DOCSLIB.ORG

Glösa – Transfiguring Rock

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Glösa – Transfiguring Rock Karl-Johan Olofsson Glösa – Transfiguring Rock Art Introduction In the summer of 2003 I and my colleagues from the Archaeology Department at Jämtlands läns museum spent a few pleas- ant weeks doing recording work at Glösa, Alsen. The items being recorded were the famous rock carvings at Glösabäcken, and the work was a small part of the large inter-Nordic RANE–project (Rock Art in Northern Europe). As we lay there and worked on the rocks there was one question that kept on coming back to us: What do the figures really depict? The majority of those who have come into contact with these carvings in recent years have, in one way or another, had previous knowledge of the elks at Glösa. What was a little strange was that the more time we spent at the rock carvings, the more difficult it was to see them as elks. All of us working with the recording had visited Glösa before, but with activities of this type one works close to the figures for a long period of time; later we explained the animal figures in a the figures were literally right under our more conventional manner: possibly elks, noses. perhaps reindeer and maybe a little bear. You In the autumn of 2000 anyone who was in- can imagine our surprise when, a few days terested could read in the local newspaper later, we read in the newspaper: “It looks sort about a newly discovered rock painting at of like a little pig, and a larger animal with Tänndalssjön. What was written made me horns next to it.”1 (LT 2/10 2000). This, almost a little reflective. It had been my colleague, embarrassing, incident taught us that rock Lars-Inge Lööv, and I who had shown the paintings are not a matter for jokes. Today journalist the site and it was us that she had no-one believes that a pig is depicted in the interviewed. On the way to the painting we cave painting at Tänndalssjön, or…? had joked with the journalist when she had Prehistory and archaeology are usually as- asked about what sorts of animals could be sociated with material culture – objects and seen in the painting. “Maybe a little pig,” remains. From one perspective this is correct. we said. When we got to the painting a bit From another perspective archaeology and 55 prehistory are about texts. Practically all ar- about them today than we did in 1685? Or chaeology results in text. Reports, articles, do we know something else today? theses and popular reference works about In this study not only the various interpre- prehistory are some examples of archaeologi- tations are important, but it is also of im- cal texts. Archaeology and prehistory are also portance who made those interpretations usually associated with the distant past. In and when. I have therefore chosen to use one way this is true, but from another point a strictly chronological presentation. If the of view archaeology and prehistory are ex- interpretations of the figures are products of tremely contemporary phenomena. During their times, what factors are relevant to the the time that archaeology has been carried assertions about what is depicted? Who be- out using scientific methods a number of lieves they have the authority to decide what texts have been produced on the subject of the figures represent? The word authority prehistoric conditions. These texts have been is problematic. Knowledge and authority produced in a social and historical context are intimately associated with each other; where the archaeology has not existed in it is through knowledge that authority is prehistory, but rather in the currently exist- exercised. Knowledge gives the authority to ing contemporary society. define, categorise and decide what “reality” A fair amount has been theorised and writ- should look like. Knowledge of phenomena ten about rock carvings. This study examines is most often mediated through texts; texts the suppositions and writings about the rock can therefore be seen as a form of exercising carvings at Glösabäcken. I have chosen Glösa authority. A text’s authoritative importance for primarily two factors: the first known is often longer than its author’s active life. written record of them is from 1685, which Accordingly old, but also new, texts that are makes it possible to follow interpretations read as if they are unproblematic sources of them over a long period of time, and the of knowledge to be used for understand- carved figures are difficult to interpret. ing ‘reality’ exercise their authority over the One question is: How can it be that the same reader. figures can be described in different ways at Further, the various descriptions of Glösa that different times and by different people? Is follow are to be seen as a process where a it research about rock carvings that results set of ancient remains or, more accurately, a in this change, or could it possibly depend cultural environment, is loaded with values on other