A means of identifying, analyzing and categorizing objects in Historical Archaeology.

In the analysis of the machete, the author examines not only the object itself, but the cultural significance of it and talks about how the original culture would interpret it as simply a tool and weapon of the poor farmers.

Some objects are meant to spread a message while some are products of necessity. The machete has been able to do both as an indirect effect of being a tool that was necessary at the time and a weapon that is capable of harming. However the extend to which an object signifies a deep and meaningful message about a particular culture does not limit it's cultural importance, it only makes such importance in the object harder to find.

Nobody ever thinks of a plan stapler as an essential and even cultural item that must have a prominent and deep meaning, but with enough observation and digging back to the roots of history, you can find intriguing facts and connections that can be made. Staples are only a byproduct of humanity's growth in written language and technology. They would not exist if machines like the typewriter and printer were not invented (both significant items on their own). To judge an object as historically important can turn out to be one sided and closed minded as there is signifigance is everything, and everything can be tied to a culture or a historical even that has either grown or reduced a culture.

These hooks make the object more interesting and offer a point of contrast that could be used when talking about cultures. One object can be associated with one ideal and be the opposite of that ideal. Taking the example of the machete, people view it as a destructive tool used for homocide, but historically it has saved many people and cultures from their downfall. This technique can make the reader intrigued and even invite more room for speculation as people will want to know what connections can be made between the two contrasting ideals. Such soeculation has the potential to create questions and invoke more thoughts about the background of the object and create a community discussion that argues about and shakes the current ideas about culture and society in both the present, past, and potentially future.

How long should the process of speculating be? I've always seen it as a process that can take a while depending on how detailed the object is. For something like the AIDS quilt, there is so much behind the entire project ranging from the visual aspects of our individual panels of the quilt to the in depth stories of the families and why they decided to memorialize their loved ones despite the heated political climate around the time. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/10/11/almost-30-years-later-people-are-still-impacted-by-the-aids-memorial-quilt/?utm_term=.b66b589fd879

Noticing every nuance of an object can bring out unnoticed details and can maybe bring up more questions about the object, these questions help us become more aware of the possible origins of the object. Mars is currently a planet being observed in astrology. Scientists have analyzed samples of dirt and are trying to describe the planet in all it's entirety, and it seems that the more than the notice about the planet, the more questions they have about it's possible origins. Patterns are found such as the polar icecaps once being oceans, and they expand on that in order to deduce the possibility of life.

Cultural significance is different from culture to culture, one culture will regard one thing as insignificant while the other will highly regard it. When doing an object analysis, one should know the history of the object and the culture that the object originated from. Without knowing this, people are likely to misinterpret the importance of an object or reject it. For example many people think machetes are things that only violent criminals use due to their growing presence in horror.

I understand that in analyzing an object, you have to be accurate in how you describe it, but more attention should be focused on what the object means, describing the object is merely convenient for people who don't know what the aforementioned object is.

I chose the supplemental source: "What is a Machete, Anyway?" written by John Cline. In the article, he explores the history and the cultural significance of the machete as a weapon and a common farming tool. Cline recalls the recent event of a man who got arrested for carrying a machete in a public space, and talks about the nature of the machete as a revolutionary object. The topic switches to a historical instance of an uprising in the 1800's led by five South American countries. William Walker was an American filibuster who controlled these nations for 2 years and was executed after a combined effort of multiple armies. A machete is used as the symbol of that event, and is seen as a commoner's weapon. He then goes into the origins of the machete as a agricultural tool first created in medieval Europe and spread to South America during Colonization. During the time, it was used by slaves and peasants and slaves. which furthers the idea that it was a farmer's tool and something used to protect the defenseless masses. Cline provides additional examples of how machetes have been an instrumental tool for revolution and some cases where they were used for violent displays of power, stating that it is a unique object in the sense that it's truly a multi purpose tool that have served the disadvantaged in times of turmoil and bondage.

In the process of analyzing these two pieces, I have come across many similarities and comparisons between Cline's piece, an example of a object analysis, and Haltman's description of a object analysis essay. While reading these two works, there were points where certain steps in Prownian Analysis that could be clearly identified in Cline's piece about the historical observation of the machete. Even though there was no clearn description in the article, Cline speculates about why society reacts to the object and offers a well rounded interpretive analysis about his chosen object. The ability to both read and annotate a guide and an example of an object analysis offers ample learning opportunity for making an object analysis. This assignment has cleared up the process of object analysis and made it more understandable, although it was not easy to complete. Reading these two pieces in light of each other required the ability to analyze, comprehend fully, then articulate thoughts into several text boxes. Being able to expand out of the range of words and use pictures enhanced the and simplified the process of explaining relevant thoughts.