聚落考古——从炊格尔和张光直的定义谈起

Settlement Archaeology:A Discussion of Trigger and KC Chang's Definition

聚落考古是西方最具影响力的考古学理论和方法之一。也是20世纪80年代以来传入中国的考古学理论方法在中国运用最为成功的案例。聚落考古的定义除了戈登·威利最初的定义外,中国考古学者最常引用的是张光直和炊格尔对聚落考古的定义。但似乎很少有学者去探究两位学者对聚落考古的定义有什么不同。本文认为,两位学者对于聚落考古定义不同的根本原因是对聚落考古究竟属于考古学理论还是考古学方法的分歧。炊格尔是从考古学发展史的角度,将聚落考古视为取代文化历史考古学新阶段;而张光直的定义则是侧重从考古学方法的角度,将聚落考古视为考古学研究的方法。两者的聚落考古思想从不同侧面对中国考古学的聚落考古实践产生了积极的影响。

Settlement archaeology is one of the most influential archaeological theories and methods in the West,and has been one of the most successful archaeological methods imported into China since the 1980s.In addition to Gordon Willey's initial definition,the most commonly cited definition of settlement archaeology by Chinese archaeologists is that of KC Chang and Bruce Trigger.However,it seems that few scholars have explored the differences between the two scholars'definitions of settlement archaeology.This article argues that the fundamental reason for the different definitions of settlement archaeology between the two scholars is the disagreement on whether settlement archaeology belongs to an archaeological theory or method.Trigger considers settlement archaeology a new developmental phase in archaeology that surpasses cultural-historical archaeology,whereas KC Chang's definition emphasizes settlement archaeology as a research method in archaeology.Both Trigger and KC Chang's ideas on settlement archaeology have had a positive impact on the practice of Chinese archaeology from different perspectives.