Journal
ARCHAEOMETRY
Volume 46, Issue -, Pages 327-338Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2004.00161.x
Keywords
archaeological science; theoretical archaeology; post-processualism; linguistic metaphors; materiality; embedded technologies; performance characteristics; colour symbolism
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Due to the diversity of contemporary archaeology, the aims and approaches of archaeological scientists and archaeological theorists are often at odds. I suggest that this position is problematic, both intellectually and methodologically, as both groups are fundamentally engaged in the same task: an understanding of past societies through the medium of material culture. This paper offers a review of the intellectual positions of both groups, with a brief discussion of the history of archaeological theory and an appraisal of its current trajectory. I will discuss how and why contemporary theoretical perspectives have fundamentally diverged from the perspectives of archaeological scientists and how the recent theoretical emphasis upon materiality offers a rapprochement between theoreticians and archaeological scientists.
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