Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium: Introducing Current Perspectives

255 Pages·2017·2.43 MB·English

by  Oliver J. T. Harris

ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY IN
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
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 archaeolo-
gists regularly employ. Bringing together different strands of global archaeological
theory and placing them in dialogue, the book explores the similarities and dif-
ferences 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.
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.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL
THEORY IN THE NEW
MILLENNIUM
Introducing Current Perspectives
Oliver J. T. Harris
Craig N. Cipolla
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Oliver J. T. Harris and Craig N. Cipolla
The right of Oliver J. T. Harris and Craig N. Cipolla to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Harris, Oliver J.T., author. | Cipolla, Craig N., 1978- co-author.
Title: Archaeological theory in the new millennium / Oliver J.T. Harris,
Craig N. Cipolla.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016056489 (print) | LCCN 2017017899 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315713250 (E-book) | ISBN 9781138888708 (hardback :
alkaline paper) | ISBN 9781138888715 (paperback : alkaline paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Archaeology—Philosophy. | Archaeology—Social aspects.
| Social change.
Classification: LCC CC72 (ebook) | LCC CC72 .H365 2017 (print) |
DDC 930.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056489
ISBN: 978-1-138-88870-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-88871-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71325-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo Std
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
For Sarah, my mother and teacher – OJTH
For Maya and Siany – CNC

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
viii Contents
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 87
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 processual and postprocessual archaeologies? 146
Contents ix
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