The study of material culture is concerned with the relationship between persons and things in the past and in the present, in urban and industrialized and in small-scale societies across the globe. The Handbook of Material Culture provides a critical survey of the theories, concepts, intellectual debates, substantive domains, and traditions of study characterizing the analysis of "things." This cutting-edge work examines the current state of material culture as well as how this field of study may be extended and developed in the future.
The Handbook of Material Culture is divided into...
The study of material culture is concerned with the relationship between persons and things in the past and in the present, in urban and industrialize...
This book provides an innovative contribution to debates about the use of metaphor in the social sciences written by one of today's foremost archaeological theorists.
This book provides an innovative contribution to debates about the use of metaphor in the social sciences written by one of today's foremost archaeolo...
The understanding and interpretation of ancient architecture, landscapes, and art has always been viewed through an iconographic lens--a cognitive process based on traditional practices in art history. But ancient people did not ascribe their visions on canvas, rather on hills, stones, and fields. Thus, Chris Tilley argues, the iconographic approach falls short of understanding how ancient people interacted with their imagery. A kinaesthetic approach, one that uses the full body and all the senses, can better approximate the meaning that these artifacts had for their makers and today's...
The understanding and interpretation of ancient architecture, landscapes, and art has always been viewed through an iconographic lens--a cognitive pro...
The understanding and interpretation of ancient architecture, landscapes, and art has always been viewed through an iconographic lens--a cognitive process based on traditional practices in art history. But ancient people did not ascribe their visions on canvas, rather on hills, stones, and fields. Thus, Chris Tilley argues, the iconographic approach falls short of understanding how ancient people interacted with their imagery. A kinaesthetic approach, one that uses the full body and all the senses, can better approximate the meaning that these artifacts had for their makers and today's...
The understanding and interpretation of ancient architecture, landscapes, and art has always been viewed through an iconographic lens--a cognitive pro...
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,...
This book starts from the premise that methodology - the procedures for obtaining an 'objective' knowledge of the past - has always dominated archaeol...
This book is the first comprehensive introduction and guide to Sweden's most spectacular Stone Age monuments: the dolmens and passage graves, which began to be constructed over 5000 years ago. The introduction provides a detailed social interpretation of these monuments outlining how and why they were built and the ways in which they related to economy and landscape, politics, ceremony, symbolism and belief. This is followed by a systematic regional guide to all the major monuments in Skane, Halland, Vastergotland, Oland and Bohuslan, illustrated by numerous photographs, plans and maps.
This book is the first comprehensive introduction and guide to Sweden's most spectacular Stone Age monuments: the dolmens and passage graves, which be...
Archaeological theory and method have recently become the subject of vigorous debate centred on the growing realization that archaeological theory is social theory and as such can be looked at by means of a wide variety of sociological frameworks, such as structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism and critical theory. In this analysis, Shanks and Tilley argue against the functionalism and positivism which result from an inadequate assimilation of social theory into the day-to-day practice of archaeology. Aimed at an advanced undergraduate audience, the book presents a challenge to the...
Archaeological theory and method have recently become the subject of vigorous debate centred on the growing realization that archaeological theory is ...
This book takes a new approach to writing about the past. Instead of studying the prehistory of Britain from Mesolithic to Iron Age times in terms of periods or artifact classifications, Tilley examines it through the lens of their geology and landscapes, asserting the fundamental significance of the bones of the land in the process of human occupation over the long duree. Granite uplands, rolling chalk downlands, sandstone moorlands, and pebbled hilltops each create their own potentialities and symbolic resources for human settlement and require forms of social engagement. Taking his...
This book takes a new approach to writing about the past. Instead of studying the prehistory of Britain from Mesolithic to Iron Age times in terms of ...
Originally published in 1991, this is the first book-length exploration of post-structuralist discourse theory in archaeology. It tackles the most basic problem of historical and archaeological analysis - the relationship between text and artefact in an analysis of prehistoric art fusing theory and the practice of interpretation to create a fresh framework for understanding the relationship between past and present. Focusing on a collection of rock carvings from northern Sweden, the author shows how alternative conceptualizations of the material from structuralist, hermeneutic and...
Originally published in 1991, this is the first book-length exploration of post-structuralist discourse theory in archaeology. It tackles the most ...
