Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium: Introducing Current Perspectives

by Oliver J.T. Harris, Craig N. Cipolla

Overview

Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium provides an account of the changing world of archaeological theory and a challenge to more traditional narratives of archaeological thought. It charts the emergence of the new emphasis on relations as well as engaging with other current theoretical trends and the thinkers archaeologists regularly employ. Bringing together different strands of global archaeological theory and placing them in dialogue, the book explores the similarities and differences between different contemporary trends in theory while also highlighting potential strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.

Written in a way to maximise its accessibility, in direct contrast to many of the sources on which it draws, Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium is an essential guide to cutting-edge theory for students and for professionals wishing to reacquaint themselves with this field.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138888715
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/01/2017
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Oliver J. T. Harris is Associate Professor of Archaeology in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK.

Craig N. Cipolla is Associate Curator of North American Archaeology, Royal Ontario Museum, Canada.

Table of Contents

List of figures x

List of boxes xii

List of tables xiv

Acknowledgements xv

1 An introduction to contemporary archaeological theory: confronting dualisms 1

Introduction 1

Beyond paradigms 3

Theory in the new millennium 4

Imagining theory 6

Theory and us 8

Structure of the book 9

2 Beyond paradigms: a potted history of archaeological thought 13

Introduction: understanding a pit with different theories 13

Culture history 16

Processual archaeology 19

Postprocessual archaeology 22

Tracing a history of dualisms 27

The problem with dualisms 31

Conclusions: the three professors 32

3 Between thoughts and things: theorising practice and agency 35

Introduction: encountering the mystery object 35

Theorising practice and agency, or what we do 38

Taking influence from anthropology and sociology 39

Archaeologies of practice and agency 44

Reconsidering power, cultural interaction and history 46

Conclusions: some final thoughts on the mystery object 49

4 Situating things in society: identity and personhood 52

Introduction: who were they and who are we? 52

From practice to identity 54

Performing sex and gender 57

Performing personhood 61

Embodied identities 66

Conclusions: identity beyond our assumptions 67

5 Secret lives of things: object agency and biography 71

Introduction: a museum visit 71

Object agency 73

Enchanting the collector 77

Object biography 80

Tracking colonial 'lives' 81

Conclusions: back to the museum 85

6 Things make people?: considering materiality, phenomenology, experience and entanglement Introduction: making the Amesbury Archer 87

What is materiality? 89

Dialectics and objectification 90

Phenomenology 95

Experiencing the world 101

Entanglements 104

Conclusions: person makes arrow, arrow makes person 106

7 Mediating the world: archaeological semiotics 109

Introduction: signs in a lonely forest 109

Two sides of Saussure 112

Three cheers for Peirce 116

Archaeological semiotics 120

Conclusions: back to the forest 126

8 Finding symmetry: Actor-Network-Theory and new materialism 129

Introduction: do guns kill people or do people kill people? 129

To modernity, and beyond! The challenge of Bruno Latour 131

Archaeology, the discipline of things 134

From symmetry to new materialism 138

New materialism in archaeology 141

Conclusions: beyond process and postprocessual archaeologies? 146

9 Multi-species archaeology: people, plants and animals 152

Introduction: archaeology beyond the human 152

Archaeology, plants and animals 154

Thinking about a multi-species world 156

More-than-human archaeology 162

Beyond history versus evolution? 165

Biosemiotics 167

Conclusions: back to domestication 168

10 'Others': postcolonialism, the ontological turn and colonised things 171

Introduction: from stones of Others to stones as Others 171

Postcolonial theory: understanding and representing Others in a shared world 175

New animism and Other worlds 180

In defence of things 185

Conclusions: different approaches to 'Others' 188

11 On breaking walls and building relations: a conclusion 193

Introduction 193

A new paradigm? 195

A dialogue between authors 198

Conclusions: together again 212

References 216

Index 235

Editorial Reviews

"If you believe that theory is something you can ignore; if you believe that it is hopelessly relativist, post-processualist or, worse, post-modernist; if you seek a relatively short, refreshingly clear, and historically insightful overview of archaeological theory—and by that I mean social theory—since the 1980s; or if you teach a course on archaeological theory, then you need to read, and have your students read, this book. I say this because Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium is an engaging, concise, and forward-looking survey of theory in the field today, written by Oliver J. T. Harris and Craig N. Cipolla, that correctly targets the upcoming generation of archaeologists."- Timothy R. Pauketat, Illinois State Archaeological Survey and Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

"The manual is useful as it gathers the main set of fashionable ideas by which a section of the modern generation of archaeologists navigate their data, interpretations and thoughts. As such, it provides an excellent characterisation of the current state of this form of archaeological research, which deserves reflection." - Leo S. Klejn, Saint Petersburg State University, Russia

"Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium reads easily. It is clear and simple even when addressing complex issues. It is a slender book with generous referencing, thoughtful illustrations, boxed digests of seminal thinkers which act as handy aidememoires and thematic cartoons amplifying the theories being discussed. The simplicity of delivery is deceptive. It is a book that can serve either the new student or the advanced theorist." - Pamela Armstrong, Journal of Skyscape Archaeology

From the Publisher