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On the Vanpools' “Scientific” Postprocessualism

2001; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 66; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2694614

2325-5064

Philip J. Arnold, Brian S. Wilkens,

Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Recently, VanPool and VanPool (1999) propose that postprocessual archaeology can be construed as a scientific practice if archaeologists would simply adopt a ,realistic view- of science. We argue that this ,realistic view- actually misrepresents science and we question the VanPools' attempt to reduce the dynamic practice of science to a series of static traits. We also affirm the incompatibility of the respective confirmation strategies employed by the postprocessual and processual programs.