Landscape archaeology—The value of context to archaeological interpretation
Résumé
Landscape archaeology is a relatively young subdiscipline that has grown in a multitude of directions, particularly in recent decades. It is strongly multidisciplinary and has borrowed tools from an array of fields, including the archaeological sciences, geology, geography, palaeoecology and geochronology; many landscape archaeologists have backgrounds beyond traditional archaeology sensu stricto. Landscape archaeology has become an important facet of most archaeological excavations and has shifted the focus of archaeological interpretation well beyond existing paradigms. In this paper, we report on a landscape reinterpretation of a single archaeological site in New Zealand. Waitore comprises an assemblage of artefacts, including wooden pieces (e.g., broken canoe fragments), oven stones, stone sinkers and fish bones but is not associated with an occupation site. The assemblage was originally studied in the 1970s—at a time when there was little understanding of tectonic processes in the region—and attributed to permanent ritual interment or temporary burial based largely on ethnographic analogies with contemporary Māori practices. By bringing together the physical and cultural components of landscape archaeology, we reinterpret these artefacts as being the scattered remnants of a reworked occupation site, possibly associated with a tsunami inundation dating to around the 15th century. We conclude that re-examination of past archaeological work is as relevant now as undertaking new research. We also insist upon the importance of multidisciplinary dialogue, particularly between the social and physical sciences, in helping to move beyond current paradigms.