Archaeology Term: Seriation
Seriation is the process of organizing artifacts, monuments, types, and styles into groups that reflect chronological change.
It is based on the assumption that certain cultural characteristics evolve over time, allowing archaeologists to establish relative chronologies.
By studying the changes in the style, form, or type of artifacts, archaeologists can identify patterns of cultural development. These patterns can help researchers understand how cultures transformed, interacted, or progressed over time.
Seriation relies on the idea that changes in material culture follow a general trend, with older items differing from newer ones in recognizable ways. For example, pottery styles often evolve over time, with certain shapes, decorations, or techniques becoming more or less common in different periods.
This method is often applied to artifact types that are widely distributed and used over long periods. Pottery, tools, and architecture are common examples of materials analyzed through seriation, as their styles can reveal chronological shifts in culture and technology.
There are two main types of seriation: stylistic and frequency. Stylistic seriation focuses on the changes in the appearance of artifacts, while frequency seriation tracks the popularity of specific types or styles over time, often represented in a graph showing peaks and declines.
In stylistic seriation, the assumption is that artifact designs evolve in recognizable ways. Over time, artifacts from a particular period will be distinguishable by their unique features, and these changes can be tracked to establish a relative timeline of cultural development.
Frequency seriation, on the other hand, is based on the idea that the abundance of certain types of artifacts can indicate their popularity at different points in time. By analyzing the frequency of artifact types in stratified layers, archaeologists can infer their chronological order and establish a relative sequence.
Seriation can be particularly useful in situations where archaeology/absolute-dating'>absolute dating methods, like radiocarbon dating, are not available. It allows archaeologists to create chronological sequences based on changes in material culture, helping to fill gaps in the historical record.
While seriation provides valuable insights into cultural change, it is not always precise. It relies on the assumption that stylistic or frequency changes are consistent and that no other factors, like trade or migration, have disrupted the pattern of development.
Seriation is an important archaeological method for organizing and understanding chronological changes in cultures. By analyzing shifts in artifact types, styles, and frequencies, archaeologists can reconstruct the timeline of human activity and cultural evolution.
