Archaeology, Design Theory, and the Reconstruction of Prehistoric Design Systems

Archaeology, systematic inquiry into the past using its material relics, is largely concerned with the study of artefacts, of the design systems that created them, and of the social and economic inferences that may be drawn. Artefact study, which began with typological sorting within an evolutionary framework, is more usefully seen as a systematic ‘archaeological morphology’ of artefacts, with regard to the character of the design systems which produced them. The archaeological recovery of weights and measures is given as a simple methodological example. The internal order of the design system is distinguished from the external inferences in historical—anthropological reconstruction that can be drawn from artefacts and from design systems: the ‘middle-range’ theory that connects internal to external systems is explored. The limitations of insight into design systems that can be gained by typological classification are noted, as is the particular character of prehistoric material. Four case studies in the recovery of prehistoric design systems are given. (1) The Thom hypothesis of exact geometry in prehistoric stone rings is presented, together with other geometric and nongeometric hypotheses. Means for assessing them are set out, together with a simulation approach. (2) A typological classification for the cornu motif in prehistoric Alpine rock art is presented, together with a simulation study of the kind of variability in this artefactual form that would arise casually. (3) The limits of deduction from distribution maps, a commonplace of artefact study, are stated, and an example given of a more secure approach to spatial distribution. (4) The evidence of human manufacture and for earliest design systems, offered by first stone tools is given. The common pattern in the case studies is summarized, with a focus on the insights of design reconstruction over artefact sorting, the need for specific testable hypotheses, the role of simulation, and the distinction between formal and vernacular design systems.