The mainstream archaeology of the seventies, 'processual archaeology', modelled itself on the natural sciences. It has been challenged in recent years by a 'post-processual' archaeology which draws upon the wider perspectives of history and social anthropology, insisting that account must be taken of the context and meaning of behaviour, and that the ideological uses of archaeology be recognized by practitioners. Ian Hodder, a leading figure in the new movement, argues in this book that in explaining the behaviour of past societies a concern with meaning must be joined to the study of ecological constraints and economic and social processes. This leads him to discuss systems theory and structuralist and Marxist approaches in archaeology. Post-processual archaeology is socially engaged and multivocal, since if material remains may be treated in some ways as texts, they lend themselves to divergent readings. Hodder suggests that archaeologists must bring a variety of perspectives to bear in the complex and uncertain tack of 'translating the meaning of past texts into their own contemporary language'.
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Editorial Reviews
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'One of the most important and provocative recent contributions to the theory and philosophy of archaeology.' British Archaeological News
' ... it strives honestly and purposefully not only to find a rationale for archaeology, the subject which alone can study most of the human past, but also for the place of that study among the intellectual endeavours of our own age.' The Times Literary Supplement
' ... it is highly welcome ... to have a short, comprehensible book which challenges many of the shibboleths of the New Archaeology, looks seriously but critically at Structuralism, Neo-Marxism and Critical Theory, and attempts to develop an original 'post-processual' and 'contextual' approach to the cultural meaning of things and to the significance of individuals and individual action in the past.' Antiquaries Journal
' ... it will provide powerful stimuli for a necessary dialogue within archaeology, not only for how we view the past but also for how we view our roles in the present.' American Anthropologist
' ... it strives honestly and purposefully not only to find a rationale for archaeology, the subject which alone can study most of the human past, but also for the place of that study among the intellectual endeavours of our own age.' The Times Literary Supplement
' ... it is highly welcome ... to have a short, comprehensible book which challenges many of the shibboleths of the New Archaeology, looks seriously but critically at Structuralism, Neo-Marxism and Critical Theory, and attempts to develop an original 'post-processual' and 'contextual' approach to the cultural meaning of things and to the significance of individuals and individual action in the past.' Antiquaries Journal
' ... it will provide powerful stimuli for a necessary dialogue within archaeology, not only for how we view the past but also for how we view our roles in the present.' American Anthropologist
Book Description
A revised edition of this controversial textbook first published in 1986. Hodder puts forward the case for a 'post-processual' archaeology which draws upon the wider perspectives of history and social anthropology.
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9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A tremendous book!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology (Paperback)
Reading the past is Hodders first book where he explicitly descibes the new post-processual archaeology and give critics about the processual (and other) approach. Truly a paradigm-shift, this book is the first book that covers the basic ideas of post-processualism...
7 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
incomprehensible,
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This review is from: Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in Archaeology (Paperback)
Another jargon loaded archaeological theory classic. It reviews major trends of post-processual archaeology, but it sent me and most of my friends in the archaeology course straigh to sleep. If you want a good book on theory, that wont have the same effect, get Matthew Johnsons archaeological theory. ITs in plain english for a change.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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middle range theory, semiotic archaeologies, contextual archaeology, structuralist archaeology, processual archaeology, ideational realm, processual archaeologists, feminist archaeology Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Archaeology, Upper Palaeolithic, Critical Theory, Parker Pearson, Don Eustacio, African Burial Ground, Antonine Wall, William Paca, New York, Bronze Age, Lampeter Archaeology Workshop, Iron Age, New World Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
middle range theory, semiotic archaeologies, contextual archaeology, structuralist archaeology, processual archaeology, ideational realm, processual archaeologists, feminist archaeology Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New Archaeology, Upper Palaeolithic, Critical Theory, Parker Pearson, Don Eustacio, African Burial Ground, Antonine Wall, William Paca, New York, Bronze Age, Lampeter Archaeology Workshop, Iron Age, New World Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
72
books
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- Reader in Archaeological Theory: Post-Processual and Cognitive Approaches (Routledge Readers in Archaeology) by David S. Whitley in Front Matter, page 33, and page 214
- Monuments, Objects, Histories: Institutions of Art in Colonial and Post-Colonial India (Cultures of History) by Tapati Guha-Thakurta in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Action as History: The Historical Thought of R.G. Collingwood (British Idealist Studies) by Stein Helgeby in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism (Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology) by Mark P. Leone on page 48, and page 138
- Historical Archaeologies of Capitalism (Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology) by Mark P. Leone on page 48, and page 138
See all 72 books citing this book
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