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Archaeology and Texts: Subservience or Enlightenment
Abstract
An overview of the relationship between archaeology and history is presented as the context in which to situate the argument that a rapprochement between the disciplines can be achieved only if we begin to think of texts and objects as having had efficacy in the past rather than just as evidence about it. Discussions of the meaning of material culture and the power of texts conclude with the suggestion that historical archaeologists need to be more cognizant of the latter. A case-study from the Roman world is used to illustrate the fact that texts can be both instruments of oppression and vehicles for enlightenment and liberation.
... In many cases, these factors are described anecdotally and rely on rich historical information on changing political conditions, which often occur in such rapid time-frames that they cannot be assessed to high resolution by archaeological indicators. These conditions are best viewed using both historical and archaeological sources, a synergy within which various textual claims may be viewed in parallel with the reality of the material record, and vice-versa (Brumfiel 2003;Marcus 1993; Moreland 2001Moreland , 2006Morrison and Lycett 1997; Trautmann and Sinopoli 2002). The interplay of imperial claims and on the ground reality is not one which terminates with the empire itself; rather, it is one that continues to influence the component parts of the whole during and after the process of imperial collapse as factions and regions build and shape the political empire. ...
... In many cases, these factors are described anecdotally and rely on rich historical information on changing political conditions, which often occur in such rapid time-frames that they cannot be assessed to high resolution by archaeological indicators. These conditions are best viewed using both historical and archaeological sources, a synergy within which various textual claims may be viewed in parallel with the reality of the material record, and vice-versa (Brumfiel 2003;Marcus 1993; Moreland 2001Moreland , 2006Morrison and Lycett 1997; Trautmann and Sinopoli 2002). The interplay of imperial claims and on the ground reality is not one which terminates with the empire itself; rather, it is one that continues to influence the component parts of the whole during and after the process of imperial collapse as factions and regions build and shape the political empire. ...
... The Vijayanagara Research Project (VRP), led by Dr. George Michell and Dr. John Fritz and M.S. Nagaraja Rao, undertook detailed architectural studies of the capital, documenting monumental architecture, including temple complexes and administrative structures, as well as a host of other less imposing structures that together present a rich picture of spatial relationships at the capital over time (Fritz and Michell 1984, 1985a, 1985b, 1991Michell 1983Michell , 1985Michell , 1990Michell , 1991. Beyond the 30 square kilometer core area of the capital, the Vijayanagara Metropolitan Survey (VMS), 1987-1997, co-directed by Dr. Carla M. Sinopoli (University of Michigan) and Dr. Kathleen D. Morrison (University of Chicago), documented over 800 sites in the c. 450 sq km fortified zone surrounding the capital (Morrison andSinopoli 1996, 2006;Sinopoli and Morrison 1991, 2006, 2007; project member Robert Brubaker conducted important research on the extensive military fortifications (Brubaker 2004(Brubaker , 2014. This is perhaps the most significant regional survey that has been conducted in South Asia to date. ...
The Keladi-Ikkeri Nayaka kings (c. 1499-1763 C.E.), emerge in the historical record first as regional rulers under the Vijayanagara Empire. They later parlayed their authority into independent statehood during the long process of imperial decline. Among the methods of governance deployed by Vijayanagara throughout its imperial regions was the creation of nayaka ruler positions, a contract for leadership rights based on military and financial obligations to the central authority. The degree to which nayakas were independent or subordinate is debated in the historical literature, as are the means by which nayakas established and maintained local sovereignty. I argue that Keladi-Ikkeri Nayaka sovereignty was constituted through a political process which consolidated authority at the regional level, selectively managed vertical integration with higher order political contemporaries and their subject population, and advantageously cultivated horizontal integration with individuals and corporate groups.
This research incorporates archaeological and historical sources and is grounded in anthropological perspectives on the political dynamics of pre-modern states and empires. It addresses the dynamics of political process, investigating relationships between imperial regions and cores, and long-term processes of regional governance under higher level political change. The Keladi-Ikkeri Nayakas ruled over a territory in what is today northern Karnataka state in south India, occupying a sequence of three capitals at Keladi, Ikkeri, and Bidnur. This work presents an analysis of the political process of regional governance through discussion of the contribution of archaeological data to discussion of the following themes: territorial sovereignty and military control as evidenced by fortification (or lack thereof); the role of courtly culture in establishing and legitimating regional governance as evidenced by a palace area and other material culture of elite consumption; elite patronage of religious institutions and elite patronage as evidenced by temple architecture and Keladi-Ikkeri donor inscriptions; aspects of participation in local and long-distance economy as evidenced by local production (e.g., goods such as earthenware ceramics, agricultural products, and processing areas) and by participation in long distance trade (e.g. Chinese porcelain, East Asian glaze wares); and an exploration of autonomy in local custom which would illuminate relations of subjection versus freedom.
... 20 Looking back on previous generations of scholarship, Moreland comments that "the relationship between archaeology and history was, until quite recently, akin to that between servant and master." 21 That Finkelstein should resist the long precedence given over to texts by historians is not, then, his resistance alone. Nor is Finkelstein the only scholar who has sought to redress the imbalance as to what type of evidence factors into histories devoted to ancient Israel. ...
... So Julian Thomas, from an archaeological vantage point, observes how "language is the means by which 78 Even in Jones and Alberti's rich discussion of the notion of "After Interpretation," the shift to ontology, material agency, and posthumanism within their study is unable to dislodge the human subject from the results of archaeological analysis, where the move from "Interpreting Subject" to the "Relational Person" nevertheless finds the human individual as essential to the interpretive process. Jones and Albert, "After Interpretation," [18][19][20][21][22]. 79 the material world is revealed to us," providing "the concepts at our disposal to comprehend them." ...
This study examines debates surrounding what evidence, textual or archaeological, deserves priority within matters of historical interpretation as they pertain to the history of ancient Israel. Rather than resolving this debate, however, this investigation problematizes the premises that undergird approaches that accord precedence to one type of evidence over another. Drawing on theories of assemblage, this study concludes with a sketch of how an alternative interpretive framework might be conceived.
... The historical archaeology of Korea has been traditionally regarded as a subdiscipline of ancient history, as is the case in many countries of the Old World (Champion 1990;Moreland 2006;Thurston 1997). Its major roles have been to supplement ancient historical records and to provide events described in historical documents with material evidence (W. ...
... Historical events are useful in reconstructing the past, but direct connections between specific historical events and material culture changes are both theoretically and methodologically problematic. Setting aside the issue of writers' biases inherent in historical texts (Andrén 1998;Champion 1990;Kosso 2001;Leone 1988;Moreland 2006;Paynter 2000), chronologies and models based on this approach are easily biased, as in the case of our original model. Our analysis suggests that radiocarbon dating, similar to other lines of archaeological evidence, can provide alternative explanations that historical records cannot. ...
Relying heavily upon historical records to build archaeological chronologies, many Korean historical archaeologists question the utility of radiocarbon dating. To challenge this tendency, we test a model based on historical records by analyzing radiocarbon dates. We dated two bulk samples from Hongryeonbong Fortress II, Seoul, South Korea, which is known historically to have been occupied between A.D. 500 and 551. By dividing bulk samples into smaller aliquots, we dated 40 subsamples and statistically estimated consensus dates. The consensus dates do not support expectations of the historical model, as they do not lie within the temporal range provided by historical records. We propose an alternative model that explains both the radiocarbon dates and the historical records. It is suggested that radiocarbon dating can be successfully applied to the reconstruction of historical periods and is a way of mitigating possible biases of models based solely on historical records.
... Our interest in exploring writing materialities cross-culturally is also inspired by the work of several scholars who also challenge the traditional disciplinary division between archaeology and philology (e.g. Moreland 2001;2006;cf. Bottéro 1992;. "Textaided archaeology" (Hawkes 1954; see also Little 1992) and discussions of text and archaeology come closer to providing integrated understandings of the written pasts but nevertheless embody a paradigm where text is a largely immaterial source about the past. ...
