Between Artifacts and Texts

by Andren, Anders

• ISBN13: 9780306455568
• ISBN10: 0306455560
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Plenum Pub Corp

Summary

The book is the first truly global survey of the relationship between artifacts and texts from historiographical, methodological, and analytical perspectives. Anders Andrén analyzes the crucial relationship between material culture and writing in ancient societies, employing examples from twelve major disciplines in historical archaeology and summarizing their role in five global methodological approaches. In the process, he underscores the fundamental importance of all historical archaeologies. This original, in-depth investigation is valuable reading for advanced undergraduates, graduate and postgraduate students, and instructors in any historical archaeological subject.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. The Paradox of the Historical Archaeologies	1	(8)
Chapter 2. Historical Archaeologies in Europe	9	(28)
The European Traditions	9	(28)
The Past as Utopia: Classical Archaeology	10	(15)
The Christian Golden Age: Medieval Archaeology	25	(12)
Chapter 3. Historical Archaeologies in the Middle East and Asia	37	(36)
The Middle East	37	(17)
The Origin or Cul-de-Sac of History: Egyptology	38	(5)
Paradise Lost: Mesopotamian Archaeology	43	(6)
Defending the Faith: Biblical Archaeology	49	(5)
Asia	54	(19)
Exotic and Familiar: Indian Archaeology	54	(8)
History as Morality: Chinese Archaeology	62	(6)
In Search of a New Identity: Japanese Archaeology	68	(5)
Chapter 4. Historical Archaeologies in Africa and America	73	(32)
Africa	73	(9)
Heart of Darkness: African Archaeology	73	(9)
America	82	(23)
America's Greece: Mexican Archaeology	83	(8)
The Past as a Laboratory: Peruvian Archaeology	91	(4)
The New Europe: Historical Archaeology in the United States	95	(10)
Chapter 5. The Field of Historical Archaeology	105	(40)
Introduction	105	(2)
The Field as Transgressing Traditions	107	(28)
Staging the Past: The Aesthetic Tradition	107	(6)
Giving Meaning to Writing: The Philological Tradition	113	(7)
Extending the Text: The Historical Tradition	120	(6)
Writing the History of Artifacts: The Tradition of Cultural History	126	(5)
Searching for Analogies: The Archaeological Tradition	131	(3)
Summing Up	134	(1)
The Field as Modern Discourse	135	(10)
Chapter 6. The Dialogue of Historical Archaeology	145	(34)
Introduction	145	(1)
Defining Practice	146	(7)
The Construction of the Context	153	(26)
Correspondence	157	(11)
Association	168	(3)
Contrast	171	(4)
Smaller and Larger Contexts	175	(4)
Chapter 7. Conclusion: Historical Archaeology as a Methodological Perspective	179	(6)
References	185	(24)
Index	209