Final answer:
In order for seriation to work as a dating method, several assumptions must hold true: artifacts must come from the same culture, be of the same type, have been used over a short span of time, and exhibit variations in style or design. These assumptions are valid to the extent that scholars can accurately identify and analyze artifacts, but there may be limitations and uncertainties in applying seriation in archaeological contexts.
Step-by-step explanation:
Assumptions necessary for seriation to work
In order for seriation to work as a dating method, the following assumptions must be true:
- Artifacts being compared must come from the same culture or group.
- Artifacts being compared must be of the same type, such as pottery or tools.
- Artifacts being compared must have been used over a relatively short span of time.
- There must be variations in the style or design of the artifacts.
These assumptions are valid in the real world to the extent that scholars can accurately identify artifacts from the same culture and type, and observe variations in their style or design. However, there may be limitations and uncertainties in applying seriation to archaeological contexts, and additional dating methods may be used to refine the chronology.