... The case studies in this volume highlight the kinds of additional insight gained by investigating substance, surface and medium (albeit variously defined), and their implications for the content meaning of writing. Moreover, this focus on material properties encourages clearer articulation and reflexive consideration of the distinction between graphical evidence as a source about the past, and how an object was also constitutive of that past (Moreland 2001;2006). ...
... Se parte de considerar que tanto la cultura material como los documentos circularon en una esfera social con funciones, significaciones, objetivos y relacionadas a actores particulares, si bien tienen distinta naturaleza, escala y resolución. Las fuentes y los elementos del registro arqueológico son los resultantes de un mismo proceso social, que deben ser integrados en el proceso interpretativo (Moreland 2006;Wilkie 2006). De esta manera, ambos -registro material y escrito-tuvieron y tienen un rol activo en la construcción de la vida social (Beaudry et al. 2007). ...
RESUMEN En este trabajo se presenta al sitio El Santuario I, ubicado sobre la ruta 11 a 3 km del Río de la Plata en el Partido de Magdalena (Buenos Aires). Las excavaciones sistemáticas permitieron recuperar materiales vítreos pertenecientes a recipientes de bebidas alcohólicas, restos faunísticos que corresponden en su mayoría a especies domésticas (Ovis aries y Bos taurus), elementos metálicos (clavos, bombilla y otros) y cerámicos (pipas de caolín). Se presenta una caracterización general de los conjuntos materiales. El análisis de la procedencia y cronología de los materiales permiten situar al sitio arqueológico en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. Las fuentes documentales relevadas fueron mapas, planos catastrales y duplicados de mensura. La zona, otorgada en merced desde 1636, registra una amplia historia productiva dedicada a la ganadería, hasta la actualidad. A partir de las evidencias analizadas, se interpreta al sitio como un área de consumo y descarte de grupos criollos, posiblemente relacionado con tareas agropecuarias. De esta forma, además de la presentación del sitio, se pretende aportar acerca de la conformación de las identidades colectivas en la ruralidad pampeana en la consolidación de la sociedad moderna a partir de la estancia como unidad productiva en la zona.
... Connecting material culture to a specific agent is normally a problem; most of the archaeological record is anonymous and silent, even though we are well aware that it was made by people, individually or as members in a group. Even when we know the names of the persons who once lived at a specific site, we can seldom link individual objects to a specific person (Dobres and Robb 2000:11;Gilchrist 2009:388;Giles 2007;Knapp and van Dommelen 2008;Moreland 2001Moreland , 2006Robb 2010). In this case, the connection between person and object is often obvious. ...
This paper examines how agents inscribed their persona in buildings during the Renaissance in Scania in present-day Sweden. Through an analysis of stone tablets and timber beams with inscriptions, images, and dates, questions of identity and individuality are highlighted. The objects were often placed above doors in noble country residences or in buildings belonging to the urban elite. The paper discusses who was able to see and understand the messages communicated by the buildings, and when, how, and why the tradition of putting up this type of object on buildings emerged in a Scandinavian context.
... 7 E.g., Moorey 1994, 141-66;Potts 1997, 138-63. 8 These issues are expertly addressed by Moreland (2006) for the wider discipline and Gates (2005) in the Near Eastern context. 9 Postgate 1992, 66-70; van de Mieroop 2004, 79-118. ...
While pottery is the most abundant form of material culture found at Mesopotamian archaeological sites, references to pottery vessels in cuneiform texts are comparatively infrequent. Beyond one-to-one identification of common vessel names with archaeological pot types, rarely have these two sources of evidence been integrated to expand our understanding of Mesopotamian peoples' perceptions of, and engagements with, their material world. This article develops an innovative methodology that is based on analysis of second-millennium BCE texts in combination with excavated ceramics from the Sealand-period site of Tell Khaiber in southern Iraq (ca. 1600–1475 BCE). It begins by investigating the broader repertoire of pottery nomenclature to sketch out the primary use-contexts of Mesopotamian vessels, before conducting a contextual analysis of vessel names in the Tell Khaiber archive and in the Sealand-period tablets in the Schøyen Collection. Vessel use-contexts are mapped across the excavated areas of Tell Khaiber's Fortified Building to understand whether the vessel uses suggested by the texts are borne out in context. This process provides fresh insights into the material basis of the little-understood Sealand period, while also recognizing the complex ways in which names and vessels operated contingently in the social reproduction of an ancient craft tradition.1
... 7 This trend can be considered as part of a wider scholarly debate about the necessity of integrating historical and archaeological data: see at least the first issue of Archaeology and Text: A Journal for the Integration of Material Culture with Written Documents in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East 1 (2017). On a wide perspective: Moreland 2006, 135-151. See also Wilburn/Cook/Gates-Foster 2014Davoli 2001. ...
... In the past, geoarchaeo logical methods have been scarcely represented in the study of the medieval period, perhaps as a consequence of a general attitude towards archaeo logy as ancillary or illustrative to the written sources of this time (see Moreland 2006). Recent geoarchaeo logical work is contesting this misconception and demonstrating that geoarchaeo logy and micromorpho logy can strongly contribute to the understanding of many different aspects of sites from the last millennium. ...
This paper presents an overview of methodological and theoretical advances in the geoarchaeological study of towns in north-west Europe, c. ad 750-1450. The interpretations based on these new results are anchored within a theoretical framework of ‘Biographies of Place’. This framework offers a strong fit with geoarchaeological methods, and through five themes related to urbanism this paper shows a perspective that bridges geoarchaeology and historical context, and allows researchers to challenge accepted narratives that have to a large degree been reliant on the same sets of material evidence. By illustrating the potential of these geoarchaeological methods and showcasing their specific contributions, this paper aims to show not only that, but also how, different geoarchaeological methods can most fruitfully be built into research designs of North European medieval towns. This high-definition approach allows us to come a step closer to a more detailed picture of early medieval and Viking Age urban communities.
... El abordaje implicó una confrontación crítica y comparativa entre diversos tipos de fuentes correspondientes a distintos períodos temporales. El objetivo fue encontrar silencios, inconsistencias, contradicciones y recurrencias no solo en la documentación histórica, sino entre ésta y la historiográfica (Mallon 1994;Johnson 1996;Jones 1999;Hall 2000, Moreland 2006, entre otros). Considero que esta es una de las maneras en la que es posible identificar y superar algunos los sesgos inherentes a las fuentes, como se ejemplificará en el desarrollo del trabajo. ...
Based on my research on the structuring of interethnic relations in the framework of the Spanish colonization of the Patagonian coast in the late 18th century, in this paper I will present information about the genealogy of Cacica María. I will offer arguments for not only her tehuelche origin, but about the ties that her family holds with the aforementioned colonial enclaves, especially with the settlement of Puerto Deseado (Santa Cruz province). In this regard, I am interested in incorporating both unpublished historical information as well as sources edited, although scarcely deepened in the bibliography consulted. Beyond the genealogy of the cacica, it also sought to contribute to knowledge about both intra and interethnic relations as well as the territories of southern tehuelches in the transition from the 18th to 19th centuries, marked by deep political and social changes.
... La conservación de documentación escrita provoca una falsa dicotomía que es necesario corregir: fuentes escritas contra fuentes materiales. Esta dicotomía aparentemente se resuelve interpretando fuente escrita como igual a élite y fuente material como igual a pueblo llano, lo que conlleva graves problemas interpretativos (Moreland, 2006). ...
Resumen
Durante el Medievo la arquitectura fortificada es un elemento fundamental en la estructuración del territorio y la articulación de las relaciones de poder propias del feudalismo. Por ello, este tipo de edificaciones no son estáticas, sino que varían en su forma a lo largo del tiempo según requiere el adecuado ejercicio de sus funciones. Resulta pues, imprescindible el estudio de las fortalezas y sus transformaciones en su materialidad misma, además del tradicional uso de las fuentes escritas.
