Debating Archaeological Empiricism examines the current intellectual turn in archaeology, primarily in its prehistoric and classical branches, characterized by a return to the archaeological evidence. Each chapter in the book approaches the empirical from a different angle, illuminating contemporary views and uses of the archaeological material in interpretations and theory building. The inclusion of differing perspectives in this collection mirrors the conceptual landscape that characterizes the discipline, contributing to the theoretical debate in archaeology and classical studies. As well as giving an important snapshot of the practical as well as theoretical uses of materiality in archaeologies today, this volume looks to the future of archaeology as an empirical discipline.
Author(s): Charlotta Hillerdal, Johannes Siapkas
Series: Routledge Studies in Archaeology 18
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: viii+199
Debating Archaeological Empiricism: The Ambiguity of Material Evidence
Contents
Introduction: Debating Archaeological Empiricism
FRAGMENTS
ONTOLOGY
EPISTEMOLOGY
A RUPTURE?
ANTHROPOLOGY
CONNECTIVITY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION
REFERENCES
1 Julian Thomas: Why ‘The Death of Archaeological Theory’?
INTRODUCTION: CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD
LITERARY THEORIES
FROM DECONSTRUCTION TO CULTURE WARS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL REASONING AND PARADIGM CHANGE
THE ASSIMILATION AND RECONTEXTUALISATION OF IDEAS
THE NEW NORMAL?
CONCLUSION: FROM DECONSTRUCTION TO CONDITIONS OF POSSIBILITY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTE
REFERENCES
Johannes Siapkas: Comment
REFERENCE
Christopher Witmore: Comment
REFERENCES
2 Christopher Witmore: Archaeology and the Second Empiricism
INTRODUCTION
PROPOSITION ONE: WHAT IS GIVEN IN EXPERIENCE SHOULD NOT BE OVERSIMPLIFIED
PROPOSITION TWO: AVOID THE BIFURCATION
PROPOSITION THREE: DATA ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY REAL AND ARTIFICIAL
FROM AN ORDINARY EMPIRICISM TO EMPIRICISM 2.0
CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTES
REFERENCES
Frands Herschend: Comment
Michael Fotiadis: Comment
NOTES
REFERENCES
3 Katherine Hauptman: Public Archaeological Challenges in the 2010s. Learning from Participatory Action in Practice
PART 1: THE GAP
Nerd Knowledge
New Aims, Old Practices
Different Landscapes of Interest
PART 2: LEARNING FROM PUBLIC ARCHAEOLOGY AND PARTICIPATORY ACTION
Participatory Action
Towards a Public Archaeology
Public Archaeology at The Swedish History Museum
The Generative Approach
Analysing Public Aims and Outcomes
Future Memories
Archaeologist for a Day
Suburban Home Grounds
Search for the Lost City
PART 3: SUMMING UP—APPROACHING IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Participatory Action Research
Public Aims and Outcomes
Learning Aims
Learning More through Participatory Action
MAKING ARCHAEOLOGY GOOD TO THINK WITH: CHALLENGES INTO THE 2010S
Engagement
Dialogue
Participation
NOTES
REFERENCES
Charlotta Hillerdal: Comment
REFERENCES
Julian Thomas: Comment
REFERENCES
4 Michael Fotiadis: Students First, Please!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTES
REFERENCES
Frands Herschend: Comment
Katherine Hauptman: Comment
PASSIONATE ARCHAEOLOGY: FROM PASSION TO LOSING FAITH
IN-HERITAGE
RE-INVENTING ARCHAEOLOGY
THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW
TEACHING REINVENTED
NOTE
REFERENCES
5 Frands Herschend: Archaeology Is History or It’s History
INTRODUCTION
GRABBING THE PAST, HAMLET MAKES HISTORY
PRINCE HAMLET IN AFRICA
NOTES
REFERENCES
Katherine Hauptman: Comment
ARCHAEOLOGY, OR MAKING SOMETHING NO NON-BEING CAN HOLD
The Plot
Act One—the Nature(s) of Archaeology
Act Two—Making Hamlet(s)
Act Three—the Human Culture(s)
REFERENCES
Johannes Siapkas: Comment
6 Charlotta Hillerdal: Empirical Tensions in the Materialities of Time
EVEN THINGS THAT ARE TRUE CAN BE PROVED
A MATERIALITY OF TIME?
NEO-EMPIRICAL TIME
NOTES
REFERENCES
Julian Thomas: Comment
REFERENCES
Michael Fotiadis: Comment
NOTE
REFERENCES
7 Johannes Siapkas: Neo-empirical Mixtures
INTRODUCTION
DIVIDES AND TURNS
AN OUTLINE OF NEO-EMPIRICISM
THE CULTURAL TURN AND NEO-EMPIRICISM
Cultural Turn Basics
Constructive Criticism
Agent and Actor I
Actions and Practices
In-Betweenness
Agents and Actors
Actor-Network-Theory and Machines
Power
Materiality—not Animism
Modernity
QUANTITATIVE NETWORKS
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Christopher Witmore: Comment
REFERENCES
Charlotta Hillerdal: Comment
PARADIGMS
POWER AND SYMMETRY
ESSENTIALISM AND BIFURCATIONS
REFERENCES
Gavin Lucas: Debating Archaeological Empiricism. Some Closing Comments
REFERENCES
Contributors
Index
