The Concept of Uniformitarianism - Essay Example

?Other (s) Archeology Mid-term Paper Q4. What do you understand by the concept of “uniformitarianism” and discuss other ways of conceptualising the past. Introduction The concept of Uniformitarianism generally refers to the supposition that same ordinary laws and developments that operate in the universe today had existed in the past and will continue to exist in the future. Developed in the late 1700s as an alternative to the previous theory of catastrophism, Uniformitarianism is one of the widely used unifying concepts. The concept of Uniformitarianism is largely founded on the assumption that the natural laws of the universe that are currently in operation have always operated the same way in the past. This way of conceptualization of the past is has increasingly been used in a number of field sciences such as geology and biology. In archaeology, uniformitarianism is one of the major concepts that have always been widely used to conceptualize the past. For example, many archaeologists believe that the contemporary natural laws and other processes in the universe have always operated in the past as they are today. Uniformitarianism is a theory on the gentle, natural progressions that were experimental on the landscape. It suggested that ice could corrode rocks and sediments as well could accrue and form various new terrestrial land forms in the earth (David, 341). Consequently uniformitarianism is currently widely used as the key principle in a number of fields of sciences such as geology and archaeology. The other ways that have widely been used to conceptualize the past include catostrophism, transmutation and gradualism. Tthe concept of gradualism as used in archaeology is based on the theory that gradual changes occur over time. The theory of uniformitarianism particularly suggested that landscape development occurred over long periods of time as a result of a number of gradual geomorphic and geologic processes. It shows that the present is the key to the past and it was a direct denunciation to the predominant philosophy of the time, catastrophism which held that only violent adversities could adjust the outward of the world. Generally the concepts of uniformitarianism, gradualism, and catostrophism among others have widely been used not only to conceptualize the past but also to help understand the important geological processes that have occurred in the universe and how such processes have influenced events (Baker, 243). Time plays a significant role in all the three concepts and archaeologists have discovered a number of pieces of evidence to support some of these ideas and concepts. How uniformitarianism is used in the conceptualization of the past Geologists, Historians and archaeologists often study the remains of the past gologic activity as well as the records of the ancient human civilizations to provide evidence of the specific time and of such activities in history. The concept of uniformitarianism has been widely used by scientists not only to help in the reconstruction of the history of the earth but also to create a timeline of events throughout the history. According to Browman and Douglas (88), black rocks with porous surfaces can be used by geologists as an evidence of the past events. It is however worth noticing that although the idea that there are uniform laws governing the processes of nature, it is often difficult to prove beyond uncertainty what actually took place in the past. In archaeology, the concept of uniformitarianism is rather a process of making an educated guess based on objective and observational evidence found in the material remains. Today, many archaeologists suggest the continuing uniformity of the universal processes can be used as a framework to understand how landforms and some aspects of nature come to be. This is particularly based on the assumption that the processes currently taking place are the same processes that actually took place in the past and are likely to be the same processes in the future. According to Levin(10), there are two major methodological assumptions and philosophical prepositions that are widely used in uniformitarianism. First and foremost it is widely assumed that the natural laws are uniform across space and time. According to many archaeologists and geologists, natural laws are constant both across time and space and this provides an opportunity for scientists to use their inductive references when studying the unobservable past. For example, This logic is in line with culture-historical archaeology which underlines on abating societies into diverse ethnic and cultural alignments rendering to their physical culture from areas these communities existed in the ancient world and even where they are today. In the study of the past, the constancy of the natural laws is generally used to help make important inferences about the unobservable past through induction. In this regard, Cultural evolutionism based on inductive logic initiated to fall out of errand with many antiquarians and archaeologists thus it started to become shunned between the archaeological communities, being out-dated by new archaeological theories. Inductive method as well explains that cultural-historical archaeology has been in many cases biased by nationalist political plan being used in proving a direct cultural and some cases ethnic association from pre-historic and antique people to up-to-date nation-states, something that has been in many occasions been disapproved by research and other archaeological evidence. Archaeological sites are normally characterized by both the presence of artifacts and features presenting evidence of existence of a settlement or trade that happened in a given area. Some of the common features included presence of households and fireplaces. Eco facts or the biological materials such as scales, bones or even feces also are crucial in locating these sites. In archaeology, the process of discovery usually begins with the surveying of an area to determine its likelihood of being a place of ancient activities. When the site has been discovered, archaeologist may begin excavation in an attempt to unearth all the lost material remains that may have been buried beneath the particularly archaeological