La fortaleza de Vimianzo, situado en el corazón de la Terra de Soneira, es un buen ejemplo de arquitectura castral bajomedieval gallega, con una historia documentada desde el siglo XIII. El objetivo de este trabajo es trazar una primera propuesta de evolución general de la fortaleza de Vimianzo, empleando la lectura de paramentos propia de la Arqueología de la Arquitectura y el análisis pormenorizado de los resultados de las excavaciones realizadas en el interior de la fortaleza, contrastándolo con las fuentes escritas. Se analizará así con esta metodología interdisciplinar las transformaciones en esta arquitectura defensiva con el paso de los siglos y los cambios en sus propietarios y funcionalidad.
Abstract
In Medieval times, fortified architecture is a core element in the territory structuration and the organization of the feudal power relationships. Thus, this type of buildings is not static, but it varies in their form through time according to its functionality. Therefore, it is essential to study the fortresses and their transformations in their own materiality, besides the traditional use of the written record.
The castle of Vimianzo, in the heart of Soneira’s land, is a good example of Galician Late Middle Ages castral architecture, with a documented history dating back to the 13th century. The objective of this research is to draw a first general evolution proposal of the Vimianzo fortress. The methodology used includes the stratigraphic analysis of the walls sequences of Building Archaeology and the detailed examination of the archaeological excavations carried out in the fortress, contrasting them with the written sources. With this interdisciplinary methodology, the transformations in this defensive architecture through centuries and the changes in the ownership and functionality of the castle will be studied.
... Suele apuntarse por último el desfase entre las horquillas cronológicas de la documentación, que puede acotarse a un día exacto, y el registro arqueológico, que puede abarcar más de un siglo. Se tiende habitualmente a pasar por alto, como apuntó J. Moreland (2006;2007;2013), que las fuentes escritas poseen también una importante dimensión material que cumple una función social que va más allá de lo escrito en ellas, por lo que también pueden ser analizadas arqueológicamente (Galbán, 2017). Resulta imprescindible pues que la relación entre historia documental y arqueología histórica vaya más allá de la simple dialéctica, para construir un discurso histórico complejo que incluya ambos tipos de fuentes tras una correcta crítica de fuentes (Martín, 2018). ...
Introducción a la Sesión 5 de la X Jornadas de Jóvenes Investigadores en Arqueología: Hay vida más allá del Imperio: Nuevas investigaciones en Arqueología Medieval y Moderna
... The relationship between archaeology, history and written documentary sources is part of a wider debate in historical archaeology (Little 1992;Moreland 2001;Moreland 2006) re-evaluating the role written artefacts can play in interpreting and reconstructing the past. With this wider debate in mind the paragraphs below focus on the relationship between archaeology and oral history. ...
Although the discipline of archaeology has a lengthy tradition of using oral testimony, particularly the testimony of Indigenous communities, it has yet to be applied fully and in a meaningful way within global historical archaeology. Frequently interdisciplinary, archaeology cannot work alone, and works best alongside other sources to enhance and strengthen our understanding of the past. This thesis explores the potential for a combined approach of archaeology, the historic record and oral history to investigate the recent past.
Despite an abundance of literature on eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century working class housing, a period that experienced rapid urban expansion, and the responses to the issues that arose as a result, there is an absence of testimony about housing from those with a lived experience. This thesis uses archaeological site reports, documentary research from primary historical sources and testimony from oral history interviews to enhance our understanding of the housing experience of the working classes from 1790-1970.
Case studies are a common method of interpreting the archaeology of households and housing. In this thesis three case studies are presented; court housing in Liverpool (1790-1970), back-to-back housing in Hungate, York (1812-1936) and small-scale employer provided housing in Glasgow (1837-1966). The Liverpool case study (chap. 4) identified that nineteenth century accounts of court housing dominate the historic literature as insanitary, overcrowded, dilapidated and slum-like and this research, via the oral history testimony, introduces an alternative, twentieth century account of court housing. The Hungate, York case study (chap. 5) demonstrates the potential of bringing together different bodies of evidence, collected at different times and by different organisations, to reinvestigate a neighbourhood historically labelled as a slum. The Glasgow case study (chap. 6) provided an opportunity to test the combined approach of archaeology and oral history without the historic record as no documentary evidence for the Lower English Buildings site was uncovered.
This thesis outlines the ways in which the combined approach might be used in the future, demonstrating its value to enhance our understanding of an archaeological site. Encouraging the use of oral history within archaeology in the UK should be a priority for archaeologists, particularly historical archaeologists where oral history has the most potential to collaborate, and this thesis suggests how this can be achieved.
... Taking this and the fact that pit burials and lime-mortar burials had been built within cemeteries without particular distinction, it is highly likely that lime-mortar burials built in big cemeteries were constructed by commoners. 50 Beyond such a simple examination of hierarchy, lime-mortar burials also allow us to explore trends of the common people in the Chosŏn dynasty. In the Chosŏn dynasty, a society dominated by Confucianism, was the general public objects of edification and enlightenment or active consumers? ...
The level of research in Korean medieval archaeology is considerably low in comparison to its importance. This is inevitable since there is only a short history of research of this period. However, more fundamentally, this is due to the lack of a thorough review and assessment of the conditions and status of the Korean medieval archaeology as well as the lack of research strategies and methodologies. Under such perception, this paper aims to present the conceptual framework of Korean medieval archaeology with concrete examples. First, I determined the temporal scope of medieval archaeology and explored its characteristics. Then, based on the characteristics of material sources and written records, I discussed the specific research strategies, topics, and methodologies with actual examples. Through this, I was able to confirm that medieval archaeology has the potential to provide new perspectives and methodologies not only in Korean history but in Korean archaeological research.
... No existe hoy en día una única metodología de intervención, ni una conceptualización sobre ella, ni una concreta relación entre turismo y patrimonio cultural que no obligue a una concreta adaptación local (Prats, 2011). Todo ello, obliga a una revisión crítica de los principios de la gestión del patrimonio cultural, y el conjunto de subdisciplinas que definen el paisaje: Arqueología y Arquitectura del Paisaje, Arqueología Histórica (Leone y Potter, 1999, Moreland, 2006Mayne, 2008), junto a las propias técnicas de recolección de datos, y el desarrollo de modelos específicos de planificación cartográfica (Conolly y Lake, 2009); junto a ello, las técnicas propias del diagnóstico turístico, como elemento de conocimiento de posibilidades de generación de recursos a corto y medio plazo. ...
Investigación para el diseño de propuestas de paisajes culturales al servicio del desarrollo local. Un estudio de caso RESUMEN Lo intangible de una cultura no se deteriora si se lo aprende a valorar a tiempo. Los paisajes culturales ofrecen la oportunidad de poner en valor los recursos culturales vivos de una región o destino. La investigación aquí propuesta pretende otorgar los argumentos necesarios desde la academia para la búsqueda de una declaratoria de la UNESCO. El presente caso de estudio relaciona la importancia de la producción del cacao con la cultura de los habitantes de la costa interna de la provincia de Manabí-Ecuador, pero la metodología que aquí se propone puede ser aplicable a cualquier realidad geográfica especialmente en Latinoamérica. En primer lugar, se genera una revisión bibliográfica con enfoque multidisciplinario en áreas relacionadas al turismo cultural, los paisajes culturales y los destinos turísticos. Se propone una metodología que busca conseguir la argumentación necesaria respaldada en documentos históricos y oficiales para obtener una declaratoria. También se plantean los resultados esperados a partir de los pasos antes detallados. La cultura de un pueblo puede ser usada para promover propuestas de desarrollo local como la categoría de paisajes culturales que promueve la UNESCO, con el fin de dinamizar la economía y por ende insertar un nuevo modelo de desarrollo social desde el territorio a través de la actividad turística y sus modalidades sustentables.