factors? With regards to Glösa the and meanings over a long period of time. differences revolve around what the ani- However, Glösa is also to be seen as a place mals carved into the rock actually are. The that has generated all these descriptions and most common interpretation of the animal stories. In other words, there is a two-way figures at Glösa is currently that they depict interaction between place and description. elk, but that hasn’t always been the case. Some changes that occur in a cultural en- Another question is almost the opposite of vironment consist of physical changes to the first: Why is it that the figures have been the environment, while other changes can interpreted and described in such a similar be found in people’s thoughts about the manner, especially in the descriptions from place. the past 40 years? Is it scientific proof of what For archaeological material to be able to the figures depict that could be the basis for reveal something it has to be interpreted; this this, or could it be due to something else? is absolutely the case with rock art. However My study is also, to a certain extent, an episte- this can be problematic when interpretations mological study, in which the Glösa Carvings appear to be facts. The basis of the empirical are an example of how presumed knowledge scientific ideal is that objective facts exist; and truth are constructed and created. Has facts come from observing and describing new knowledge been accumulated or has reality as it is. Interpretation is something old knowledge been reproduced; can it be that may occur at a later stage of scientific claimed that 319 years of studying the Glösa thought and has nothing to do with facts. It Carvings has resulted in us knowing more is often said that facts are interpreted. In my 56 Fig. 2. Some of the figures at Glösa. The Glösa carvings are highlighted, signed and easily accessible to visitors. (Photo: Karl-Johan Olofsson/JLM) opinion this is completely wrong. Facts do not The animal figures that can be seen at Glösa exist in their own right, facts are produced are usually regarded as fact. They are of a by people. People are shaped by a cultural certain type and of a certain size, and the and social environment that changes with carved lines have a depth and a width. That time. Therefore a fact, and the knowledge which is said about them after this is most that is built upon facts, is highly relative and often called interpretation; this usually con- dependent on factors that are a long way sists of ideas about the carvings’ meaning, from the object being studied. Thus, fact what they represent and their context. My and interpretation are different words for thesis is that all of these are interpretations, the same thing. All knowledge is tied to the but at several different levels. In this study perspective that was used when the so-called I am going to examine the most basic level reality was studied. Which perspectives are of interpretation, the interpretation of the used and how they are created are described figures’ design. Consequently it is not the by the discourse analyst Jonathan Potter: question of what the figures represent or “The world is not ready categorized by God communicate that is most important in this or nature in ways that we are all forced to study, but rather what various people have accept. It is constituted in one way or another said about what the figures literally depict, as people talk it, write it and argue it.” (Pot- which of course are also interpretations. In ter 1997:98). In other words, the perspective other words this is a study of what people taken on a phenomenon is combined with have written about the figures at Glösa when changeable cultural and social processes, the figures have been treated as icons, in which in turn leads to something that can other words as directly illustrative pictures temporarily be called fact/interpretation. (for a more thorough reasoning about how 57 rock art can be seen from a semiotic perspec- The descriptions that I have selected are not tive, see Lindqvist 1994:125-126). the only ones in existence. My selection is Rock art is, or can be, among the most demo- based upon what can be found in the muse- cratic of ancient remains. Each and every um’s library as well as, in some cases, material person can have their own ideas about what which has been easy to order.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Ritual Landscapes and Borders Within Rock Art Research Stebergløkken, Berge, Lindgaard and Vangen Stuedal (Eds)
