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G
ustavo
G. P
olitis
Reflections on Contemporary Ethnoarchaeology
66
PYRENAE,
núm.
46
vol.
1
(2015)
ISSN: 0079-8215 EISSN: 2339-9171 (p. 41-83)
authors conclude that avoidance of consumption of a resource of high potential yield,
like the Patagonian blennie, might constitute a taboo. This hypothesis “is reinforced by
the fact that the avoidance of Patagonian blennie consumption seems to have stemmed
from probably implicit prescriptions generated by the male actions in the ceremonial
sphere of the Yamana society” (Fiore and Zangrando, 2006: 386). This case illustrates the
applications of ethnoarchaeology but not in a direct way, not in a vis-à-vis comparison
between a given archaeological record and the material correlates of a determined obser-
ved behavior. What this example shows is the application of certain elements of a model
based, in part, in ethnoarchaeological research, allowing expansion of the interpretative
horizon and making specific references to some material derivatives. This is the kind of
use of ethnoarchaeology that I see more frequently in contemporary archaeology, both
in Latin America and in the rest of the world.
The third way is the integrated use of archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, anthropo-
logical, and ethnohistorical sources to generate comprehensive models based on a demons-
trated cultural continuity. The historical or continuous analogy overcame the cross-cultural
and discontinuous analogy. Here, the ethnoarchaeological results are less obvious because
they are melted in a myriad of contributions from other disciplines. In Africa, the research
Fig. 9.
Recording technology, a corner stone in ethnoarchaeological studies. A young Nukak (Colombian Amazon) is adding black
resin to fix the polished bone point of his harpoon. This is a clear cut example of a curated technology in Binford’s terms 1996. Photo
of the author.