CHAPTER 6: MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST
Note: this is part of an electronic companion that supplements Kevin Greene's book Archaeology: an introduction (1995); click on the title to start from the home page.

CHAPTER 6: MAKING SENSE OF THE PAST

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
  1. WHERE IS ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY?
    1.1 Too much knowledge?
  2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY
  3. SOCIAL EVOLUTION: 3.1 Early anthropology; 3.2 Darwin; 3.3 'Culture history'
  4. DIFFUSIONISM: 4.1 Megalithic tombs; 4.2 New interpretations
  5. NATIONALISM AND RACISM
  6. TOWARDS PROCESSUALIST ARCHAEOLOGY:
    6.1 Social evolution and Marxism; 6.2 'New archaeology'
  7. ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY
  8. POST-PROCESSUALISM
  9. RE-CONSTRUCTING ARCHAEOLOGY...
  10. CURRENT ISSUES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
  11. MANAGING OUR HERITAGE:
    11.1 Archaeology and the State; 11.2 Museums; 11.3 Controlling the present by means of the past?; 11.4 Stonehenge
  12. ETHICAL ISSUES:
    12.1 The antiquities trade; 12.2 Indigenous peoples; 12.3 Gender; 12.4 The Green movement
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1 WHERE IS ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY?

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'Some aspects of archaeology, notably the study of human origins and early prehistory developed into a respectable scientific pursuit in the nineteenth century. Archaeology underwent accelerated growth after 1900, so that today virtually every country in the world operates some form of State-financed protection of ancient monuments, as well as supporting research into the subject in public universities and museums. ... Are we simply making what we want of the past because we can do nothing about the present, let alone change the future?' (p. 159)
1.1 Too much knowledge?
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'As the amount of information produced by excavation, fieldwork and other forms of research has increased, so too have expectations about its quality and detail. The many supporting techniques and sources of specialist information make it more difficult, rather than easier, to complete a report for publication. The size and complexity of the end- product may be unwieldy, expensive, and impossible for non-specialists to digest. Archaeologists need to think about their duties to taxpayers, and find convincing justifications for yet more analyses of the material remains of the past.' (p. 160)

2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY

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'Since most branches of archaeological theory have their roots in philosophy or other disciplines such as sociology or anthropology, they offer the possibility of gaining new and unexpected insights into familiar aspects of the past. Theory does not provide answers, but it suggests a wider range of interesting questions that revitalise existing data and stimulate a search for new and better information.' (p. 161)

3 SOCIAL EVOLUTION

3.1 Early anthropology; 3.2 The impact of Darwin; 3.3 'Culture history'; Go back to chapter heading
3.1 Early anthropology
'...the way that early antiquaries drew analogies between artefacts from the New and Old Worlds is an obvious example of an informative interaction between the observation of existing 'primitive' cultures and deductions about the past. ... Any well-read antiquarian of the late eighteenth or nineteenth century who encountered ancient objects and sites would probably approach their interpretation with a mixture of historical and biblical knowledge, and some theoretical concept of human development and progress.' (p. 161)
3.2 The impact of Darwin
'The Darwinian concept of evolution became universally known in learned circles in the 1860s, even amongst those who rejected both its basis and implications. The great antiquity of human ancestors was established by geologists and archaeologists at around the same time. As might be expected, Darwin's biological concepts were particularly elcomed by writers who combined the evolutionary approach to past societies with new anthropological and archaeological observations.' (p. 161)
3.3 'Culture history'
'...the 'evolutionary' approach to the typology of artefacts that led to the acceptance of the Three-Age System in early nineteenth-century Scandinavia was quite separate from Darwin's, although both incorporated assumptions of linear progress and improvement. Nevertheless, the combination of evolutionary concepts related to animals (including humans), artefacts, economic systems and societies made a substantial contribution to twentieth-century archaeology. ...the Australian Marxist prehistorian V. Gordon Childe ... classified recurrent groups of related prehistoric artefacts and settlements into 'cultures', and proposed that they represented distinct ethnic or social groupings of people.' (p. 162)

4 DIFFUSIONISM

4.1 Diffusionism in disrepute: megalithic tombs; 4.2 New interpretations of megalithic tombs; Go back to chapter heading
'...European scholarship had been haunted by the civilizations of the Mediterranean and Near East ever since the medieval period. Childe, like Montelius and others before him, made an assumption that all innovations or improvements observed in European prehistory must have originated in those areas where civilizations flourished at the earliest date. It must be emphasised that there was no logical inconsistency in asserting that all impulses towards progress should have emanated from those areas, particularly when Mesopotamia and Egypt became better known in the nineteenth century. Diffusionism gained support from the concept of evolution, because it provided a powerful metaphorical explanation of 'progress' and the inevitable spread of 'improvements' from advanced to less developed areas.' (p. 162-3)
4.1 Diffusionism in disrepute: megalithic tombs
'These large stone constructions are found in many parts of western Europe, Scandinavia and Germany, and they usually contain stone-lined chambers, some with long entrance passageways. ... Monumental stone architecture appeared in Egypt early in the second millennium BC... Tombs with stone passageways and vaulted chambers exist in the Aegean area around 1600 BC, and it was natural to assume that these must have inspired the megalithic tombs that they resemble. ... Scientific dating now shows that megalithic tombs were established in north-western France by 4700 BC.' (p. 163-4)
4.2 New interpretations of megalithic tombs
'Renfrew ... tackled the problem of general explanation - why should similar monuments develop in as many as five different parts of the fringes of Europe (but nowhere else) at around the same time? He proposed (very tentatively) that population pressures developed as farming communities reached the coastal limits of Europe, where they were influenced by indigenous hunter-fisher peoples; in other words, similar circumstances produced similar results in separate, but comparable, areas.' (p. 165-7)

