ABSTRACT
Edgeworth explains that all sciences have a basic "root metaphor", for example, Newtonian physics' universe-as-machine metaphor, and archaeology is no exception. He also explains that, even after the influence of the textual turn in material culture studies waned, archaeology maintains a 'material remains-as-record' metaphor, which "'covers over' the act of discovery" as discussions revolve around artifacts as 'manuscripts', 'texts', 'codes', 'testaments', 'palimpests', or 'translations'. The prehistoric Cottonlandia specimens can be characterized generally as 'crappy pottery' and described as thick, hand-built, unfinished, and undecorated. The Cottonlandia pottery sherds traveled with the University College London (UCL) petrography course, where Prof. Q used them to demonstrate the preparation of thin-section slides. "Practice is about meaning as an experience of everyday life” and that meaning is negotiated and re-negotiated continually throughout our social interactions. The language that archaeologists use is part of the practice that creates, reflects, and mediates experience of and with artifacts.
