W.C. McKern and the Midwestern Taxonomic Method - Lyman, R. Lee (University of Alabama Press, 2003)
Includes historical documents by W.C. McKern and others
Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-298) and index
Taxonomic classification and biological taxonomy -- Developing the Midwestern Taxonomic Method, 1930-1935 -- Subsequent developments, 1935-1940 -- Applications, comments, and later proposals -- The Midwestern Taxonomic Method in light of biological systematics -- Culture type classification for midwestern North American archaeology / W.C. McKern (1932) -- A suggested classification of cultures / Carl E. Guthe (1932) -- Local types and the regional distribution of pottery-bearing cultures / W.C. McKern (1933) -- The problem of culture classification / W.C. McKern, Thorne Deuel, and Carl E. Guthe (1933) -- Certain culture classification problems in middle western archaeology / W.C. McKern (1934) -- Some assumptions and implications of the McKern classification system / Thorne Deuel (1937) -- Review of Rediscovering Illinois : archaeological explorations in and around Fulton County / W.C. McKern (1938) -- The McKern and related systems of classification / Thorne Deuel (1939) -- The Midwestern Taxonomic Method as an aid to archaeological culture study / W.C. McKern (1939) -- Application of the Midwestern Taxonomic Method / W.C. McKern (1940) -- Taxonomy and the direct historical approach / W.C. McKern (1942) -- Regarding midwestern archaeological taxonomy / W.C. McKern (1943) -- An inaccurate description of Midwestern Taxonomy / W.C. McKern (1944)
This book explains the deep influence of biological methods and theories on the practice of Americanist archaeology by exploring W.C. McKern's use of Linnaean taxonomy as the model for development of a pottery classification system. By the early 20th century, North American archaeologists had found evidence of a plethora of prehistoric cultures displaying disparate geographic and chronological distributions. But there were no standards or algorithms for specifying when a culture was distinct or identical to another in a nearby or distant region. Will Carleton McKern of the Milwaukee Public Mu