5 NATIONALISM AND RACISM

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'John Lubbock, a close associate of Darwin, combined archaeology, anthropology and rigid evolutionary theory in his influential book Pre-historic times (1865), and concluded that non-European cultures were biologically inferior, and that the most primitive peoples were doomed to inevitable extinction through natural selection. Thus, no moral responsibility need be felt for their decline or loss of identity through colonisation, since they resulted from innate biological differences.' (p. 167-8)

6 TOWARDS PROCESSUALIST ARCHAEOLOGY

6.1 Social evolution and Marxism; 6.2 The 'New archaeology'; Go back to chapter heading
'...once the main sequences of artefacts and cultures had been established, and after they had been placed into a chronological framework through documentary evidence or radiocarbon dating, they could be studied in much more imaginative ways. In the ethnic approach, the relationships between cultures were discussed in terms derived from historical archaeology: invasion, colonisation, trade, etc. Alternatively, the development of cultures through time could be seen in evolutionary terms, from a biological, ecological, social, political or economic point of view.' (p. 169)
6.1 Social evolution and Marxism
'Abstract concepts such as evolution (whether biological or social) and Marxism could be very comforting for prehistoric archaeologists faced with complicated typologies or sequences of cultures. Evolution explained change in terms of competition between humans and other animals, accompanied by a need to adapt to the natural environment. Marxism placed more emphasis on the economy, and its influence upon ritual and social systems; it was the stresses between conservative and progressive social forces that provoked change, and the experiences of the Russian Revolution in 1917 demonstrated that these could be rapid and dramatic.' (p. 169)
6.2 The 'New archaeology'
'Perhaps the most important key-words of the 'new' archaeology are system, hypothesis-testing, laws, process and explanation. ... Interpretations of change based upon systems theory favoured modifications within societies, and helped to discourage 'historical' explanations that invoked diffusion, invasion or migration. The formulation and testing of hypotheses reflect the growing interest in scientific methodology, combined with the use of statistics, that characterised most of the social sciences in the 1960s. This approach contrasted with the traditional method of reaching conclusions intuitively after looking at the data...' (p. 170)

7 ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY

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'Anthropological observation aimed at the understanding of the nature of archaeological evidence is often called ethnoarchaeology. The demand for better understanding of archaeological sites and societies caused Lewis Binford and Ian Hodder to conduct ethnoarchaeological investigations amongst the Inuit (Eskimos) in Canada and in several parts of Africa. ... Thus, one side-effect of the 'new' archaeology was a revitalisation of the relationship that had existed between archaeology and anthropology since the nineteenth century.' (p. 171-2)

8 POST-PROCESSUALISM

8.1 Context, structure, mind...; Go back to chapter heading
'Archaeology has come under many influences since the 1970s, including structuralism, post-structuralism, and forms of post-modernist criticism that, if taken to extreme lengths, reject not only those values and judgements that have been made in the past, but even the possibility of making any meaningful judgements at all today. It is hardly surprising that processualism, based on systems deduced from detailed observations of sites and artefacts, came under forceful attack from many directions.' (p. 172)
8.1 Context, structure, mind...
'One major drawback of a strictly processual view of the past is its failure to address some of the most profound aspects of human life related to thought and belief. ... A positive feature of philosophies of archaeology that seek meaning in psychological terms is that they are unlikely to neglect the active role of the individual in society, whereas an excessively processual point of view may lead to a mechanical notion of human societies shaped entirely by environmental forces.' (p. 173)

9 RE-CONSTRUCTING ARCHAEOLOGY...

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'The title of this section is taken from a fascinating book, Re-constructing archaeology: theory and practice by Michael Shanks and Christopher Tilley, first published in 1987. ..."Truth does not reside in the past, nor does falsity. Our aim is the construction of material truths forced out of a mediation between the activities of object-subjects (archaeologists) and subject-objects (the traces of the past). We reject functional and scientific (in the sense of the 'new' archaeology) pasts because these are idealist pasts" (252).' (p. 173-4)

