essay

CHAPTER FOUR How to construct a model: a personal memoir

ohio hopewell community organizationKent, Ohio • Published In 1997 • Pages: 105-128

By: Prufer, Olaf H..

Abstract
Prufer uses this chapter to point out that, 'There never was such a thing as a 'Prufer Model of Ohio Hopewell Settlement Pattern,' certainly nothing that in any way, shape or form, resembled or was intended to be a formal model….So, with [the] McGraw [site] in hand, I speculated ex nihilo. I never took these speculations seriously. I based them on the application of Occam's Razor…In other words, I played around on paper, long-hand, with the help of many martinis…Anybody who seriously thinks that this was intended to be a formal model… is sadly mistaken.' (page 123). Nevertheless, Prufer describes how he came to believe the Ohio Hopewell lived in dispersed hamlets or farmsteads away from the ceremonial earthworks and he briefly describes his work at the McGraw site.
Subjects
Identification
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Location
Cultural participation
Cereal agriculture
Settlement patterns
tradition
Hopewell
HRAF PubDate
2004
Region
North America
Sub Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Archaeologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field Date
1963
Coverage Date
Middle Woodland
Coverage Place
southern Ohio; United States
Notes
Olaf H. Prufer
Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-128)
LCCN
96027659
LCSH
Hopewell culture