    Stebergløkken, Berge, Lindgaard and Vangen Stuedal (eds) and Vangen Lindgaard Berge, Stebergløkken, Art Research within Rock and Borders Ritual Landscapes Ritual Landscapes and Ritual landscapes and borders are recurring themes running through Professor Kalle Sognnes' Borders within long research career. This anthology contains 13 articles written by colleagues from his broad network in appreciation of his many contributions to the field of rock art research. The contributions discuss many different kinds of borders: those between landscapes, cultures, Rock Art Research traditions, settlements, power relations, symbolism, research traditions, theory and methods. We are grateful to the Department of Historical studies, NTNU; the Faculty of Humanities; NTNU, Papers in Honour of The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and The Norwegian Archaeological Society (Norsk arkeologisk selskap) for funding this volume that will add new knowledge to the field and Professor Kalle Sognnes will be of importance to researchers and students of rock art in Scandinavia and abroad. edited by Heidrun Stebergløkken, Ragnhild Berge, Eva Lindgaard and Helle Vangen Stuedal Archaeopress Archaeology www.archaeopress.com Steberglokken cover.indd 1 03/09/2015 17:30:19 Ritual Landscapes and Borders within Rock Art Research Papers in Honour of Professor Kalle Sognnes edited by Heidrun Stebergløkken, Ragnhild Berge, Eva Lindgaard and Helle Vangen Stuedal Archaeopress Archaeology Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED www.archaeopress.com ISBN 9781784911584 ISBN 978 1 78491 159 1 (e-Pdf) © Archaeopress and the individual authors 2015 Cover image: Crossing borders. Leirfall in Stjørdal, central Norway. Photo: Helle Vangen Stuedal All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Landscape and Between Worlds
    In the Landscape and Between Worlds ronze age settlements and burials in the Swedish provinces around Lakes Mälaren and Hjälmaren yield few Bbronze objects and fewer of the era’s fine stone battle axes. Instead, these things were found by people working on wetland reclamation and stream dredging for about a century up to the Second World War. Then the finds stopped because of changed agricultural practices. The objects themselves have received much study. Not so with the sites where they were deposited. This book reports on a wide- ranging landscape-archaeological survey of Bronze Age deposition sites, with the aim to seek general rules in the placement of sites. How did a person choose the appropriate site to deposit a socketed axe in 800 bc? The author has investigated known sites on foot and from his desk, using a wide range of archive materials, maps and shoreline displacement data that have only recently come on-line. Over 140 sites are identified closely enough to allow characterisation of their Bronze Age landscape contexts. Numerous recurring traits emerge, forming a basic predictive or heuristic model. Bronze Age deposi- tion sites, the author argues, are a site category that could profitably be placed on contract archaeology’s agenda during infrastructure projects. Archaeology should seek these sites, not wait for others to report on finding them. martin rundkvist is an archaeologist who received his doctorate from Stockholm University in 2003. He has published research into all the major periods of Sweden’s post-glacial past. Rundkvist teaches prehistory at Umeå University, edits the journal Fornvännen and keeps the internationally popular Aardvarchaeology blog.
    [Show full text]
  • Rock Art Through Time: Scanian Rock Carvings in the Bronze Age and Earliest Iron Age by Peter Skoglund
    The Prehistoric Society Book Reviews ROCK ART THROUGH TIME: SCANIAN ROCK CARVINGS IN THE BRONZE AGE AND EARLIEST IRON AGE BY PETER SKOGLUND Swedish Rock Art Series Volume 5. Oxbow Books, Oxford. 2016. 160 pages. 70 figures (col and b/w) and 1 table. ISBN 9781785701641, hb, £20.00 This is the fifth volume in the Swedish Rock Art Series published by Oxbow Books and examines the petroglyphs of south-east Scania, Sweden in the vicinity around the city of Simrishamn. It presents a detailed reassessment of documented rock art scenes that range in date from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age approximately 1700–200 BC. The book also seeks to contextualise the cultural landscape of these panels in relation to archaeological sites and presents data on recent excavations carried out in the region. Chapter 1 is the Introduction and in addition to being a historical overview it also outlines the aims and objectives of analysis as well as the interpretative strategies. The earliest known researcher was Nils Gustaf Bruzelius who started studying the rock art of the region in the 1850s. He carried out archaeological excavations on burial mounds to establish the dating of rock imagery at Järrestad and his results were published in the early 1880s. Meanwhile, Oscar Montelius’s seminal research on the serialisation of Scandinavian metalwork into chronological periods became the basis of dating rock art carvings which feature identifiable artefacts, such as axe-head motifs. Montelius’s six period scheme is inescapable as it provides a chronological framework to Scandinavian rock art studies but it is argued by the author that it should not be an end in itself as other forms of data need to be considered.
