2. The use of archaeological/archeological techniques and data to study living cultures, especially current or recent aboriginal groups, such as the Inuit or Bushmen.
Ethnoarchaeology is the study of contemporary cultures with a view to understanding the behavioral relationships which underlie the production of material culture. It uses archaeological techniques and data to study these living cultures and uses ethnographic data to inform the examination of the archaeological record.
Ethnoarchaeology is a relatively new branch of the discipline, followed particularly in America. It seeks to compare the patterns recognized in the material culture from archaeological contexts with patterns yielded through the study of living societies.
The ethnoarchaeologist is particularly concerned with the manufacture, distribution, and use of artifacts, the remains of various processes that might be expected to survive, and the interpretation of archaeological material in the light of the ethnographic information.
Less materially oriented questions. such as technological development, subsistence strategies, and social evolution are also compared in archaeology and ethnolo, under the general heading of ethnographic analogy.