Historical Archaeologies of Cognition
Explorations into Faith, Hope and Charity
edited by James Symonds, Anna Badcock and Jeff Oliver
Paperback (Published)
(September 2017)
ISBN: 9781781796368
6.81 x 9.69 inches
Price: $29.95
On back order
This collection of essays draws inspiration from the late James Deetz’s In Small Things Forgotten (1977). Deetz’s seminal work broke new ground by using structuralist theory to show how artifacts reflected the ‘worldviews’ or ideologies of their makers and users, and went on to claim that the American colonial world had been structured according to a British intellectual blueprint, the so-called ‘Georgian Order’. Thirty years on, this influential thesis has been substantially revised by more recent scholarship, but Deetz’s central premise, that the systematic study of mundane material objects such as tombstones, architecture, and furniture, can render palpable the intangible aspects of human cognition and belief systems, has become a fundamental tenet of modern historical archaeology.
This collection of essays draws inspiration from the late James Deetz’s In Small Things Forgotten (1977). Deetz’s seminal work broke new ground by using structuralist theory to show how artefacts reflected the ‘worldviews’ or ideologies of their makers and users, and went on to claim that the American colonial world had been structured according to a British intellectual blueprint, the so-called ‘Georgian Order’. Thirty years on, this influential thesis has been substantially revised by more recent scholarship, but Deetz’s central premise, that the systematic study of mundane material objects such as tombstones, architecture, and furniture, can render palpable the intangible aspects of human cognition and belief systems, has become a fundamental tenet of modern historical archaeology. Drawing upon James Deetz’s insight that everyday objects from the recent past are ‘freighted with social significance’ and that material culture operates alongside language as a system of communication, the authors present a series of case studies which unravel specific cultural moments in well-documented historical periods across the modern world. The studies in this volume range in date from the early 17th century to the late 20th century and are unified by the way in which they employ theory from archaeology and anthropology to elucidate the complex links between human thought and action. The international authors make a significant contribution to archaeological knowledge through their ability to move beyond simple materialities to create human stories which transcend purely descriptive show-and-tell accounts of archaeological sites and allow taken-for-granted constructions of race, class and gender to be probed and challenged.
- Edited by Anna Badcock
- Edited by Jeff Oliver
- Edited by James Symonds
Similar Books
Archaeological Excavations at Irmis Rka: An Investigation of a Multi-Layered Settlement in Southwest Georgia
Results from the 2020 Season: Early Bronze Age to Medieval Occupations
Catuvellaunia and Rome: Economic and Political Relations during the Final Decades Pre-conquest
The Role of Grain from Southeastern Britain and Its Potential for Maintenance of the Roman Military along the Frontier on the Rhine
Colour Concept “Secoli bui” a colori
Codici cromatici e architetture dipinte nell’età tardoantica e medievale
Crossing Disciplines in the Study of Archaeology and Prehistoric Art: Insights from the Sahara and Mediterranean Africa
Proceedings of the XX UISPP World Congress (5–9 September 2023, Timișoara, Romania) Volume / Session 18
Crossing Sacred Landscapes
Contacts and Continuities in the Desert Cults and Beliefs of Ancient Northern Arabia and the Arid Southern Levant
Cuneiform Artefacts from Archaeological Contexts: New Research on Ancient Iraq
Proceedings of a Conference Held at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, July 4–5, 2024
Volume 2
ENTANGLED AFRICA
Intra-African Relations Between Rain Forest and Mediterranean from Around 4,000 BCE to 1,500 CE
Exploring Prehistoric Pottery in Japan
A Study of Organic Inclusions, Adhering Materials, and Impressions of Woven Items
From Coast to Coast
Current Archaeological Research on Cultural Exchange along and across the Baltic Sea
Volume 19
Frontiers of the Roman Empire: The Frontier of the Roman Province of Raetia
Grenzen des Römischen Reiches: Die Grenze der Römischen Provinz Raetien
Gold, Silver and Glass: Power Networks, Cultural Identities, Technology Transfers and Agency across the Old World (7th Century BC – 1st Century AD)
Proceedings of a Conference Held at the British Museum, 16–18 June 2023
Harvesting the Margins of the Viking World
Decentralizing Economies in Late Iron Age Fennoscandia
Volume 6
Images of Anonymous Women
A Semiotic Approach to Image-Text Relations in Interpretation of Ancient Near Eastern Art and the Hebrew Bible
Volume 310
Making and Meaning in the Bronze and Iron Ages
Chronology, Landscapes and Societies across Europe. Proceedings from the METALAGES2024 Colloquium (Florence, 23 October 2024)
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Mobility and Archaeogenetics in Central Asia
People – Goods – Ideas. 3rd International Conference on Central Asian Archaeology in Bern, 11th–13th January 2024
Volume 24
Offa’s Dyke Journal: Volume 7 for 2025
A Journal for Linear Monuments, Frontiers and Borderlands Research
Prehistoric, Ancient and Medieval Medicine
New Perspectives and Challenges for the Twenty-First Century