Chapter Abstracts

Below is a list of chapter abstracts:

 

The Tyranny of Typologies: Evidential Reasoning in Romano-Egyptian Domestic Archaeology
Anna Lucille Boozer
Excavations in an underexplored region of Egypt encountered the remains of a house that did not match existing domestic typologies. The structure lacked clear archaeological evidence of a roof over a central room in the house, and evidence of food preparation was found within, rather than outside of, the house. Did this evidence signify a new house type? Or, was the archaeological evidence open to question? This raises a long-standing issue in archaeology: how and when should we use, modify, and abandon typologies? And, how does our training impact on our use of typologies and archaeological evidence? This contribution explores these questions in order to understand how archaeologists weigh competing clues between typologies, taphonomies, and depositional episodes in our evidentiary reasoning.