Taxonomy We recognize that every artifact, however small or unimportant for a culture, can be viewed in in terms of form, function and meaning. What archaeologists do is similar to what all other scientists do. We build systems of classification of materials we find.
Taxonomy is the rules used to classify and the groups of objects generated.
It is usually hierarchical, that is, branching and layered. For archaeologists beginning analysis, to look at anything but the form is very dangerous. Every artifact has a series of characteristics, or attributes , that we can see or measure. The very basic attributes are such things as color, shape, size, weight, material. We begin by making groupings of objects that share attributes.