Abstract
Classifications, nomenclatures, and reference collections or standards are among the most basic tools used by environmental archaeologists. Their use is second nature to environmental archaeologists and a chief impediment to communication with non-specialists. Most laboratory research is devoted to attributing archaeological specimens to a recognized taxon (taxonomic unit; plural: taxa), a process known as identification (O’Connor 2000:39). Agreeing upon the names by which organisms, their parts, and other phenomena are known enables communication about what is under consideration and what it means. The principles of classification are basic to the reference collections and standards used during identification, to the process of identification itself, to the choice of analytical methods, and to subsequent interpretations. Although it is possible to understand some of the conclusions made by environmental archaeologists without knowing the conventions upon which identifications are based, the ability to follow arguments leading to those conclusions, or to evaluate their validity, is limited without some knowledge of these conventions.
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Reitz, E.J., Shackley, M. (2012). Biological Classifications and Nomenclatures. In: Environmental Archaeology. Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3339-2_4
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