... Although Hmong Lao image-based accounting on costumes challenges contemporary understanding of the format of, and medium for, accounting records, some of the earliest known records of society are embroidered on, or woven into, fabric (Kastrinou-Theodoropoulou, 2009;Moreland, 2006). In anthropology, embroidered, woven and dyed artefacts have been recognised as text where there was an agency of intention (Dornan, 2002). ...
Accounting responds to the societal pressures acting upon it. This research examines the long history of subjugation of the Hmong Lao and hoe it led to the development of accounting records that have acted as a tool of micro-resistance against oppression. The Hmong are an ethnic minority in the People's Republic of Laos who maintain a system of image-based accounting records. The methodological approach of Michel de Certeau is used in this research because it focuses on tools of everyday resistance; accounting is an important tool of everyday resistance for the Hong Lao. Hmong Lao accounting challenges definitions of accounting because the records are non-traditional both in format and how they are preserved. They are image-based records preserved on traditional costumes. Through choices concerning the form and method of disclosure, the Hmong Lao were able keep the contents of their accounting records secret while preserving them in plain view. This paradox is central to their records being tools of micro-resistance. 2
... Although Hmong Lao image-based accounting on costumes challenges contemporary understanding of the format of, and medium for, accounting records, some of the earliest known records of society are embroidered on, or woven into, fabric (Kastrinou-Theodoropoulou, 2009;Moreland, 2006). In anthropology, embroidered, woven and dyed artefacts have been recognised as text where there was an agency of intention (Dornan, 2002). ...
Accounting responds to the societal pressures acting upon it. This research examines the long history of subjugation of the Hmong Lao and hoe it led to the development of accounting records that have acted as a tool of micro-resistance against oppression. The Hmong are an ethnic minority in the People's Republic of Laos who maintain a system of image-based accounting records. The methodological approach of Michel de Certeau is used in this research because it focuses on tools of everyday resistance; accounting is an important tool of everyday resistance for the Hong Lao. Hmong Lao accounting challenges definitions of accounting because the records are non-traditional both in format and how they are preserved. They are image-based records preserved on traditional costumes. Through choices concerning the form and method of disclosure, the Hmong Lao were able keep the contents of their accounting records secret while preserving them in plain view. This paradox is central to their records being tools of micro-resistance.
... Although Hmong Lao image-based accounting on costumes challenges contemporary understanding of the format of, and medium for, accounting records, some of the earliest known records of society are embroidered on, or woven into, fabric (Kastrinou-Theodoropoulou, 2009;Moreland, 2006). In anthropology, embroidered, woven and dyed artefacts have been recognised as text where there was an agency of intention (Dornan, 2002). ...
Accounting responds to the societal pressures acting upon it. This research examines the long history of subjugation of the Hmong Lao and hoe it led to the development of accounting records that have acted as a tool of micro-resistance against oppression. The Hmong are an ethnic minority in the People's Republic of Laos who maintain a system of image-based accounting records. The methodological approach of Michel de Certeau is used in this research because it focuses on tools of everyday resistance; accounting is an important tool of everyday resistance for the Hong Lao. Hmong Lao accounting challenges definitions of accounting because the records are non-traditional both in format and how they are preserved. They are image-based records preserved on traditional costumes. Through choices concerning the form and method of disclosure, the Hmong Lao were able keep the contents of their accounting records secret while preserving them in plain view. This paradox is central to their records being tools of micro-resistance.
... Although Hmong Lao image-based accounting on costumes challenges contemporary understanding of the format of, and medium for, accounting records, some of the earliest known records of society are embroidered on, or woven into, fabric (Kastrinou-Theodoropoulou, 2009;Moreland, 2006). In anthropology, embroidered, woven and dyed artefacts have been recognised as text where there was an agency of intention (Dornan, 2002). ...
Acknowledgements We wish to thank the Traditional Arts Ethnology Centre, Luang Prabang for its assistance with information and translation, Hmong embroiderer Maiying Xiong for her generosity in sharing her knowledge of Hmong Lao accounting records and her embroidery skills, and our anonymous interviewees. Abstract This research examines the use of accounting as a tool of micro-resistance using he methodological approach of Michel de Certeau. The accounting of the Hmong Lao is used as an example of micro-resistance. These records are non-traditional in format and the medium on which they are preserved, not by choice but because past oppression limited the options pertaining to all aspects of Hmong Lao accounting records. The records are image-based and preserved on traditional costumes, which enabled the Hmong Lao to keep the records' contents secret while preserving them in plain view. This paradox is central to the records being tools of micro-resistance.
... In the past twenty years, however, historians and archaeologists interested in the medieval period have explored the possibilities offered by cross-reading textual and material evidence to gather a better understanding and interpretation of the past. Scholars such as Paolo Delogu, Riccardo Francovich, John Moreland, Chris Wickham and Elizabeth Zadora-Rio, among others, have discussed the possibilities offered by such a complex, and yet scarcely practiced, dialogue (Delogu 2011; Francovich 2004: 9-22; Moreland 2001; Wickham 2007: 15-49; Zadora-Rio 1995: 145-153). Perhaps the justification for such resistance should be attributed to the challenge posed by the growing discoveries in the field of medieval archaeology in Europe and especially in the Mediterranean. ...
The variety and quality of the most recent archaeological discoveries have allowed scholars to undertake new research on the early medieval world, challenging some of the classical interpretative schemes provided by textual sources. By acknowledging such discoveries, this study seeks to reassess the dialogue between Archaeology and History, exploring social constructions from both perspectives in order to understand how communities have formed and developed throughout history.
... New perceptions on the relationship between material culture and text have also shaped current debates in the field (more recent review in Carver 2002;Moreland 2006). The material component of the interconnectedness of actors and actions suggests that objects have their own social trajectory, as outlined by Arjuan Appadurai in The Social Life of Things (1988). ...
Examining the variability of enslaved life across the Atlantic World during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries is increasingly possible with the availability of comparable data. This project explores the complex networks that slaves developed between the fields of the plantation and spaces beyond its borders. Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, enslaved people living and working on sugar estates across the Caribbean cultivated their own subsistence food crops. In Jamaica, planters implemented this cost-cutting system of self-provisioning in areas unsuitable for sugar cane agriculture. A comparative, quantitative approach elucidates the conditions that facilitated enslaved people's cultivation of surplus in these areas and their access to markets that fostered Jamaica's internal market economy. To systematically examine surplus and access, this project integrates documentary and archaeological sources germane to provision ground suitability and the acquisition of costly market goods. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) analysis of cartographic data drawn from historic survey maps of sugar estates defines the areas available for provision cultivation. Assemblages recovered from slave village contexts on four estates provide a broad sample of goods that enslaved people acquired in the market. The results suggest that the hypothesis that enslaved people with access to a larger amount of provision grounds with favorable conditions had greater access to the markets holds for this dataset. While the areas for surplus production were poor relative to the cane fields, variation between estates in conditions and observable artifact attributes indicate the investment in ceramic vessels based on cost. More broadly, the evidence demonstrates the connections that enslaved people established to turn an exploitative system to their advantage.
... In contrast to notions of the inscribed object as something that 'is written' or constitutes a 'written source' which tell us about the past, early graphical expression is seen here as meaningfully constituted through the material actions of past individuals and as products of those actions. A mark or sign is thus seen as having efficacy in the past rather than just providing evidence about it (see Moreland 2006). For its theoretical and methodological bases, this study is informed by structuration, a practice theory which situates the agency of the knowledgeable individual in a mutually constituting relationship with social structures (e.g. ...
