Archaeology, process and time: beyond history versus memory

In this paper I seek to explore how a particular aspect of process philosophy can offer us new ways of thinking through time in archaeology. In contrast to current archaeological debates, which counterpose a model of archaeology as driven primarily by history and sequence with one of memory and cont...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWorld archaeology Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 104 - 121
Main Author Harris, Oliver J. T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 01.01.2021
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Archaeology
Deleuze, Gilles
difference
Gilles Deleuze
habit
Memory
Process philosophy
time
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Summary:In this paper I seek to explore how a particular aspect of process philosophy can offer us new ways of thinking through time in archaeology. In contrast to current archaeological debates, which counterpose a model of archaeology as driven primarily by history and sequence with one of memory and contemporaneity, the process approach taken here develops a different account. Drawing on the three syntheses of time set out by Gilles Deleuze, the paper explores how habit, memory and difference allow us to think about time in new ways from both passive and active perspectives. Explored through the work of the Ardnamurchan Transitions Project, the paper sets out how these syntheses allow for a multiplicity of times situated within a consistent ontological approach, one that lets us understand the processes by which narratives of both history and memory emerge.
ISSN:0043-8243
1470-1375
DOI:10.1080/00438243.2021.1963833