- Title : Towards a Diversification of Research on Burials: Application of Network Visualization and the Concept of ‘Assemblage’
- Author : Ilhong Ko(HK Research Professor)
- Journal : Hanguk Sanggosa Hakbo 120
- Publication Date : 2023.5
- Abstract
Research on burials in archaeology has mainly involved the identification of tomb type and the classification of the material. Although such an arrangement of the data is necessary prior to analysis, the method of ‘grouping based on similarities or differences’, which has been commonly used to organize archaeological data, is not without its problems. This is because the existing method of classification cannot handle ‘outlier’ tombs that deviate from the general trend; it is also difficult to highlight the differences that exist between tombs grouped together based on similarity, or, conversely, the similarities between the tombs divided into different groups. In this paper, ‘network visualization’ was presented a san alternative method of organizing data to compensate for such problems. First of all, a theoretical review of ‘categorization’ and ‘classification’ was conducted in order to suggest how ‘network visualization’ could provide an alternative method of categorization. This possibility was demonstrated using the case study of the burials of the Sangwoon-ri site, in Wanju. In addition, Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of Assemblage was introduced, as a means of supporting a break away from essentialism in categorization. As a result, a new perspective on archaeological style, form, and type was proposed and it was argued, using the example of the Nangnang (Lelang) tombs, that the ‘sub-types’ of the tombs could be viewed as ‘events’ that appear in the ‘creation process of types’, rather than as fixed entities. Finally, visualization methods of multivariate statistical analysis results were also examined to confirm whether the methodological and epistemological possibilities of network visualization presented in this paper are unique to it. By presenting the archaeological usefulness of the concept of network visualization and Assemblage, the paper aims to stimulate further critical thought on the possibility of alternative methods of categorization that can consider similarities and differences together, or indeed the fluidity of styles, forms, and types.
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