Archaeology is a highly visual discipline, reliant on observation as well as description, and consequently makes extensive use of diagrams, maps, plans, illustrations and photography as well as textual narratives in communicating its interpretations of past material culture. If discourse analysis is to shed light on the construction of archaeological knowledge it therefore should seek to incorporate the visual alongside the textual, but at present discussion of the two modes are largely independent of each other with an emphasis on the text. A case study examines the interrelationships and interdependencies that exist between text and illustrations in archaeological grey literature, and argues that a multimodal approach to knowledge creation is called for which better reflects the different modes and media used in archaeology.
The Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology provides a current guide to the recent and on-going archaeology of Mesoamerica. Though the emphasis is on prehispanic societies, this text also includes coverage of important new work by archaeologists on the Colonial and Republican periods. Unique among recent works, the text brings together in a single volume article-length regional syntheses and topical overviews written by active scholars in the field of Mesoamerican archaeology. The first section of the text provides an overview of recent history and trends of Mesoamerica, and articles on national archaeology programs and practice in Central America and Mexico written by archaeologists from these countries. These are followed regional syntheses organized by time period, beginning with early hunter-gatherer societies and the first farmers of Mesoamerica and concluding with a discussion of the Spanish Conquest and frontiers and peripheries of Mesoamerica. Topical and comparative articles comprise the remainder of book. They cover important dimensions of prehispanic societies—from ecology, economy, and environment to social and political relations—and discuss significant methodological contributions, such as geo-chemical source studies, as well as new theories and diverse theoretical perspectives. The book concludes with a section on the archaeology of the Spanish conquest and the Colonial and Republican periods to connect the prehispanic, proto-historic, and historic periods.
Daniel Wakelin introduces and reinterprets the misunderstood and overlooked craft practices, cultural conventions and literary attitudes involved in making some of the most important manuscripts in late medieval English literature. In doing so he overturns how we view the role of scribes, showing how they ignored or concealed irregular and damaged parchment; ruled pages from habit and convention more than necessity; decorated the division of the text into pages or worried that it would harm reading; abandoned annotations to poetry, focusing on the poem itself; and copied English poems meticulously, in reverence for an abstract idea of the text. Scribes' interest in immaterial ideas and texts suggests their subtle thinking as craftspeople, in ways that contrast and extend current interpretations of late medieval literary culture, 'material texts' and the power of materials. For students, researchers and librarians, this book offers revelatory perspectives on the activities of late medieval scribes.
One of the greatest benefits of studying the ancient Greek and Roman past is the ability to utilise different forms of evidence, in particular both written and archaeological sources. The contributors to this volume employ this evidence to examine ancient housing, and what might be learned of identities, families, and societies, but they also use it as a methodological locus from which to interrogate the complex relationship between different types of sources. Chapters range from the recreation of the house as it was conceived in Homeric poetry, to the decipherment of a painted Greek lekythos to build up a picture of household activities, to the conjuring of the sensorial experience of a house in Pompeii. Together, they present a rich tapestry which demonstrates what can be gained for our understanding of ancient housing from examining the interplay between the words of ancient texts and the walls of archaeological evidence.
La genèse des premières écritures suscite toujours beaucoup d’intérêt et reste souvent mal comprise. Ce colloque a eu pour ambition de faire se rencontrer des spécialistes qui travaillent sur différents systèmes graphiques attestés au IVe millénaire en Égypte. Ils ont examinés différents supports d’image à cette période, en Égypte et avec des comparatifs en Mésopotomie, avant de s’interroger aussi sur le lien entre l’écrit et l’image, la pratique graphique impliquée et le contexte socio-culturel dans lequel cette transformation s’est produite et le statut du signe. Il semble en effet que la relation entre le signe et le support puisse être une clef de compréhension. Des pistes très prometteuses et novatrices sont ouvertes par la prise en compte des techniques de mémorisation de performances orales liées à la pratique rituelle.
Definitions of ‘historical archaeology’ frequently imply the use of documentary sources to contextualise the archaeological record and aid interpretation of its content. In this article, I underscore the importance of a complementary process of using the archaeological record to enrich interpretations of epigraphical sources from the medieval Deccan. Going beyond others’ critical calls to evaluate how interpretations of these inscriptional sources are shaped by biases in research practices, I will suggest that the substantive content of politicised donative stelae on the Raichur Doab was related to shifting material contexts of agricultural land use and the dynamic assemblages of cultigens, soils and water that facilitated production during the period. By contextualising inscriptional records and donative practices within an archaeologically documented landscape of changing production activities, one has a stronger epistemological basis for evaluating the social and political significance of the inscriptional archive and the historiography that it affords. In this case, it allows for the re-evaluation of historiographical tropes of the Raichur Doab’s value as ‘fertile’ agricultural space and provides a richer interpretation of how newly emergent social relationships and distinctions evident in eleventh–sixteenth-century inscriptions articulated with landscape histories.
The "Art and Vocabulary of the Lule and Tonocoté Language" was published in 1732, and was written by Father Antonio Machoni de Sardinia, a member of the Society of Jesus. The language that teaches his work was spoken by a group of natives who inhabited sectors close to the eastern limits of the Gobernación del Tucumán in the current north of Argentina. Several of these families were incorporated into two missionary reductions located on the Salado River, founded in the first half of the 18th century. Based on the Lule-Tonocoté vocabulary, in this paper it is proposed to investigate three aspects: fauna, vegetation and the artisanal process linked to the work of fibers for the manufacture of fabrics. In addition, the presence of colors, their variation and relationship with the nature and cultural practices developed in the reductive life under the Jesuit order.
Understanding subalternity not as a fixed condition, but as a process of subjectification, that constantly creates subjects through hegemonic discourses and practices makes it possible to identify past discourses and practices archaeologically. Just like today, these discourses and practices were used to make subaltern groups in society almost invisible. Therefore, the evidence of subaltern actors in the archaeological record can only be indirect. Moreover, archaeological disciplines themselves function as instruments of hegemonic knowledge, once again producing and marginalising subalterns in the past. Paradoxically, once subaltern counter-discourses and practices appear ‘tangible’, they can no longer be considered as subaltern. Nevertheless, we see a potential in the material record to reveal ‘spaces of possibilities’ (Möglichkeitsräume) that enabled subaltern groups to act and to articulate themselves. Although they move in hegemonic spaces, the subaltern are able to produce subversive counter-spaces, by modifying function, occupying space or creating spatial ambiguities. We would like to illustrate and discuss these subaltern ‘spaces of possibilities’ on the basis of a few case studies from Ancient Egypt, ranging from workers’ strikes and modification of hegemonic spaces to the occupation of temples.
Wird Subalternität nicht als Zustand konzipiert, sondern als Prozess von Subjektivierungen, der Subjekte beständig durch hegemoniale Diskurse und Praktiken herstellt, gilt es, jene Diskurse und Praktiken auch archäologisch zu identifizieren. Da diese Diskurse und Praktiken Subalterne bereits in der Vergangenheit nahezu unsichtbar machen sollten, ist der Nachweis subalterner Akteur*innen nur indirekt möglich. Zudem sind die Archäologien selbst hegemoniale Wissensapparate, die dazu beitragen, Subalterne in der Vergangenheit zu produzieren und zu marginalisieren. Versuchen wir, subalterne Gegendiskurse und -praktiken sichtbar zu machen, sind wir mit dem
Paradoxon konfrontiert, dass Subalterne, sobald sie ‚greifbar‘ erscheinen, nicht mehr als subaltern gelten können. Dennoch scheint es uns möglich, anhand des archäologischen Befunds Möglichkeitsräume zu erschließen, die subalternen Gruppen ein Handlungs- und Artikulationspotential ermöglichten. Zwar bewegen sich Subalterne in hegemonialen Räumen, produzieren aber beispielsweise mittels Umnutzung, Besetzung oder Doppeldeutigkeiten Gegenräume, in denen subversives Handeln möglich wird. Diese subalternen Möglichkeitsräume möchten wir
anhand einiger altägyptischer Beispiele illustrieren und diskutieren, die von Streiks, über Umbauten hegemonialer Räume bis hin zur Besetzung von Tempeln reichen.
