An Archaeology of Traces

Routledge, Bruce ORCID: 0000-0002-6926-3728 (2023) An Archaeology of Traces. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 34 (2). pp. 339-352.

Text
Routledge AC_Clean Edit.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript
Download (103kB)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s095977432300029x

Abstract

<jats:p>Archaeology is centrally concerned with the tension between material remains in the present and a reconstructed past. This tension is captured by the concept of a trace, namely a contemporary phenomenon that references the past through some sort of epistemic intervention. Traces are deceptively complex in terms of both their epistemology and their ontology and hence worthy of detailed exploration. In particular, archaeological traces not only concern the past <jats:italic>per se</jats:italic> but also possess a latent quality of as yet unrealized signification. This gives archaeological traces a future orientation that is rarely considered in discussions of archaeological epistemology.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2023 07:56
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2024 19:17
DOI:	10.1017/s095977432300029x
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3172232