    [Show full text]
  • Oscar Montelius's Om Lifvet I Sverige
    Oscar Montelius’s Om lifvet i Sverige under hednatiden and Johan Reinhold Aspelin’s Suomen asukkaat Pakanuuden aikana : concepts of Us and the Other and explanations of change Salminen, Timo http://kulturarvsdata.se/raa/fornvannen/html/2017_154 Fornvännen 2017(112):3 s. 154-165 Ingår i samla.raa.se Art. 154- 165 Salminen_Layout 1 2017-09-13 10:24 Sida 154 Oscar Montelius’s Om lifvet i Sverige under hednatiden and Johan Reinhold Aspelin’s Suomen asukkaat Pakanuuden aikana – concepts of Us and the Other and explanations of change By Timo Salminen Salminen, T., 2017. Oscar Montelius’s Om lifvet i Sverige under hednatiden and Johan Reinhold Aspelin’s Suomen asukkaat Pakanuuden aikana – concepts of Us and the Other and explanations of change. Fornvännen 112. Stockholm This study compares two late-19th century popular books on prehistory from the perspective of how they look at us and the other. The works are Oscar Montelius’s Om lifvet i Sverige under hednatiden (“On life in Sweden in heathen times”, 1873, 2nd ed., 1878) and Johan Reinhold Aspelin’s Suomen asukkaat Pakanuuden aikana (“The inhabitants of Finland in heathen times”, 1885). Montelius constructs sameness and otherness in terms of time, space, and stages of cultural development in a framework of progress. His most crucial region- al concept is nordbo, “Nordic inhabitant”, which he ascribes an ethnic meaning from the Early Iron Age onwards. In Montelius’s view, the peoples of Europe are con- nected by a network of trade and innovation, and diffusion spreads ideas from more developed to less developed peoples.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeological University Education and Professional Archaeology in Sweden Stig Welinder
    209 Archaeological University Education and Professional Archaeology in Sweden Stig Welinder During the 19'" century very few persons in Sweden recieved a doctoral degree in archaeology. Most of them found prestigious top-positions. Today there are about 100 persons with Ph. D.'s working in Swedish archaeology in positions from the top to the bottom of the professional hierarchy. Each year 150-200 students finish their basic education in archaeology. Most of them will never find a permanent full-time job as an archaeologist. The future of Swedish archaeology will very much depend on the ambitions of the general public, including tens of thousands of persons with a formal university education in archaeology but no job within the profession. Stig Welinder, Etepartment of Humanities, Mid Syyeden Uniyersity, SE- 831 25 Östersund, Sweden. The dissertation by Hans Hildebrand from related to the professional labour market at 1866 is normally regarded as the first in universities, museums and cultural-heritage archaeology in Sweden. Oscar Montelius management institutions. The stress will be defended his thesis in 1869. Thus the 1860s on the ambitions and prospects of the youth saw the start ofprofessional archaeology con- ofthe 1990s. ducted by university-educated archaeologists In contrast to the 1910s, there are today a in Sweden. The first chairs in archaeology total of five universities and four university were established in 1914 and 1919, when colleges (Sw. högskolor) to choose among Oscar Almgren and Otto Rydbeck were when striving for an archaeological education appointed professors at Uppsala University and career in Sweden (figs. 1-2).The increase and Lund University, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • A Hobbling Marriage
    A HOBBLING MARRIAGE On the relationship between the collections and the societal mission of the Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm Mikael Jakobsson R In the late rgth century, the new Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm was a cutting-edge institution Anna Källén for the presentation of ideas of a universal human de- velopment from primitive to modern —ideas that were at the heart of the European colonial project. We ar- gue that the archaeological collections with their unal- tered Tgth-century structures still represent a narrative that reproduces a colonial understanding of the world, a linear arrangement of essential cultural groups ac- cording to a teleological development model. Contrary to this, the contemporary mission of the Museum, in- spired by the late z, oth-century postcolonial thinking, is directed towards questioning this particular narra- tive. This problematic relationship is thus present deep within the structure of the Museum of National An- tiquities as an institution, and it points to the need for long-term strategic changes to make the collections use- ful for vital museum activity in accordance with the Museum's mission. Key zvords: Masezim ofNational Antiqzzities, collection, narrative, colonial, postcolonzal INTRODUCTION Over the past few years, heated discussions in the media regarding the Museum of National Antiquities as a centre for archaeology and/or modern art have revealed a tenuous relation between the Museum's mission and its collections. It has proven to be a complex matter to create exhibitions and educational programmes based on the Muse- um's own collections while keeping in line with the mission to focus on CURREYT SwEDIEH ARGHREDLDGY VQL z 7, zoo/ Mikael Jakobsson 6 Anna Kallén humanity and to work for an increased democratization.
    [Show full text]
  • Picturing the Bronze Age Final Review2
    The Prehistoric Society Book Reviews PICTURING THE BRONZE AGE EDITED BY J LING, P SKOGLUND AND U BERTILSSON Swedish Rock Art Series Volume 3. Oxbow books, Oxford. 2015. 176pp, 128 illus incl 65 col and 17 B/W plates, 4 tables. ISBN 978 1 78297879 4, hb, £35 This hardbound volume presents research derived from an international symposium on Bronze Age rock art held in Tanum, Sweden during 2012. The ‘pictures’ referred to in the title derive mainly from petroglyphs found in different regions of Scandinavia and Europe. There are also some discussions involving metal objects, such as bronze axes, which have been depicted in stone carvings. To begin with, the papers by Jarl Nordbladh and Ulf Bertilsson examine different aspects of the historical development of rock art research in Sweden and highlight how the discipline had addressed theoretical and analytical approaches in earlier times. Nordbladh focuses upon Carl Brunius’s pioneering work carried out in the early 19th century whereas Bertilsson reviews the history of research related to the petroglyphs of Tanum, Sweden. In particular, the status of the Tanum motifs had shifted from mere curiosities in the 18th to early 19th centuries to important objects of archaeological inquiry by the end of the 19th century. Perhaps, the most illustrious Tanum researcher was Oscar Montelius who approached the dating of Bronze Age rock art by comparison with objects derived from the archaeological record and not by the traditional scholarly method of finding associations with literary allusions derived from Nordic sagas. Several papers pick up on the themes of warriors and conflict.
