Archaeology
Subtitle: the discipline of things
By: Bjørnar Olsen ... [et al.].
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Berkeley
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
ISBN-13: 9780520274167; 9780520274174; 9780520954007
Subjects: Material culture; Archaeology
Description: "Archaeology has always been marked by its particular care, obligation, and loyalty to things. While archaeologists may not share similar perspectives or practices, they find common ground in their concern for objects monumental and mundane. This book considers the myriad ways that archaeologists engage with things in order to craft stories, both big and small, concerning our relations with materials and the nature of the past. Literally the 'science of old things,' archaeology does not discover the past as it was but must work with what remains. Such work involves the tangible mediation of past and present, of people and their cultural fabric, for things cannot be separated from society. Things are us. This book does not set forth a sweeping new theory. It does not seek to transform the discipline of archaeology. Rather, it aims to understand precisely what archaeologists do and to urge practitioners toward a renewed focus on and care for things." -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Caring about things; title: The ambiguity of things : contempt and desire; title: Engagements with things : the making of archaeology; title: Digging deep : archaeology and excavation; title: Things in translation : documents and imagery; title: Futures for things : memory practices and digital translation; title: Timely things : from Argos to Mycenae and beyond; title: Making and the design of things : human beings and the shape of history; title: Getting on with things : a material metaphysics of care.