Publication date:
16 July 2010Length of book:
208 pagesPublisher
AltaMira PressDimensions:
241x164mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780759119307
In much recent thinking, social and cultural realms are thought of as existing prior to—or detached from—things, materiality, and landscape. It is often assumed, for example, that things are entirely 'constructed' by social or cultural perceptions and have no existence in and of themselves. Bjornar Olsen takes a different position. Drawing on a range of theories, especially phenomenology and actor-network-theory, Olsen claims that human life is fully mixed up with things and that humanity and human history emerge from such relationships. Things, moreover, possess unique qualities that are inherent in our cohabitation with them—qualities that help to facilitate existential security and memory of the past. This important work of archaeological theory challenges us to reconsider our ideas about the nature of things, past and present, demonstrating that objects themselves possess a dynamic presence that we must take into account if we are to understand the world we and they inhabit.
It is delightful to read an archaeological work that is so fluent with the history and uses of philosophical traditions and their effects on archaeological debates. Equally refreshing is Olsen’s decision to abstain from creating a cavalcade of case studies, although the number of examples and
their analyses increase towards the end of the book. The conventional way of writing archaeological theory as a series of case studies is often tedious for readers as well as restrictive for theoretical discussion. In fact, the absence of case studies could be seen as an implication of Olsen’s position:
at its best, writing about things makes the neat distinction between an ‘abstract’, theoretical introduction and the subsequent, ‘concrete’ case study questionable. Olsen’s book is an imperative call for new ways of making archaeological theory relevant for other disciplines and is a reminder of the importance of ontological difference in thinking about things.
their analyses increase towards the end of the book. The conventional way of writing archaeological theory as a series of case studies is often tedious for readers as well as restrictive for theoretical discussion. In fact, the absence of case studies could be seen as an implication of Olsen’s position:
at its best, writing about things makes the neat distinction between an ‘abstract’, theoretical introduction and the subsequent, ‘concrete’ case study questionable. Olsen’s book is an imperative call for new ways of making archaeological theory relevant for other disciplines and is a reminder of the importance of ontological difference in thinking about things.