One of the greatest difficulties researchers encounter when attempting to comprehensively recover the technological heritage of the past lies in the fact that many components (machines, tools, etc.) were fully or partially made with ephemeral materials (such as wood). For this reason, in this work, we use virtual reality tools based on 3D models and the kinematic simulation of mechanisms and machines in order to integrate information from archeological remains and information obtained from written records during research on the recovery of the technological heritage of the past. In order to demonstrate the adequacy and suitability of the proposed method, the buildings and machinery of the Fallen Mill at El Escorial (Spain) have been virtually reconstructed as a case study. This one consisted of two mills, one flour mill and one marble sawmill, and was built at the end of the sixteenth century but, following a long period of abandonment, only scarce physical remains exist today. The Fallen Mill was highly important to the construction of the Monastery of El Escorial as, on the one hand, it was the first flour mill at the Monastery and, on the other hand, the marble sawmill which made it possible to reduce the time expected for the construction of the high altarpiece in the Monastery’s Basilica by half. The virtual reconstruction enabled an integrated compression of the architecture and technique used for both mills, providing users and researchers with an interactive environment for analysis, the discussion of alternatives, and detailed knowledge of this valuable technological heritage. With this and following centuries of abandonment, the Fallen Mill can be recovered for European technological heritage and makes clear the archeological importance of the existing physical remains of both mills.
THIS PAPER EXPLORES how noblemen expressed themselves in late-medieval Scandinavian castles, in the buildings and in the landscape. The focus is on decorated stone tablets with coats of arms and memorial texts found on the castle walls, but the landscape setting of the castles is also discussed. The examples considered here are Glimmingehus in Scania, in present-day southern Sweden, and Olofsborg in eastern Finland — both erected in the late 15th century. The locations of stone tablets in the castles are investigated, as well as who was able to see them and share their messages. It is argued that while the coats of arms and memorial texts were situated to convey ideas to an aristocracy, the landscape context of the castle mediated messages of social status to a wider public.
This paper reflects on the necessity of an inclusive epistemological framework that, in dealing with the multivocality of historical processes under study, affords the creation of more plural and representative historical accounts. But to account the past would be much better if, besides being epistemologically inclusive, contributes in any way to improve present society. That’s why we claim that archaeology must be aware of axiological issues and should look for potential fields of implementation. This assertion is illustrated with a case study on pottery that underlines that everyday objects were used, and still are, in strategies for the social construction of inequality. In this context, we demand a collective awareness of this practice in our society and claim to give up with some discursive resources. For example, we propose to pick up the term inclusive, this time to contrapose the social meaning of the adjective exclusive. Although all these thoughts stem from case studies of historical archaeology, we believe they could be useful to archaeology in general, without any chronological bias.
A STUDY WAS undertaken to assess the potential of the integrated analysis of metalwork excavated from medieval (late 13th-16th-century) rural settlements in the midlands of England and inventories (dating from c 1370-c 1440) drawn from the royal escheators' records for the same region. The study aimed to explore the value and meaning of objects to the non-elite members of rural communities and focussed on three classes of artefact: metal vessels, tools and dress accessories. The analysis investigates medieval value systems by exploring evidence for aspiration, recycling and differences between town and country.
Late-Antique and Early Medieval Hispanic architecture has witnessed a considerable change in the last 15 years because of the introduction of the archaeological analysis of standing buildings and a new historical model that is open to the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula leading to changes in the architecture. As this paper demonstrates, stratigraphic recording and analysis of some of the most relevant buildings solves some questions and introduces others, but it mainly helps to introduce archaeological arguments within a debate previously dominated by stylistic criteria.
Although not a professional historian, the author raises several issues pertinent to the state of history today. Qualifying the 'non-historian' as an 'able' interventionist in historical studies, the author explores the relationship between history and theory within the current epistemological configurations and refigurations. He asks how history transcends the obsessive 'linguistic' turn, which has been hegemonizing literary/discourse analysis, and focuses greater attention on historical experience and where history stands in relation to our understanding of ethics, religion and the current state of global politics that underlines the manipulation and abuse of history.
This entry covers the applications of historical data in archaeological research. The history of the utilization of ethnohistorical methods and information are briefly outlined. Additionally, the uses of ethnohistory for reconstructing past societies is discussed and examples of recent research combining the disciplines of ethnohistory and archaeology are given.
How did Roman Britain end? This new study draws on fresh archaeological discoveries to argue that the end of Roman Britain was not the product of either a violent cataclysm or an economic collapse. Instead, the structure of late antique society, based on the civilian ideology of paideia, was forced to change by the disappearance of the Roman state. By the fifth century elite power had shifted to the warband and the edges of their swords. In this book Dr Gerrard describes and explains that process of transformation and explores the role of the ‘Anglo-Saxons’ in this time of change. This profound ideological shift returned Britain to a series of ‘small worlds’, the existence of which had been hidden by the globalizing structures of Roman imperialism. Highly illustrated, the book includes two appendices, which detail Roman cemetery sites and weapon trauma, and pottery assemblages from the period.
An overview of American material culture, drawn from information on Native American, African American, and Anglo-American cultures, is presented. Analytical points of view and theoretical perspectives are discussed.
AbstractA review of work on African Americans through archaeology takes place under diasporic studies and relies on literature that defines the North American black experience. The focus is on the establishment of freedom by the founding of maroon communities and independent settlements of free people, as well as on the use and interpretation of African diasporic history and theory, particularly by archaeologists using knowledge of the diaspora to effect modern political change.
▪ Abstract Archaeologists currently studying the African diaspora generally examine three broad issues, in decreasing order of prominence: the material identification of African identity, the archaeology of freedom at maroon sites, and race and racism. While conducting this research, several scholars have learned that many nonarchaeologists are deeply interested in their interpretations. At the present time, the archaeology of the African diaspora is not a truly global pursuit and the New World is overrepresented. This situation should change as archaeologists around the world discover post-Columbian archaeology and take up diasporic investigations.
This review explores questions of power, epistemology, cultural form, and historical process, as they are raised by and developed in studies of literacy. It begins by reviewing arguments for universalist vs situated accounts of literacy and literacies. Having discussed universalist claims and evidence, and having shown that they cannot withstand criticism, the review develops generalizations about the implications of plural literacies. It explores the relationship among modern state formation, educational systems, and official vs popular literacies, by drawingo n poststructuralist argumentsa bout the role of writing in social formations and on recent historical and ethnographic research on literacy. It analyzes the role of literacies in the formation of class, gender, and racial-ethnic identities, by focusing on the role of education in class stratification, the debate about public vs private in gender dynamics, and the volatile relations between oppressed nationalities and official literacies.
Argues that the basic epistemological distinction between what is observed and what is inferred is a direct reflection of the basic hermeneutical distinction between what a text says and the way in which it may be interpreted. This viewpoint is defended by examining the relations between the Reformation and the rise of modern science, reexamining the relation between magic (as science) and oracles (as text) among the Azande as discussed by E. Evans-Pritchard (1937), and reviewing recent evidence on the relation between children's interpretation of language and their interpretation of nature. It is concluded that the concepts basic to Western science, and to one's understanding of language, are by-products of alphabetic literacy and that the acquisition of these concepts by young children accounts for a major shift in their cognitive processes, namely, the rise of subjectivity. (French abstract) (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Our oldest archival records originate from the Near East. Systems of archival record-keeping developed over several millennia in Mesopotamia before spreading to Egypt, the Mycenean world, and the Persian empire, and continuing through the Hellenistic and Seleucid periods. Yet we know little about the way archival practices were established, transmitted, modified, and adapted by other civilizations. This interdisciplinary volume offers a systematic approach to archival documents and to the societies which created them, addressing questions of formal aspects of creating, writing, and storing ancient documents, and showing how archival systems were copied and adapted across a wide geographical area and an extensive period of time.
