Ethnographic Archaeologies: Reflections on Stakeholders and Archaeological Practices (original) (raw)

Ethnographic archaeology has emerged as a form of inquiry into archaeological dilemmas that arise as scholars question older, more positivistic paradigms. In Ethnographic Archaeologies, the term refers to diverse methods, objectives, and rationalities. The contributors to this volume, for example, understand ethnographic archaeology variously as a means of critical engagement with heritage stakeholders, as the basis of public policy debates, as a critical archaeological study of ethnic groups, as the study of what archaeology actually does (as opposed to what researchers often think it is doing) in excavations and surveys, and as a foundation for transnational collaborations among archaeologists. What keeps the term “ethnographic archaeology” coherent and relevant is the consensus among practitioners that they are embarking on a new archaeological path by attempting to engage the present directly and fundamentally. On the significance of this book “This important collection expands the boundaries of archaeology and charts out an emerging and dynamic field. The eminent contributors, in their consistently powerful and thought-provoking chapters, situate archaeological practice in the ethnographic present, forcing us to reflect on our responsibilities toward the various communities associated with the archaeological past and with archaeology as a discipline. In these pages, archaeology is reconnected with ethnography in a critical, reflexive, and ethically sensitive manner.” —Yannis Hamilakis, University of Southampton, UK; author of The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology and National Imagination in Greece (2007).