site (Trigger, 56). The other ways of conceptualizing the past The other ways that have mostly been used to conceptualize the past include catostrophism and gradualism. Catastrophism refers to the ancient catastrophes that used to take place in the olden days. The archaeologists, as this is one of their major fields normally explain and find out the root cause of these happenings. The most popular catastrophe they raised was the Noah’s flood, though great volcanic catastrophes as well were also hypothesized. The evidence for such catastrophes the proponents of the catastrophism claimed, included fossil chronicles in these catastrophes, the relics of creatures removed during those disasters are what archaeologists study and bring out the reality that these catastrophes were real and they happened in the ancient world. A few archaeologists and scientists presented the principle of uniformitarianism which acted as a remedy of catastrophism. Concept of evolution as well brought out by Charles Darwin also came from catastrophism as a result of uniformitarianism present a substitute explanation to these ancient occurrences (Gould, 227). Bible sequentialstratigraphy to some extent also brings out catastrophism due to earthmovers challenges to impose biblical dates on the strata which have been dated on the days of these occurrences. Many modern archaeologists as well scolded and even dismissed Israel’s biblical story and all the catastrophes during this time and also fraught it with big questions. Scholarly courtingstructuresappear to be very much in touch with the volume, real depths and the number of strata the ground while studying the catastrophes that are believed to have existed at one point. Archaeologists have also attempted to make sense of the biblical event s when they took their religious and tried to billet them in the stratigraphy’s which has made catastrophism more trendy to abandon. Archaeology, art history and ancient history dispute out some of the problems which were for the enthusiast to the putative account. On the other hand, the concept of gradualism as used in archaeological conceptualization of the past is based on the theory that gradual changes occur over time.Gradualism is generally selection and variation that happens more gradually. This therefore focuses the study of the past on the notion that change is small and discrete increments rather than in large strokes. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution which principally relates to the uniformitarism theory clearly points out that evolution process occur gradually and not fast alarming strides. Archaeologists also have proved that all the species that had a longer evolution span evolved mostly by gradualism (Sellet, 124). Gradualism is generally hard to notice in a short period of time, for example small variations that suit an organism a little better to its environment are selected for; a few individuals or more individuals with more of helpful trait survive and a few more with less of helpful traits die, thus if change is slow, constant and consistent, gradually over a long period of time population changes. However much consideration must be placed on the comparison of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium which is change that occurs in spurts, there are periods of little change and periods of very huge changes in the evolution of different species as studied by archaeologist. The large changes are caused by genetic mutations. Studies of some fossil species show some encountered very slow changes in their evolution while some experienced rapid changes. Therefore gradualism is differentiated to population and phenotypic gradualism. Population gradualism studied by archaeologists proves that new traits are established in a population by increasing their frequency from a small fraction of the population to a majority of the same population. Phenotypic gradualism on the other hand provides that new traits even the ones with distinctive differences from the ancestral points are produced is small but visible steps (Palmer, 88). Lastly, through gradualism the past is vastly studied and findings made mostly through population gradualism which has proven effective unlike the much criticised phenotypic gradualism. The material remains are then analyzed and studied to shed clues on the ancient cultures and human activities. Through discovery of the “lost”, archaeology enables us to learn more about the people of the past ass well as the events that changed the way they lived and the reasons for such changes (Rudwick , 46). Understanding ancient human cultures through archaeological discovery also enables archaeologists to determine the changes that have occurred over times and the potential seasons for those changes. Conclusion In conclusion, uniformitarianism as well as the other scientific theories of such as gradualism, and catostrophism have widely been used not only to conceptualize the past but also to help understand the important geological processes that have occurred in the universe and how such processes have influenced events. Works Cited Baker, Victor. R. Catastrophism and uniformitarianism: logical roots and current relevance in geology. In Lyell: The past is the key to the present, eds. 143, pp. 171–182. London, United Kingdom: Geological Society.1998. Print. Browman, David L. and Douglas R. Givens. Stratigraphic excavation: The first "new archaeology." American Anthropologist 98.1(1996):80-95.Print. Gould, S. Jay. Is uniformitarianism necessary? American Journal of Science 263(1965): 223-228.Print. Hamblin, W. Kenneth and Eric H. Christiansen. Earth’s Dynamic Systems. 7th Ed. Prentice Hall. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Copyright: 1995. Pg. 182-184 Levin, Harold L. Earth’s Dynamic Systems. 5th Ed. Saunders College Publishing New York, NY. Copyright: 1996.Print. Sellet, F. Greaves. Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology of Mobility, Gainesville: University Press. 2006. Print. Palmer, Trevor, S. Catastrophism, Neocatastrophism and Evolution.  Nottingham: Trent University.1994.Print. Rudwick, Mark. J. Bursting the limits of time: The reconstruction of geohistory in the Age of Revolution. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.2005.Print. Read More