What do archaeological excavations in Annapolis, Maryland, reveal about daily life in the city's history? Considering artifacts such as ceramics, spirit bundles, printer's type, and landscapes, this study illuminates the lives of the city's residents—walking, seeing, reading, talking, eating, and living together in freedom and in oppression for more than three hundred years. Interpreting the results of one of the most innovative projects in American archaeology, the book speaks powerfully to the struggle for liberty among African Americans and the poor.
This book provides a thorough survey and analysis of the emergence and functions of written culture in Rus (covering roughly the modern East Slav lands of European Russia, Ukraine and Belarus). Part I introduces the full range of types of writing: the scripts and languages, the materials, the social and physical contexts, ranging from builders' scratches on bricks through to luxurious parchment manuscripts. Part II presents a series of thematic studies of the 'socio-cultural dynamics' of writing, in order to reveal and explain distinctive features in the Rus assimilation of the technology. The comparative approach means that the book may also serve as a case-study for those with a broader interest either in medieval uses of writing or in the social and cultural history of information technologies. Overall, the impressive scholarship and idiosyncratic wit of this volume commend it to students and specialists in Russian history and literature alike. Awarded the Alec Nove Prize, given by the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies for the best book of 2002 in Russian, Soviet or Post-Soviet studies.
This unique book offers a theoretical framework for historical archaeology that explicitly relies on network theory. Charles E. Orser, Jr., demonstrates the need to examine the impact of colonialism, Eurocentrism, capitalism, and modernity on all archaeological sites inhabited after 1492 and shows how these large-scale forces create a link among all the sites. Orser investigates the connections between a seventeenth-century runaway slave kingdom in Palmares, Brazil and an early nineteenth-century peasant village in central Ireland. Studying artifacts, landscapes, and social inequalities in these two vastly different cultures, the author explores how the archaeology of fugitive Brazilian slaves and poor Irish farmers illustrates his theoretical concepts. His research underscores how network theory is largely unknown in historical archaeology and how few historical archaeologists apply a global perspective in their studies. A Historical Archaeology of the Modern World features data and illustrations from two previously unknown sites and includes such intriguing findings as the provenance of ancient Brazilian smoking pipes that will be new to historical archaeologists.
Historical archaeology’s singular and unique strength among the social sciences is its simultaneous access to multiple categories of evidence bearing upon the same processes or events in past human behavior (either immediately or remotely in the past). Although this has been obvious for nearly two decades, historical archaeology has not produced the original and unparalleled insights into human cultural behavior or evolution that we might expect to result from the unique perspective and data base of the field. We have instead tended to weakly reproduce or “test” insights and principles resulting from history or prehistoric archaeology. Both the questions we have asked and the methods we have used to answer them have been grounded in fields other than historical archaeology and have generally ignored its special perspective. It is the premise of this paper that there are potential contributions of historical archaeology not duplicatable by any other field. Our present operational and methodological procedures, however, (grounded in prehistory and history) are neither appropriate nor adequate to deal with them. This will be explored through the issues of defining the right questions for historical archaeology, and identifying the appropriate approaches to employ in answering them.
Historical archaeology is either a significant or superfluous endeavor, depending on the level one stands on to critique the discipline. If theoretical questions concerning the nature, dynamics and evolution of cultures are the starting point, or equally if more substantive but similarly broad questions of modern “world systems” are selected, then the results of a quarter century of excavations on historic sites are indeed weak and unconvincing. In contrast, a view grounded on “culture history” or “historic ethnography” finds historical archaeology to be potentially an impressive, productive field, equal in many ways to other data sources including written records. It is suggested that “historic ethnography,” based equally on archaeology and written sources, is the future natural sphere for the archaeological investigations of the modern world (A.D. 1400–20th century).
Archaeological and documentary sources on three 18th century formal gardens in Annapolis, Maryland, are compared against each other in order to outline a method for knowing the past through historical archaeology. The suggested method is analogous to middle range theory.
Historical archaeology, while amassing a large body of data, is currently proceeding without benefit of organizing theory. As a consequence, both methodology and data synthesis have suffered, often leading to the testing of hypotheses with the same data used to form them. The result of over 20 years of research is a mixed bag of contributions, ranging from obvious answers to naive and self-evident questions to the testing of hypotheses concerning complex intersite relationships and cultural dynamics. In this paper I examine both the strengths and weaknesses of the discipline, and I provide examples of studies dealing with questions of substance. Finally, specific suggestions for future research are offered.
The written sources are overwhelming for that great historical event, the conquest of the world by Europeans between the 15th and the 19th centuries. Historical archaeology, especially in north America, now provides an important source of evidence of a different character. But what was it like to receive Europeans on your shore, what was it like to be dispossesed? Here is a report specifically concerned with relations between native and newcomer at the Cape, one of those African regions which first felt the European impact.
Our contemporary world is literate, alphabetical, and controlled by texts. Written texts are formally more important than images, and the separation of words and pictures is sharp. When writing is pictographic, the distinction is not always so sharp, and in early civilizations both texts and pictures were rather scarce things. Here, the places of texts and images in Egypt, and their relative standing, are explored.
A comparison of the evidence for the earliest scripts in different parts of the world suggests that an apparent preponderance of ceremonial; and symbolic usage should not be interpreted too literally. It seems to have more to do with archaeological preservation–the better survival in archaeological contexts of the durable materials preferred as vehicles for ceremonial texts–than with any deep-seated differences in the function of the scripts. It may well be that the earliest Chinese, Egyptian or Mesoamerican texts were largely as utilitarian in their application as those of Mesopotamia.
In a series of influential books, articles and lectures over the past quarter-century, Jack Goody has probably been the foremost advocate of the `literacy thesis', the principal claim of which is that the development of logical thought (`syllogistic reasoning', `formal operations', `higher psychological processes') is dependent on writing, both in theory and in historical fact. The aim of the present critique is to show that there is no inherent relationship between literacy and logic; that the possibilities for such development supposedly afforded uniquely by literacy also exist in non-literate discourse; that such possibilities, in any case, had no evident role in the historical beginnings of logic; that, in short, the `cognitive' claims of the literacy thesis have no substance.
Historical and anthropological archaeology have had a somewhat disjointed relationship. Differences in theoretical perspectives, methodological concerns, and material records have led to a lack of cross talk between these branches of Americanist archaeology. This paper presents recent issues in historical archaeology, points out areas of common concern, and argues that both archaeologies would benefit from informed discussions about the materiality and history of the pre- and post-Columbian world.
The distribution of basal lamina as identified by ultrastructural examination has been shown to be a useful discriminator for various types of mesenchymal tumors. Two hundred and two tumors, which included a wide range of benign and malignant soft-tissue and bony tumors, were subjected to immunostaining for type IV collagen and laminin, both major components of basal lamina. Distinctive patterns of basal lamina distribution were observed, particularly with antibodies to type IV collagen. Peripheral nerve sheath tumors displayed characteristic distinct and continuous basal lamina investing individual tumor cells, allowing their separation from smooth-muscle tumors in which the basal lamina was often fragmented into long runs of variable thickness. Tumors with myofibroblastic differentiation had delicate, highly fragmented basal lamina parallel to the cell membranes, whereas no staining was seen around the cells of bony and chondroid tumors, spindle cell melanomas, fibrosarcomas, malignant lymphomas, and primitive/peripheral neuroepithelial tumors. Distinctive basal lamina surrounded neoplastic vessels, and it was also present around the glandular structures and cells of synovial sarcoma and epithelioid sarcoma. Immunostaining for basal lamina, particularly with anti-type IV collagen antibody, is a useful diagnostic discriminant in the diagnosis of soft-tissue tumors, particularly spindled and pleomorphic tumors, which may be difficult to distinguish from histologic features alone.
