Materialism and the Immaterial (original) (raw)

Abstract

Diffusion, interaction or the displacement over space of identical or analogous cultural elements has always represented both one of the chief interests of archaeological practice and one of the most blatantly unresolved nodes of theory. What is diffusion? How does it come about? What are the features beyond its manifestation in the archaeological record? In order to answer to these questions a number of different solutions have been produced over time, in agreement with the constant shift of general paradigms occurring in archaeology. From meta-historical narratives of migrations, to gravity models inspired by geography and other more abstract metaphors of connectivity. My claim is that underlying all this debate is actually a basic tension between what archaeology can (the material traces) and cannot (the immaterial domain, the living flesh of societies) cope with. In this paper I will try explore in depth this complex relationship, advancing yet another theoretical model that tries to grapple with the issue at stake. Building up from non-orthodox Marxism, this model will try to maintain the material as a starting point, reconstructing the immaterial underpinnings of diffusion, and exploring how the model might work in a number of Mediterranean Bronze Age case studies.

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