Archaeology: The Conceptual Challenge

(Paperback)

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This series of short volumes, each devoted to a theme which is the subject of contemporary debate in archaeology, ranges from issues in theory and method to aspects of world archaeology.The central question this book seeks to explore is this: Are we trying to reconstruct a past in our own image, chained solely to our own unacknowledged emotional, intellectual, and philosophical traditions, or should we attempt to look beyond this at the fundamental concepts we often take for granted, but which if recognised as constructs of the relatively recent past, might begin to allow us to acknowledge our limitations and potentially more profitably engage with archaeological evidence in various ways.The end result is not another nihilist offering based upon a post-modernist collapsed perspective, but rather a considered approach, which, if anything, is ultimately positivist in tone, owing a debt, if anything, to the philosophical outlooks of critical realism.This is a critical yet positive approach to how contemporary conceptual outlooks, if unacknowledged, can seriously influence our understanding of the past.It is an exploration and evaluation of conceptual categories, of great significance to archaeology, which are nevertheless often neglected - age, experience, emotion, the senses, distance, colour etc.

Reviews

Part of the 'Duckworth Debates In Archaeology' series, "Archaeology: The Conceptual Challenge" by Timothy Insoll (Professor of Archaeology at the University of Manchester, England) addresses the central question as to whether or not the primary purpose of archaeology is to 'reconstruct a past in our own image, chained solely to our own unacknowledged emotional, intellectual, and philosophical traditions'. Professor Insoll brings new insights and reasoned argument to fundamental concepts and assumptions ranging from the global to the local, including notions of time, age, and experience; textual, oral, visual, and digital culture; as well as nature, animals and the wild. Of special note is the chapter 'Conclusion' in which Professor Insoll deftly brings together his arguments and observations on the questions and issues that he has raised throughout this accessible written text that is recommended reading for both academics and non-specialist general readers with an interest in archaeological issues. Also very highly recommended and part of this same "Duckworth Debates In Archaeology' series is Tadhg O'Keeffe's "Archaeology and the Pan-European Romanesque" (9780715634349, $22.00).

Author Bio

Timothy Insoll is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Manchester. His works include Archaeology, Ritual, Religion (Routledge, 2004) and The Archaeology of Islam (Blackwells, 1999. He has published over 70 academic papers, notes, and reviews, and has made two short films, 'The Carnelian Beads of Khambhat' (2002), and 'Archaeology and Sacrifice' (2005).