Studies in literacy, family, culture and the state: an introduction Preface 1. The word of God 2. The word of mammon 3. The state, the bureau and the file 4. The letter of the law 5. Ruptures and continuities Notes Bibliography Index.
▪ Abstract Accessing ancient meaning and sound from graphic notations is an immense challenge to archaeologists, whether with respect to marked objects, petrographs, or phonic writing. Two paths clear the way: the detection or reasoned reconstruction of “situation,” how graphic notations were used in the past and in what social and cultural setting, and the process of “extraction,” the hermeneutic scholarship that decodes such messages and establishes the relative plausibility of an interpretation. Situation is easier to study and extraction more likely to occur in cases of phonic writing, where varieties or types, physical inspection, decipherment, origins, and extinction permit multiple inroads into past sound and meaning.
Writing bears an uncertain relation to speech. Either it is treated as a largely autonomous medium of communication or it is treated as a simple adjunct, cipher, image or record of speech. This paper offers a compromise arguing that writing exploits a special and distinctive property of speech, namely, that of quotation. Quotation suspends the contextual, deictic, and illocutionary features of ordinary speech to create a quasi-autonomous linguistic form to which normal referential and intentional features of speech no longer apply. Written documents, it is argued, are distinctive in possessing just those properties characteristic of quotation. Evidence from studies of the metalinguistic effects of learning to read and write is used to evaluate this hypothesis.
The accepted tripartite divisions of the formal study both of mankind's past and present are to a considerable extent based on man's development first of language and later of writing. Looked at in the perspective of time, man's biological evolution shades into prehistory when he becomes a language-using animal; add writing, and history proper begins. Looked at in a temporal perspective, man as animal is studied primarily by the zoologist, man as talking animal primarily by the anthropologist, and man as talking and writing animal primarily by the sociologist.
This introductory chapter presents a brief overview of the evolution of Argentine historical archaeology as a scientific discipline,
starting from the first pioneering work until its consolidation and future prospects. It also includes a summary of each of
the paper presented.
Excavations at the Van Cortlandt Mansion, the central structure of an eighteenth-century plantation located in Van Cortlandt
Park in the Bronx, New York, highlight the difficulty of using archaeological evidence to document the story of enslavement
in early America. While the documents indicate the extent of the Van Cortlandts' involvement in the slave trade and in the
reliance on enslaved labor to build and run their enterprise, the excavations carried out over several years have not yielded
concomitant evidence.
The present resonates with the harmonics of past events. Our archaeologies, because they deal with the everyday materiality of life, should not neglect to concern themselves with the domination of past people, since many similar forms of oppression persist. Moreover, we should consider the resistance to such domination. Rather than seeing resistance as simply reactive a problem which has generated much criticism—we can reconceptualize it to encompass a more nuanced understanding of the volition and agency of people in inferior positions of power. This lends new strength to the role of archaeologists in representing historical narratives of resistance.
A decade of Maya glyphic decipherment creates many opportunities for historical, linguistic, cultural, and archaeological interpretation. New evidence points to improvements in understanding decipherment as a discipline and social practice, the origins of Maya script, the use and meaning of glyphs in ancient society, and the language and sociolinguistic implications of Maya texts. The glyphs reveal information about Maya kingship and its relation to supernatural forces along with cues to a synthesis of history during the Classic period (A.D. 250–850). A test case from Piedras Negras, Guatemala, relates such discoveries to the ongoing excavation of a Classic city with abundant inscriptions.
Historical archaeology has expanded greatly in the past decade. This essay discusses some of the trends and themes that have become important in historical archaeology in the United States since 1982. The first section briefly assesses the field. The second discusses capitalism as one theme that may serve to unify research. Cross-cultural research, integrative analyses, and the concepts of power and ideology are central to this theme. The third section is a brief case study concerning the historic Cherokee. The conclusion comments on the institutional state of historical archaeology.
Historical archaeology, with its interest in material culture and its use of the broader perspectives of anthropology and anthropological archaeology, has contributed to a distinctive understanding of the North American experience. Historical archaeologists have, to varying degrees, investigated the material traces of class, race, gender, and state formation. These studies provide an understanding of the origin of many of the social practices that undergird modern culture, a necessary, though neglected, case in a unified anthropological archaeology's goal of writing innovative world histories.
Over the last quarter century, a plethora of studies on literacy, reading, and writing in medieval Europe have contributed significantly to our understanding of medieval society and culture. Nevertheless the sheer number of these studies and their authorship by scholars in several different disciplines have obscured the relationships between these studies, their common themes and their differences. This essay seeks to survey this literature and its background, to explicate its contributions to the field of medieval history, and to suggest avenues for future study. It also reveals how approaches developed outside medieval studies were borrowed and adapted by medievalists, and how the study of literacy, reading, and writing in the Middle Ages has, in turn, influenced the work of ancient and modern historians.
Recent examination of the effects of the role of literacy on cognition suggests that these effects cannot be tied exclusively to the acquisition of reading and writing skills. This paper advances the argument that literacy has its impact on cognition indirectly, through the invention and acquisition of a complex set of concepts, expressed in a metalanguage, for talking about texts. These devices turn linguistically-expressed propositions into objects of thought. An empirical examination of children's knowledge of these specialized devices for referring to talk and thought indicates that they are acquired in the later school years. The sources, development, and implications of this specialized vocabulary are discussed. It is concluded that talk about text may be as important as the skills of reading and writing, in developing those skills usually identified as ‘literate’.
This chapter reviews the archaeology of European colonial expansion into Southern Africa, and the impact of this expansion on the communities long-established there. This is not only colonial archaeology, but migratory agro-pastoralist communities, absorbing, displacing or co-settling with hunter-gatherers. The author has focused on major trends in research and writing that have defined archaeology and contine to direct investigation. As the study of material culture, archaeology allows the study of aspects of economy not evident in the documentary record and of the manner in which social relations were mapped out in tangible forms. Four major themes are examined, the archaeology of impact, the underclass, the mind and the archaeology of the text. -after Author
From its first occurrence around 3000 B.C., writing was integral to the self-definition of Egyptian culture, especially in terms of display where it was part of a system of pictorial representation. By 2600 continuous texts were produced and any linguistic matter could be written; new genres of text appeared in stages, literary texts in the Middle Kingdom and some additional types in the New Kingdom. Very few people were literate, all of them officials of state; schooling was limited. The main script types, hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic, have different, complementary functions. the entire system survived into late Roman times alongside the more widespread Greek. Writing can be related to textual elaboration, to the sense of the past, magic and law, and perhaps to social change and stability but not as an overriding factor. Thus writing cannot explain the failure of radical change in Egypt or its success in Greece. The potential of writing is realised in stages over millennia
A variety of graphic systems have been developed for preserving and communicating information, among them pictures, charts, graphs, flags, tartans and hallmarks. Writing systems which constitute a species of these graphic systems are distinctive in that they bear a direct relation to speech; in this paper it is argued that writing serves as a model for various properties of speech including sentences, words and for alphabets, phonemes. On this view, the history of writing and the acquisition of literacy are less matters of learning how to transcribe speech than a matter of learning to hear and think about one's own language in a new way. A number of lines of evidence are advanced to support the "model" view and the conclusion that literacy contributes to conceptual structure rather than merely reporting it.
Ancient Literacy and the function of the written word in Roman religion
- M Beard
Words for things: linguistic analysis of probate inventories. See Beaudry
- M Beaudry
The Roman imperial army: letters and literacy on the northern frontier. See Bowman & Woolf
- A K Bowman
The behavioural context of probate inventories: an example from Plymouth colony. See Beaudry
- M R Brown