)Anthropology at its broadest is the study of humanity—our physical characteristics as animals, and our unique non-biological characteristics that we call culture. Culture in this sense includes what the anthropologist Edward Tylor usefully summarized in 1871 as "knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Anthropologists also use the term culture in a more restricted sense when they refer to the culture of a particular society, meaning the non-biological characteristics unique to that society which distinguish it from other societies. Anthropology is thus a broad discipline—so broad that it is generally broken down into three smaller disciplines: biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and archaeology.
E)Biological anthropology, or physical anthropology as it used to be called, concerns the study of human biological or physical characteristics and how they evolved. Cultural anthropology—or social anthropology—analyzes human culture and society. Two of its branches are ethnography(the study at first hand of individual living cultures)and ethnology(which sets out to compare cultures using ethnographic evidence to derive general principles about human society).
F)Archaeology is the "past tense of cultural anthropology". Whereas cultural anthropologists will often base their conclusions on the experience of actually living within contemporary communities, archaeologists study past humans and societies primarily through their material remains—the buildings, tools, and other artifacts that constitute what is known as the material culture left over from former societies.
G)Nevertheless, one of the most challenging tasks for the archaeologist today is to know how to interpret material culture in human terms. How were those pots used? Why are some dwellings round and others square? Here the methods of archaeology and ethnography overlap. Archaeologists in recent decades have developed "ethnoarchaeolo-gy", where like ethnographers they live among contemporary communities, but with the specific purpose of understanding how such societies use material culture—how they make their tools and weapons, why they build their settlements where they do, and so on.
H)Moreover, archaeology has an active role to play in the field of conservation. Heritage studies constitute a developing field, where it is realized that the world’s cultural heritage is a diminishing resource, and one which holds different meanings for different people.
I)The presentation of the findings of archaeology to the public cannot avoid difficult political issues, and the museum curator and the popularizer today have responsibilities which some can be seen to have failed.
Archaeology as history
J)If, then, archaeology deals with the past, in what way does it differ from history? In the broadest sense, just as archaeology is an aspect of anthropology, so too is it apart of history—where we mean the whole history of humankind from its beginnings over 3 million years ago. Indeed for more than 99 percent of that huge span of time archaeology—the study of past material culture—is the only significant source of information, if one sets aside physical anthropology, which focuses on our biological rather than cultural progress. Conventional historical sources begin only with the introduction of written records around 3000 BC in western Asia, and much later in most other parts of the world(not until AD 1788 in Australia, for example).
K)A commonly drawn distinction is between prehistory—the period before written records—and history in the narrow sense, meaning the study of the past using written evidence. In some countries, "prehistory" is now considered a patronizing and derogatory term which implies that written texts are more valuable than oral histories, and which classifies their cultures as inferior until the arrival of Western ways of recording information.
L)To archaeology, however, which studies all cultures and periods, whether with or without writing, the distinction between history and prehistory is a convenient dividing line that simply recognizes the importance of the written word in the modern world, but in no way denigrates the useful information contained in oral histories.
Archaeology as a Science
M)Since the aim of archaeology is the understanding of humankind, it is a humanistic discipline, a humane study. And since it deals with the human past it is a historical discipline. But it differs from the study of written history—although it uses written history—in a fundamental way. The material the archaeologist finds does not tell us directly what to think. Historical records make statements, offer opinions, pass judgments(even if those statements and judgments themselves need to be interpreted).
N)The objects that archaeologists discover, on the other hand, tell us nothing directly in themselves. It is we today who have to make sense of these things. In this respect the practice of archaeology is rather like that of the scientist. The scientist collects data(evidence), conducts experiments, formulates a hypothesis(a proposition to account for the data), tests the hypothesis against more data, and then in conclusion devises a model that seems best to summarise the pattern observed in the data. The archaeologist has to develop a picture of the past, just as the scientist has to develop a coherent view of the natural world.
Anthropologists define culture in more than one way.
