Archaeology beyond Postmodernity: A Science of the Social

by Andrew M. Martin

Overview

In the last decade, a new conception of culture has emerged in sociology, out of the ashes of modernism and post-modernism, that has the potential to radically change how we think about cultural objects and groups in archaeology. Archaeology beyond Postmodernity re-evaluates current interpretive and methodological tools and adapts them to the new position. Many examples are given from Western and indigenous sciences to illustrate this different understanding of science and culture. In addition, several case studies demonstrate how it can be applied to interpret historic and prehistoric cultures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759123571
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	07/19/2013
Series:	Archaeology in Society
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Andrew Martin is an independent scholar and formerly lecturer and researcher at U.K. universities. He has been the principal investigator for the Wessex Barrow Project.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Entangled by Modernism Chapter 2. Archaeological Use of Theories Chapter 3. Object Science Chapter 4. Group Formation, Dissent, and Change Chapter 5. A Method for Analyzing Cultural Action Chapter 6. Fragmenting the Bronze Age Chapter 7. Contestation in the Hopewell Chapter 8. Conclusion Appendix 1. Structural Similarities Between Mounds in Barrow Groups Appendix 2. Correlation of Inhumations and Cremations with Barrow Types Appendix 3. Proximity of Wessex Anomalies to Beaker Barrows Appendix 4. Context of Beaker Barrows Appendix 5. Comparison of Size Between Last Beaker and Wessex Barrows Appendix 6. Context of Secondary Cremations Appendix 7. Secondary Inhumations in Cremation Mounds Appendix 8. Characteristics of Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 Mounds Bibliography About the Author

Editorial Reviews

This book is a proposal for and a stout defense of an archaeology based the ideas of Bruno Latour and Actor Network Theory. Martin not only lays out the central ideas of a Latourian archaeology but he also situates the ideas in relation to other approaches in theoretical archaeology. The book also provides two sustained archaeological examples which will be of interest to both American and British audiences: the prehistoric mounds of Hopewell in North America, and the Bronze Age of lowland Britain. The end result is an important book that explains and substantiates a new approach in archaeology and provides an exciting challenge for existing perspectives in the discipline.

Ian Hodder

Martin has written a provocative and stimulating book that deserves a wide audience.. . .[I]t is fair to say that Martin's work offers one of the most in-depth and sustained attempts to grapple with the implications of a Latourian understanding of the social.. . .Still, Martin's book is a significant contribution, and whether one agrees with the particular route he chooses to take beyond postmodernity, anyone seeking to understand contemporary approaches in archaeological theory will find themselves embarrassed not to have read it.

Journal of Anthropological Research