Re: Alternative Archaeology


"Peter Alaca" <P.Alaca@xxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:43fe0671$0$41322$dbd4d001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Uwe Müller wrote: news:dtk294$h7e$1@xxxxxxxxx

Beyond crusades: how (not) to engage with alternative archaeologies,
by Cornelius Holtorf

http://www.grahamhan***.com/forum/HoltorfC1.php

have fun

Uwe Mueller

Thanks Uwe. Interesting article.

There are a number of points, where I believe he is wrong. But that may have
to do with his work at a university teaching students, with supposedly very
little time for actual archaeology.

Data about climatic and/or weather changes, as has been recovered for years
from excavations, is a case in point, showing the usefullness of
archaeology. The variability of basic believes in cultur, heritage etc., as
has been shown, is another important area.

Here in Brandenburg we have a situation, where new believes, technologies
and people arrive from the west, with lots of money being wasted on
'accompanying the change'. If we knew enough about how a similar situation
was dealt with succesfully in the 12th and 13th c., a lot of effort, time
and money could be saved, a worthwhile contribution.

Basically he has a point though, archaeology is fun.


This one is related:

"The struggle for theoretical correctness in
Swedish archaeology"
By Martin Rundkvist
http://www.algonet.se/~arador/mr_arkeo_en.html


And he makes a number of valid points: the three-partite divison of
archaeology (excavations, museums, universities) and of theoretical
backgrounds (traditional, processual, post-processual), has become a
problem. (Funny though, that it mirrors the most common archaeological
subdivisons, early middle late, or stone bronze iron.)

exaggeration on>
Excavators are producing reports which center on the bureaucratical needs of
the supervising museums, no time and money for analyses or even
interpretation.
Museum archaeologists produce lists of finds, sites and links between the
two, seldom being concerned with more than finds and site plans any more.
University archaeologist spend their times teaching students and
participating in research about the stuctures of their data, the societies
(or the middle-class part of them) that pay them and the short comings of
possible competitors for money and influence.
exaggeration off>

Luckily there are still lot's of people out there, that jump the borders,
that insist on interpretations while excavating (ask questions from and not
only about your digs), that try to do fieldwork, even though their job is
centred on collecting data from fieldwork, and that take great pains to
present the results to the public, etc.

But it is getting harder to do this. Here in Brandenburg practical
archaeology is restricted to documentation, with hundreds or thousands of
excavation reports being filed away, hoping for future students to do
further work on them. Knowledge about these sites or about certain artefact
groups rests unpublished with the excavators.

The agreement of Malta, on the analyses, interpretation and publication of
results from arch. excavations, is simply being ignored.

have fun

Uwe Mueller



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