选项
答案
D
解析
本题意为人类不只从一个角度定义文化。本题中define culture为关键词,定位到D段的Anthropology at its broadest is the study of humanity—our physicalcharacteristics as animals,and our unique non-biological characteristics that we callculture...Anthropologists also use the term culture in a more restricted sense when theyrefer to the culture of a particular society.meaning the non.biological characteristicsunique to that society which distinguish it from other societies.“最广义的人类学是研究人类的科学,包括我们作为动物的身体特征以及被我们称为文化的人类特有的非生物特征……而当人类学家谈到某个特定社会的文化时.这个文化就是狭义的概念,指这个社会的独特的非生物特征,这一特征使该社会区别于其他社会。”说明人类学家至少从广义和狭义两个角度定义文化。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/aUh7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
A、Heconductslarge-scaletests.B、Hewritesbooksaboutchildren.C、Heteachesattheuniversity.D、Herecommendsbabysitters.
DoctorsinBritainarewarningofanobesitytimebomb,whenchildrenwhoarealreadyoverweightgrowup.So,whatshouldwedo?
A、Americansvowtochangeit.B、Itisnotasbadasitusedtobe.C、Americansknowhowbaditistotheirhealth.D、Americansd
TheSpanish-AmericanWartookplaceinthelate1800sduringtheadministrationofPresidentWilliamMcKinley.Unlikeother
A、Tomaintainahighheartrateforthelongestduration.B、Toreachandmaintainyourtargetheartratefortheentireexercise
Althoughwealreadyknowagreatdealaboutinfluenza,itisdifficultforepidemiologists(流行病学家),whostudyinfectiousdisease,
Sharksarecompletelycolourblindandonlyseethingsclearlyiftheyaremostlylightordark,sowearingalightbluewet-sui
DoestheWorldFaceaFutureofWaterWars?[A]Throughouthistory,peoplehavefoughtbitterwarsoverpoliticalideology,natio
A、Itfailedinthefinal.B、Itcouldn’treachthefinal.C、Ithasultimatelywonthefinal.D、Itisworkingveryhardforthefi
In1963,civilrightsdemonstrationsintheU.S.southturnedviolent.PresidentJohnKennedycalledthe【C1】______"amoralcrisi
随机试题
女患者,32岁,尿频、尿急、尿痛1d。化验:尿常规白细胞满视野。应选用何种方法治疗
患者,男,46岁。残根,牙周组织支持条件好,已做过根管治疗。最好的修复方法是
既能祛风解表,又能透疹疗疮的药物是
患者,女,44岁,急性重症胆管炎,急诊入院,体温39.4℃,血压90/50mmHg(12.0/6.7kPa),脉搏100次/分钟,右下腹压痛,反跳痛,肌紧张,意识不清,不能诉说其他不适术后回到ICU病房,T管的处理是
分项详细估算法估算流动资金适用于______。
未结清的债权债务原始凭证和涉及其他未了事项的原始凭证,应由档案部门保管到未了事项完结后才能销毁。
某大型连锁经营超市因加盟商越来越多,规模不断扩大,欲在原有管理的基础上建立一套适合本企业未来发展的管理信息系统,以加强企业的日常管理、提高本企业的综合管理水平效率和经济效益。经对本超市的经验情况进行现状分析,并借鉴同行业管理水平一流的超市的管理系统的经验,
蔡某聚众扰乱某高校秩序,影响恶劣,被公安机关处以15日拘留并罚款500元。同时,蔡某与该校教师发生冲突,造成教师林某轻微伤,被公安机关处以10日拘留并罚款500元。对这两项治安处罚,该如何执行?()
如图,A、B、C三个原料加工厂分别停着甲、乙、丙三辆汽车,各车速度依次是60、48、36千米/时,各厂间的距离如图所示(单位:千米),如果甲、丙车按箭头方向行驶,乙车反向行驶,每到一厂甲车停2分,乙车停3分,丙车停5分。那么,三车同时开动后何时首次同时相遇
计算行列式Dn=,其中a1a2…an≠0.
最新回复
(
0
)