Model culture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (November 2006)

This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2006) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

A model culture is a term used in anthropology, archaeology, and paleontology for a method of intelligent guesswork. A people who are well studied are used as a substitute for a more ancient and poorly known culture that may have lived in a similar way. The behaviors and beliefs of the known culture then serve as a model for what is not known about the ancient culture.

The best accepted use of a model culture is the interpretation of artifacts. A strange object dug out of the ground is compared to a nearly identical object in a well known culture, and then presumed to be put to the same use in ancient times as modern times. For example: a hollow tube made from an animal's leg bone, with holes drilled in it, may be declared a flute or an oboe, because a model culture manufactures musical instruments in the same way.

A less well-accepted use of a model culture is to use a modern culture with nearly identical artifacts as an ancient culture as a source of guesswork about the ancient culture's beliefs, which often leave no artifacts.

Examples of model cultures include:

• The !Kung are models for hunter-gatherers;
• The Celts and Scythians are models for Proto-Indo-Europeans.