From Stonehenge to Mycenae: The Challenges of Archaeological Interpretation (Debates in Archaeology)

This book reconsiders how we can understand archaeology on a grand scale by abandoning the claims that material remains stand for the people and institutions that produced them, or that genetic change somehow caused cultural change. Our challenge is to understand the worlds that made great projects like the building of Stonehenge or Mycenae possible. The radiocarbon revolution made the old view that the architecture of Mycenae influenced the building of Stonehenge untenable. But the recent use of ‘big data’ and of genetic histories have led archaeology back to a worldview where ‘big problems’ are assumed to require ‘big solutions’. Making an animated plea for bottom-up rather than top-down solutions, the authors consider how life was made possible by living in the local and materially distinct worlds of the period. By considering how people once built connections between each other through their production and use of things, their movement between and occupancy of places, and their treatment of the dead, we learn about the kinds of identities that people constructed for themselves. Stonehenge did not require an architect from Mycenae for it to be built, but the builders of Stonehenge and Mycenae would have shared a mutual recognition of the kinds of humans that they were, and the kinds of practices these monuments were once host to. We Live Today In An Interconnected World And We Are Inclined To Believe That In Earlier Times The Connections Were Less Extensive And That Communities Were More Isolated From Each Other. This Book Looks At The Europe That Began To Emerge Some 4,000 Years Ago With The Beginnings Of Metallurgy And The Debates That Have Taken Place Concerning The Scales Of Connections That Existed Then. Around This Time Stonehenge Was Built From Materials That Were Brought Across Huge Distances. To What Extent Did Geographically Extensive Connections Exist, How Might We Recognise Them And What, If Any, Were Their Consequences? Disagreements Over These Questions Have Existed In Archaeology For Nearly A Century And Yet They Have Profound Implications For The Ways In Which We Understand The Dynamics Of Historical Development In General. By Examining The Way One Claimed Connection Between The Aegean And Western Europe Was Used To Explain Changes In Western Europe As The Result Of The Rise Of Civilisation In The Aegean, And The Ways That This Explanation Was Challenged In The 1960s, We Learn Something About The Nature Of Archaeological Reasoning. The Authors Question Common Assumptions Concerning The Relationships Between So-called Civilised And Barbarian Societies, And Ask Their Readers To Consider What Might Drive Change In Social, Cultural And Economic Systems-- Preface / By Colin Renfrew -- Archaeological Approaches To Stonehenge -- The Emergence Of An Aegean Civilisation -- Living With Things : The Politics Of Identity -- Things That Mattered : Identity In The Production, Exchange And Use Of Materials -- Places That Mattered : Movement And Belonging -- Bodies That Mattered : The Role Of The Dead. John C. Barrett And Michael J. Boyd. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 171-194) And Index. "We live today in an interconnected world and we are inclined to believe that in earlier times the connections were less extensive and that communities were more isolated from each other. This book looks at the Europe that began to emerge some 4,000 years ago with the beginnings of metallurgy and the debates that have taken place concerning the scales of connections that existed then. Around this time Stonehenge was built from materials that were brought across huge distances. To what extent did geographically extensive connections exist, how might we recognise them and what, if any, were their consequences? Disagreements over these questions have existed in archaeology for nearly a century and yet they have profound implications for the ways in which we understand the dynamics of historical development in general. By examining the way one claimed connection between the Aegean and Western Europe was used to explain changes in Western Europe as the result of the rise of civilisation in the Aegean, and the ways that this explanation was challenged in the 1960s, we learn something about the nature of archaeological reasoning. The authors question common assumptions concerning the relationships between so-called civilised and barbarian societies, and ask their readers to consider what might drive change in social, cultural and economic systems"-- Provided by publisher The Challenges of Archaeological Interpretation Cover 1 Half title 2 Series page 3 Title 6 Copyrights 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 9 Foreword: ‘Obscurity and Oblivion’? The Challenge of Interpreting the Prehistoric Past Colin Renfrew 12 Introduction 16 1 Archaeological Approaches to Stonehenge 26 2 The Emergence of an Aegean Civilization 42 3 Living with Things: The Politics of Identity 56 4 Things that Mattered: Identity in the Production, Exchange and Use of Materials 68 5 Places that Mattered: Movement and Belonging 106 6 Bodies that Mattered: The Role of the Dead 142 7 Living amongst Things: Practice, Place and Identity in Expanding Worlds 180 References 186 Index 210