Call for Papers (April 2009 Issue)
Beyond the Facts: Invention and Reinvention in Archaeological Practice
The Archaeological Review from Cambridge invites papers on the theme of
invention and re-invention in archaeology. The past quarter century has
seen a rich academic debate about the nature of archaeological
interpretation. Post-modern theories such as constructivism and relativism
have encouraged archaeologists to debate the nature of 'truth' and to re-
evaluate the influence of their own biases and judgments on the past. The
topic of invention and reinvention in archaeological methodology has also
proved insightful. Experimental archaeological methodologies give a great
deal of room for imagination and invention. In archaeological theory and
practice, it appears that many 20th century archaeological epistemologies
might be ‘reinventions’ of earlier methods used by professionals in the
past: archaeologists like Matthew Johnson, for example, have claimed
that ‘phenomenology’ may be a ‘reinvented’ tradition from the British
Romantic landscape studies. The discipline of archaeology has also
promoted better awareness of alternative perspectives on the past, such as
the recognition of indigenous values or notions of the sacred; however,
lines are still uncertainly drawn between ‘valid’ claims of the past and
other, ‘less valid’ fringe theories. In many cases of post-colonial
archaeology, post-conflict heritage, or identity studies, the past is a
debated realm. Meanings are often constructed, manipulated, invented or
re-invented through the use of material culture. Professionals have also
been more attentive to the role of the public in propagating myths and
folklore, and the relationship between media and pop-culture to
professional archaeology.
ARC invites contributors to explore the broad theme of invention or re-
invention in archaeological interpretation and practice. Possible topics
for contribution include, but are not limited to:
- Exploring invention, reinvention, or imagination in experimental
archaeology, new archaeological methodologies, and archaeological
epistemology.
- Reinvention in archaeological practice and field work.
- Inventing identity: cultural heritage as propaganda; manipulation
of heritage to invent or reinvent history.
- The uses of myths, folklore, and stretches of the imagination in
archaeological heritage.
- The ethics of narrative, invention, and leaps of interpretation in
presenting the reconstructed past to the public.
- Debates on the value of studying alternative, intangible, ‘fringe’
or pseudo-archaeological explanations of material culture and the past.
- Fictional or dramatic representations of archaeology in the media;
archaeology as invented or re-invented in pop-culture.
- Debates about the "constructed" past.
Please send an abstract of 400 words to Tera Pruitt ([log in to unmask]) by
5th March 2008. The full article should not exceed 4000 words.
Archaeological Review from Cambridge is a journal of archaeology. ARC is
managed and published on a voluntary basis by postgraduate research
students at the University of Cambridge. Issues are released twice a year.
ARC is a non-profit making organisation. Although primarily rooted in
archaeological theory and practice, ARC has increasingly begun to
accommodate a wide range of perspectives in the hope of establishing a
strong, inter-disciplinary journal which will be of interest to those
engaged in a range of fields, and therefore breaking down some of the
boundaries that exist between disciplines.
http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/arc
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