From Ideology to Methodology: The Term “Charon’s Obol” in Modern Archaeological Discourse
Journal: Izvestia of the Ural federal university Series 2 Humanities and Arts
Year: 2021

This article deals with the paradoxical situation associated with the use of the term “Charon’s obol” in modern archaeological discourse. The term “Charon’s obol” turned into an unspoken normative historiographical rule and an “indisputable” explanatory model. At the same time, the term itself is essentially “empty”, and does not need to be argued, being the evidence arising from the “natural” logic of archaeological research. Archaeological discourse turns the discovery of “Charon’s obol” into