This book starts from the premise that methodology - the procedures
for obtaining an 'objective' knowledge of the past - has always
dominated archaeology to the detriment of broader social theory. It
argues that social theory is archaeological theory, and that past
failure to recognise this has resulted in disembodied
archaeological theory and weak disciplinary practice. Ideology,
Power and Prehistory therefore seeks to reinstate the primacy of
social theory and the social nature of the past worlds that
archaeologists seek to understand. The contributors to this book
argue that past peoples, the creators of the archaeological
records, should be understood as actively manipulating their own
material world to represent and misrepresent their own and others'
interests. Thus the concepts of ideology and power, long discussed
in social and political science yet largely ignored by
archaeologists, must henceforward play a central role in our
understanding of the past as a social creation. Archaeologists must
now consider how the material remains they study were used to
create images by past societies, which do not simply mirror or
reflect but actively orientate the nature of these societies.
General
Imprint: |
Cambridge UniversityPress
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Series: |
New Directions in Archaeology |
Release date: |
November 2008 |
First published: |
November 2008 |
Authors: |
Daniel Miller
• Christopher Tilley
|
Dimensions: |
279 x 210 x 9mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
168 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-521-09089-6 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
Archaeology >
Archaeological theory
|
LSN: |
0-521-09089-X |
Barcode: |
9780521090896 |
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