#archaeological theory

[chaotic-archaeologist]

[armthearmour]

A large Flint fishtail knife, Egypt, Predynastic, ca. 3850-3650, housed at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. There's a form of archaeological theory (known as Culture History) where artifacts are categorized into unique "cultures" based on their specific qualities. This is somewhat outdated now, but this piece was apparently discovered when this was popular. It belongs to the Naqada I, so named for the town of Naqada in Egypt.

[aal-archaeology]

On most accounts archaeology becomes the perception and experience of objectivity, the artefacts of the past. Such objectivity is regarded as sacred, disembodied, essential, as constituting an essence. The archaeological object is present to our senses, real, with immediate proximity. Furthermore, the object as object is regarded as being theory and value-free, in-itself, identical to itself, transcendent. Objects become, in such a conception, archai (originals), outward manifestations of implicit historical essence. History is supposedly to be found in the archaeological object. The artefact is a punctum, a punctual presence, piercing time; it is the mark of history, the historical moment. Possess in consciousness this absolute spiritual plenitude, this property, the past immediately present with us, and you have history. This is a deference, a deferment of meaning to the object. Write up this experience and interpretation and theory can supposedly follow.

1987. Shanks and Tilley, “Social Theory and Archaeology,” 9.

[messoamerica]

An epistemological assessment of the impact of indigenous histories suggests that North American archaeology is, and should be, firmly rooted in anthropology (Kelley and Williamson 1996). As archaeology continues to engage with postcolonial theory and endeavors to decolonize its concepts and practices, those roots will become more apparent. Recent heritage research among the Inuit, Dene, and other First Nations has highlighted the political value of archaeology to indigenous peoples while demonstrating the fruitful outcomes of collaborative work.

T.J. Kristenson & R. Davis, “The Legacies of Indigenous History in Archaeological Thought.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (2015) p. 535

[the-frozone-layer]

My setup from the last two days. It's Reading Week all right

[audkitty]

Talking about our midterm I casually mentioned that I described processual archaeologists as being swayed by the atompunk seduction of radiocarbon dating and my classmates stared at me like I was the crazy one

[arwriterlove-blog]

Contributions of Feminism to Archaeological Theory

In its stages of conception, archaeology was considered to be merely a sub-discipline of both history and anthropology, and, in many cases, was restricted as a rich man’s hobby. Developed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the initial episode in the history of theoretical archaeology is usually referred to as ‘culture history’, a means by which early archaeologists established rudimentary predictive models patterning human behavior within designated temporal and spatial contexts via the interpretation of artefactual evidence.Though universally popular during the first half of the twentieth century, culture history was rebelled against during the 1960s.

[wendynoah]

Hi

I am frustrated. 

“Death by Theory” might be the best and the worst book I’ve ever read. 

I love the jokes. I love the theory that is explained so well. I love the story, even though there’s like no murder whatsoever wth.

But that Epilogue. That damned Epilogue. 

I’m a sucker for “where they are now” type of things. It’s my jam. Like yas, give me more of that. Yet here I am shaking my fists at the ceiling, angrily whispering “Death of the Author” cause that bish broke me. 

I’m sorry, Sean is a what? An assistant manager at the Spa? wha...

Dear Dr. Praetzellis, you killed me.