10 CURRENT ISSUES IN ARCHAEOLOGY

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'One distinctive aspect of western society in the late twentieth century is a reaction against modernism. It ranges from concern about environmental problems, such as global warming, that are seen as a result of industrialisation, to the romantic appeal of primitive lifestyles, whether those of modern peoples such as the Yanamamo Indians or supposedly egalitarian and peaceful prehistoric societies. ... Archaeology has also become involved in broader issues, such as the market-led deregulated economics of Thatcher and Reagan, multiculturalism, 'green politics', feminism, the rights of indigenous peoples, and ethical questions over the ownership of 'cultural property' ranging from classical Greek sculptures to relatively modern 'tribal' artefacts from the Third World.' (p. 174-5)

11 MANAGING OUR HERITAGE

11.1 Archaeology and the State; 11.2 Museums: from Art Gallery to 'Experience'; 11.3 Controlling the present by means of the past?; 11.4 Stonehenge; Go back to chapter heading
'One context where it is particularly difficult to evade broad ethical and political issues is sometimes known as the heritage movement (or even the heritage industry). This term embraces many different approaches to presenting the past to the public, and provokes strong reactions and hot debate. A less emotive description of the conservation and presentation of sites, landscapes and artefacts is cultural resource management (CRM).' (p. 175)
11.1 Archaeology and the State
'...in little over a century, State involvement in British archaeology has progressed from informal supervision of a small number of sites, through cooperation with sympathetic landowners, to the provision of a major focus of leisure and tourism. Furthermore, visitors to sites are now encouraged to feel that they are participating in their heritage, rather than being allowed the privilege of access to Crown property.' (p. 176)
11.2 Museums: from Art Gallery to 'Experience'
'Unlike an ancient site or historic building, a museum is a modern creation whose very form embodies the ideas of a designer. ... In the twentieth century museums gradually began to make fewer assumptions about their visitors, and attempted to provide more information about objects on view, normally by providing commentaries in the form of pictures of contemporary sites and extended text and labels.' (p. 176-7)
York
11.3 Controlling the present by means of the past?
'Post-processual archaeology has heightened our awareness of the importance of symbolism in the past, and the political implications of the interpretations we make today. The 'heritage movement' has not escaped scrutiny, and museums have come in for particularly trenchant criticism. Some of the most severe opprobrium is directed towards museums that present the recent industrial past...' (p. 178)
11.4 Stonehenge
'Political issues of this kind are less obvious in relation to sites or museums that belong to earlier periods, but they always lurk beneath the surface. ...we must reflect upon the irony that Stonehenge, of all sites, should have come to symbolise authoritarian repression and exclusive ownership (in the names of English Heritage and the National Trust) to those few individuals who value it as a symbol of 'otherness' in cosmic or ritual terms today.' (p. 178-80)

12 ETHICAL ISSUES

12.1 The antiquities trade; 12.2 Indigenous peoples; 12.3 Gender; 12.4 The Green movement; Go back to chapter heading
12.1 The antiquities trade
'...many archaeologists and museums regarded sites and artefacts from around the Mediterranean, the Near East and other parts of the world as yet another resource to be exploited for the benefit of their own countries. This is no longer official policy, but it has left a powerful legacy, in the form of a vast international market for works of art, antiquities, and 'tribal' material from the Third World. ... The result is that ancient sites and cemeteries all over the world are systematically plundered in the search for pots, jewellery, carvings, or anything else that may be sold. This problem is most serious in the Third World, where antiquities form a valuable supplement to low incomes, along with other sought-after materials such as drugs or ivory.' (p. 180)
12.2 Indigenous peoples
'...worries over the ethics of collecting antiquities or 'tribal' art from the Third World are closely linked to growing sensitivities about the rights of indigenous peoples. ... Arguments about the ownership of 'cultural property' in the form of antiquities and works of art take on an interesting additional dimension when they are focused on the question of the treatment of human remains. In both North America and Australia, there have been demands for the reburial of remains excavated by archaeologists - whatever their age. Furthermore, there have been requests to return material taken as specimens by nineteenth-century anthropologists and anatomists.' (p. 181)
12.3 Gender
'A parallel issue to that of indigenous rights is gender, for it also confronts prejudices that may lie so deep that they are unconscious. The first blunder that male archaeologists make is to assume that an interest in gender is equivalent to feminism. After all, one approach to gender (or race) is to promote equality, and to ignore genuine differences; an emphasis on 'engendering' archaeology demands that it should be a serious aspect of any enquiry.' (p. 181-2)
12.4 The Green movement
'In other words, human societies in the past did not live in harmony with their environments; they frequently exploited and destroyed them. This knowledge does not give us an excuse for doing the same thing; rather, it adds to our responsibility to explore non-destructive agriculture, to utilise materials less wastefully, and to avoid non-productive competitive activities - notably warfare.' (p. 184)

13 CONCLUSION

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'One of the great benefits of a retrospective study of archaeology is to appreciate this point, and to take a more detached view of any school of thought that claims to be 'new', or to have exclusive possession of the truth. An open-minded attitude is required not only to changing fashions in archaeological interpretation, but to the subject a whole. The lesson to be learnt from the rapid advance of scientific techniques in recent decades is that new and revolutionary evidence may appear at any moment from a completely unsuspected source.' (p. 184)
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