Structuralism in archeology and its application in the analysis of cultural materials left from the past

Purpose- The science of archeology Is known as a study that has always sought to discover the facts of the past. In Archaeology, discovering the truth to reconstruct history and culture is done by using the cultural materials left from the past. As signs of the past, these materials reflect the thoughts of the people who made and used them. A group of cultural materials obtained from ancient sites were used symbolically among the people of the past, and the use of experimental and laboratory methods in most cases cannot reach answers related to this group of works, and also the majority of studies that Until today, there is no scientific aspect on this group of works and they are mainly in the form of intuitive understanding of archaeologists and they have no scientific basis. In the current research, we will try to introduce and explain the structuralist archeology approach, which is one of the common approaches in cognitive and processual archeology in the world, and explain the methods and principles of its application in the analysis of symbolic cultural materials. This method has not been explained and used as it should be in Iranian archeology until today. Therefore, as one of the scientific approaches in the interpretation of symbolic data in archaeology, its introduction and explanation will be necessary and pathfinder.



Methodology- to achieve the desired goals, by studying and analyzing the schools of structuralism in linguistics as well as anthropology and knowing the rules and principles of structuralism in these schools, it has been tried to find solutions that can be used in archeology to analyze a certain group of cultural materials left from Let's get to the past. Therefore, this research is of an applied type with the nature of development research that has a strategic approach. On the other hand, the basic information and data of this research has been collected through library studies.



Findings- Given that structuralism is rooted in linguistics and has been consolidated in anthropology by Lévi-Strauss; Therefore, by studying and analyzing it in these two schools, four principles were revealed, which can be used to analyze archaeological cultural materials. These principles and indicators are as follows: 1- Defining the interconnected collection with the simultaneity of its members (Syntagmatic), 2- Describing the cultural materials of this collection, 3- Exploiting Contrasting dualities to achieve meaning, 4- Using the principles of Compatibility and Commutation in defined structures of cultural materials and data. By using these steps individually or simultaneously, the archaeologist can gain an understanding of the truth of the cultural materials left from the past and the beliefs of the past people. In this way, the archaeologist will benefit from structuralism in archeology by applying these steps.