Material Culture and Text: The Art of Ambiguity (Routledge Library Editions: Archaeology)

Originally published in 1991, this is the first book-length exploration of post-structuralist discourse theory in archaeology. It tackles the most basic problem of historical and archaeological analysis - the relationship between text and artefact – in an analysis of prehistoric art fusing theory and the practice of interpretation to create a fresh framework for understanding the relationship between past and present. Focusing on a collection of rock carvings from northern Sweden, the author shows how alternative conceptualizations of the material from structuralist, hermeneutic and structural-Marxist frameworks substantially alter our understanding of their meaning and significance. Engaging readers in an interpretive process, this book is for specialists in archaeology, anthropology, art history and cultural studies. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Original Title Page 6 Original Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 List of illustrations 10 List of tables 12 Preface 14 Part I Reading a material text 16 1 Motifs and Rapids 18 2 Nämforsen Through the Eyes of Hallström 24 3 Locating a Grammar 31 Material culture, writing 31 Language and speech in material culture 32 Signification 35 Paradigmatic series and syntagmatic chains 37 Editing the book 38 Breaking down the text 44 Investigating the grammar 45 4 Why Nämforsen? 58 Signification through denotation and connotation 58 Denotation and functional meaning 59 Relationality and meaning 68 5 Design Form 73 The design of the elk 73 Insufficient bodies 84 The design of the boat 88 6 Mobile Space, Arrested Time 93 Carving surfaces and topographical space 94 Carving time 95 7 Related Texts 102 Part II Mediating the text 108 8 A Structural Logic 110 Bricolage, classificatory systems 111 Encoding information 113 Time and structure 115 Principles linking elks and boats 117 9 An Hermeneutics of Meaning 129 Interpretation and meaning 130 Textual distanciation 133 Hermeneutic understanding, structural analysis 136 The role of metaphor: digital logic, analogic logic 138 'Fusing' horizons: ethnohistorical perspectives 141 The cosmic river as a link between three worlds 145 The shaman's tent 149 Nämforsen in the light of Evenk cosmology 150 Nämforsen as a heterotopia 152 Myth, ritual and meaning 154 Aspects of liminality 160 10 An Analytics of Power 164 'Art', power, violence 165 Discourse, material culture 168 Social complexity, technological simplicity 170 Exchange and ethnicity 173 Australia: ancestors, knowledge, power 179 Domination and the body 182 11 Conclusions 187 Appendix Review: Material Culture in a Text 194 References 199 Index 205 Originally published in 1991, this book tackles the basic problem of the relationship between text and artefact in an analysis of prehistoric art. Focusing on a collection of rock carvings from northern Sweden, it fuses theory and the practice of interpretation to create a fresh framework for understanding the relationship between past and present.