Tracing Archaeology S Past

In 17 critical essays, the first book to address the historiography of archaeology evaluates how and why the history of archaeology is written. The emphasis in the first section is on how archaeologists use historical knowledge of their discipline. For example, it can help them to understand the origin of current archaeological ideas, to learn from past errors, and to apply past research to current questions. It can even be integrated into the new liberal arts curricula in an attempt to instruct students in critical thinking. The second section considers the sociopolitical context within which past archaeologists lived and worked and the contexts within which historians of archaeology write. The topics treated include the rise of capitalism and colonialism and the rise of "modern archaeology," the political contexts and changing form of the history of Mesoamerican archaeology, the decline to obscurity of once prominent archaeologists, and the institutional and ideological "fossilization" of American classical archaeology. The final section focuses on researching and presenting the history of archaeology. The authors discuss past archaeologists in light of their institutional affiliations, the use of historic methods to interpret past archaeological notes and collections, and the means of presenting the history of archaeology on videotape. The final paper offers a plan for documenting the many records (diaries, fieldnotes, correspondence, unpublished reports) in public and private hands that contain the history of archaeology.

An innovative multidisciplinary study of the relationship between visual perception and temporal meaning in ancient Greek literature and history writing

Tracing the Relational examines the recent emergence of relational ontologies in archaeological interpretation and how this perspective can help archaeologists better understand the past. Traditional representational approaches reflect modern or Western perspectives, which focus on the individual and see the world in terms of dichotomies that separate culture and nature, human and object, sacred and secular. In contrast, ancient societies saw themselves as connected to and entangled with other human and nonhuman entities. In order to gain deeper insight into how people in the ancient world lived, experienced, and negotiated their lives, contributors argue, archaeologists must explore the myriad relationships and entanglements between humans and other beings, places, and things. As contributors unravel these relationships, they demonstrate that movement is an inherent feature of these relational webs and is the driving force behind a continually shifting reality. Chapters focus on various regions and time periods throughout the Americas, tracing how movements between other-worldly dimensions, spirits and deities, and temporalities were integral to everyday life.

This study focuses on the development of archaeology as a discipline, tracing the milestones in the evolution of systematic excavation. It covers the entire history of archaeology from the "heroic age" (1450-1925), to the advanced stages of archaeology beg

V. Gordon Childe is probably the most widely read early archaeologist of the 20th century and one of the world's most renowned prehistorians. A thorough understanding of the evolution of Childe's theoretical perspective is crucial to an understanding of the foundations of social archaeology. For the first time, a diverse collection of Childe's writings have been brought together in one volume. These fourteen essays, from his earliest seminal work in 1935 to his reflective essay 'Retrospect' written in 1958 shortly before his death, document the progression of this dynamic thinker. Essays such as 'Archaeology and Anthropology' show the evolution of Childe's theories from a conception of the past as a trait-list conceptualization of culture to an understanding of the profound importance of social relations in transforming human history. His understanding of history evolved from a static notion into a dynamic conception that openly embraced social interaction and all that it entailed, a transformation that marked the earliest strains of social archaeology. The introduction by prominent anthropologists Thomas Patterson and Charles Orser places Childe's work in a larger context and explores Childe's ongoing value to modern readers. This volume will be of interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians of social archaeology.

This volume provides a forum for debate between varied approaches to the past. The authors, drawn from Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia, represent many different strands of archaeology. They address the philosophical issues involved in interpretation and a desire among archaeologists to come to terms with their own subjective approaches to the material they study, a recognition of how past researchers have also imposed their own value systems on the evidence which they presented.

There have been edited books on the archaeology of nomadism in various regions, and there have been individual archaeological and anthropological monographs, but nothing with the kind of coverage provided in this volume. Its strength and importance lies in the fact that it brings together a worldwide collection of studies of the archaeology of mobility. This book provides a ready-made reference to this worldwide phenomenon and is unique in that it tries to redefine pastoralism within a larger context by the term mobility. It presents many new ideas and thoughtful approaches, especially in the Central Asian region.