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Biological Analogy, Diffusionism, and Archaeology
Author(s) -
Godfrey Laurie R.,
Cole John R.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1979.81.1.02a00030
Subject(s) - analogy , phenomenon , epistemology , empiricism , evolutionary theory , archaeology , history , sociology , philosophy
A “biologization” of anthropological theory has recently been proposed by scholars from various subfields of the discipline. One aspect of that phenomenon is Harold K. Schneider's proposal to rewrite world history as a diffusionary process based on a biological model. It is asserted that he fails for several reasons: a misunderstanding of biology, a misunderstanding of archaeology, and a rejection of empiricism, making his theory less testable than standard evolutionary theory. The role of diffusion in culture change is not explained by recourse to faulty analogy and highly selected archaeological data. [biological analogy, diffusionism, archaeological theory, cultural evolution]