Archaeology After Interpretation Returning Materials to Archaeological Theory [Paperback]

A new generation of archaeologists has thrown down a challenge to post-processual theory, arguing that characterizing material symbols as arbitrary overlooks the material character and significance of artifacts. This volume showcases the significant departure from previous symbolic approaches that is underway in the discipline. It brings together key scholars advancing a variety of cutting edge approaches, each emphasizing an understanding of artifacts and materials not in terms of symbols but relationally, as a set of associations that compose people’s understanding of the world. Authors draw on a diversity of intellectual sources and case studies, paving a dynamic road ahead for archaeology as a discipline and theoretical approaches to material culture.

This volume marks a significant departure from previous symbolic approaches in post-processual archaeology, bringing together key scholars advancing a variety of cutting edge approaches to chart a new direction in material culture studies.

INTRODUCTIONIntroduction : Archaeology after Interpretation - Andrew Meirion Jones and Benjamin Alberti(with contributions from Chris Fowler, Gavin Lucas, and Joshua Pollard)PART I Relational Ontologies – Benjamin AlbertiChapter 1 - Archaeology and ontologies of scale: the case of miniaturization in first millennium northwest Argentina – Benjamin AlbertiChapter 2 - Transmorphic Being, Corresponding Affect: An Ontological Safari in South-Central California – David RobinsonChapter 3 - Carnival times and the semiopraxis of the snake: Mining and politics of knowledge- Alejandro HaberChapter 4 - Unstable contexts: re-materialising the archaeological record of domestic settings in Andean Northwest Argentina Andrés Gustavo LaguensPART II Working with Material – Andrew Meirion JonesChapter 5 - Deception and (mis)representation: Skeuomorphs, materials and form – Chantel ConnellerChapter 6 - Archaeological Complexity: Ml#+