    [Show full text]
  • The Case of Oscar Montelius and Italy Anna Gustavsson
    6 Geographies of networks and knowledge production: the case of Oscar Montelius and Italy Anna Gustavsson In this chapter, I aim to highlight the potential of thinking geograph- ically when studying networks and the production of archaeological knowledge, by considering the contacts in Italy of the Swedish archae- ologist Oscar Montelius (1843–1921, see Figure 6.2) and his work on Italian prehistory.1 Oscar Montelius was a pioneer of prehistoric archaeology from the late nineteenth century onwards. He is mainly known for his work on typology and chronology. His Om tidsbestämning inom Bronsåldern med särskildt afseende på Skandinavien (1885), is still frequently cited.2 Montelius held positions at the National Museum of Stockholm, eventually became the director of the Swedish National Heritage board and was involved in numerous excavations in Sweden. He also travelled all over Europe, more than most scholars at the time, to compile and study archaeological finds, and is still one of few who have managed to study and publish on such a vast number of archaeological artefacts. His wife Agda Montelius (1850–1920) was deeply involved in her husband’s work, and accompanied him on several research trips. Montelius became affiliated with the National Museum as a young scholar in the mid-1860s and was awarded a doctorate in history, since archaeology was not yet an established academic discipline. His dissertation, entitled ‘Remains from the Iron Age of Scandinavia’ (published as Montelius, 1869), was an overview of current research on how Iron Age culture spread from Egypt, via Greece, Rome and Hallstatt to Scandinavia. From an early stage, an important characteristic of his research method was to gather as complete a collection of examples for each object type as possible Anna Gustavsson - 9781526134561 Downloaded from manchesterhive.com at 09/28/2021 05:18:01PM via free access ROBERTS 9781526134554 PRINT.indd 109 03/12/2019 08:56 110 Communities and knowledge production in archaeology 6.1 Oscar Montelius’ study and desk in his home in Stockholm.
    [Show full text]
  • Timo Salminen in SEARCH of a NORDIC IDEA? the FIRST FIVE NORDIC MEETINGS of ARCHAEOLOGISTS 1916–27
    Fennoscandia archaeologica XXXIII (2016) Timo Salminen IN SEARCH OF A NORDIC IDEA? THE FIRST FIVE NORDIC MEETINGS OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS 1916–27 Abstract International congresses of archaeology ceased abruptly after the outbreak of the First World War. The first Nordic Meeting of Archaeologists was held in 1916 in Kristiania (Norway). The first five meetings are analysed in this study. From the very beginning, these meetings were highly significant both for introducing new finds and for bringing interpretations under discussion. Also methodological questions, especially those relating to scientific methods, were included in the programmes. On the other hand, archaeological theory was not dealt with, nor was there any unanimity on theoretical questions. Diffusionist explanation models dominated the presentations, but a considerable plurality of views was allowed. Ideological connotations can be observed in several papers and excursions, but ethnic questions were relatively marginal. The various attempts to discover a common Nordic idea at the meetings did not lead to significant results. On a practical level, the meetings proved to be important from the beginning. Keywords: Nordic Meetings of Archaeologists, international contacts in archaeology, Nordic coun- tries, history of archaeology Timo Salminen, Lopentie 10 C 45, FI-11100 Riihimäki, Finland: [email protected]. Received: 2 Jun 2016; Accepted: 15 Sep 2016; Revised: 10 Oct 2016. NORDIC MEETINGS OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS independence (Baudou 2004: 205–8; Salminen 2014a: 49–55). The first
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching and Training of Archaeologists
    The newsletter of EAA members for EAA The newsletter of EAA members for EAA members members – Issue no. 40 : Winter 201 3 /14 – In this issue Editorial ....................................................................................................................................... 4 EAA Matters The 20th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists .................................... 5 20th Anniversary EAA Annual Meeting ........................................................................................... 10 The EAA Executive Board elected John Collis Honorary Member of the EAA ............................ 11 The European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2013 ....................................................................... 12 The 2013 Student Award of the EAA .............................................................................................. 14 Learning from „scrap‟ about Late Bronze Age hoarding practices. A biographical approach to individual acts of dedication in large metal hoards (by Oliver Dietrich) .................................. 14 European Journal of Archaeology: Call for papers and new books for review ........................... 17 Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe .................................................................................... 18 Committee on Professional Associations in Archaeology (CPAA) .............................................. 19 ArchaeoLandscape Europe. An EU funded project and a new EAA Working Group .................. 19 „Public archaeology
    [Show full text]
  • Institutionen För Historiska Studier
    INSTITUTIONEN FÖR HISTORISKA STUDIER AE1068 De som formade arkeologiämnet. En introduktion till vår arkeologihistoria, 15 högskolepoäng The rise of archaeology. An introduction to our history of archaeology, 15 credits Grundnivå / First Cycle Litteraturlista för AE1068, gällande från och med höstterminen 2021 Litteraturlistan är fastställd av Institutionen för historiska studier 2021-06-21 att gälla från och med 2021-11-07. Se bilaga. AE1068 Litteraturlista (indelad efter delkurser): DELKURS 1: Dyson, Stephen L., In Pursuit of Ancient Pasts: A History of Classical Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Yale University Press, 2006 (Chapters 1 & 2). Gramsch, Alexander (2000). 'Reflexiveness' in archaeology, nationalism, and Europeanism. Archaeological Dialogues, Vol 7:1, ss. 4-19. https://doiorg.ezproxy.ub.gu.se/10.1017/S1380203800001550 Gustafsson, Anders (1999). ”…wiser than he himself at the time knew”. The histories of Archaeology and the Whig problem, i Current Swedish Archaeology 1999, vol. 7: 27-35. (pdf på Canvas). Gustafsson, Anders (1998). The history of archaeology. Good archaeology as bad history?, i The Kleidoscopic Past. Proceedings of the 5th Nordic TAG Conference Gothenburg, 2-5 April 1997. A-K Anderson et al. (red). (pdf på Canvas). Hjörungdal, Tove (1997). Några frågor kring forskaren och hennes kontext: "Fräulein Professor Dr. med. h.c. Johanna Mestorf." I: Johnsen & Welinder (red): Gender och Arkeologi. s. 30-41. Östersund. (Pdf på Canvas). Hjörungdal, Tove (1997). Engendering Antiquities. Some inquiries into the construction of archaeological scholarship in a nineteenth century context. I: Karlisch, S. et al. eds. 1997: Vom Knochenmann zur Menschenfrau. Feministische Theorie und archäologische Praxis. Agenda Frauen 9. Munster. s.
    [Show full text]
  • II. Papers the Scandinavian Connection
    II. Papers The Scandinavian Connection: The Roots of Darwinian Archaeology in 19th-Century Scandinavian Archaeology Felix Riede Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge, England Introduction: The Scandinavian Connection ‘Evolution’ is without doubt one of archaeology’s favourite, most used and perhaps most overused words. However, ‘evolution’ comes in many guises and it is only really in the last ten years that an explicitly Darwinian approach to the archaeological record has begun to emerge. Today, the number of papers using Darwinian Theory grows almost exponentially, reflecting perhaps the current popularity of applying Darwinian Theory to human behaviour, including culture, in more general terms (Aunger 2000; Barrett et al. 2002; Laland & Brown 2002; Mesoudi et al. 2004; Ziman 2000). The field has developed its own technical jargon (Hart & Terrell 2002) and enjoys increasing public funding. Here is not the place to list, let alone discuss the entire corpus of works (but see http://cladistics.coas.missouri.edu/pubs.html and http://www.ceacb.ucl.ac.uk/resources). Instead this brief papers attempts to address some historical aspects of Darwinian thinking in archaeology. Although there is considerable diversity within this Darwinian or Evolutionary Archaeology (EA), this paper will focus primarily on its two most vocal American proponents: Michael J. O’Brien and Richard Lee Lyman. In a long series of publications they have not only put forward a “radically empiricist” (Shennan 2002a: 255), yet eminently workable Darwinian approach to artefact analysis, but they have also traced the intellectual ancestry of EA back to a number of key figures in early 20th century Americanist archaeology (Lyman et al.
    [Show full text]