Theme:
5. Theories and methods in archaeology: interactions between disciplines
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Integrating Hard Data in the Interpretation of Medieval Archaeology. Examples, Issues and Perspectives
Content:
New scientific methods such as aDNA and isotope analysis triggered the third scientific revolution in archaeology (sensu Kristiansen 2014) and are now seen as a panacea that will solve all archaeological problems. More often than not, the interpretations of scientific data issued from these methods stop at the very basic level, leaving the bigger archaeological questions unanswered.
For example, when we conduct an isotope analysis of skeletal remains to infer diet, papers often conclude that different groups of people had different protein intake, but these findings do not get embedded into a broader context of what we know about the studied society. The amount of data now available to a contemporary medieval or post-medieval archaeologist is bigger than ever. This often leads to an intuitive approach and eclectic use of theory. How should a medieval archaeologist come about this gap between data-driven and theory-driven research? How does one overcome the difference between hard science and social science epistemologies? What kind of interpretation strategies would lead us to better understand the narratives related to political, economic, demographic and ecological changes, and the construction of metanarratives?
The focus of this session is to connect scientific data and knowledge-based storytelling. The contributions to this session can include:
- Examples of good practice in terms of integration of archaeological science and theoretical concepts relevant to medieval and post-medieval archaeology.
- Issues such as communities and communal identities, interrelations of nature and culture, life course, memory studies, social change, social stratification, human-animal relations, human remains and bodies, systems thinking, landscape approaches, big data, and written sources related to these topics and approaches.
- Discussion on future perspectives and challenges on the quest for metamodernism.
Keywords:
Medieval Archaeology, Science, Theory, Interdisciplinarity, Data, Interpretation
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Marta Hlad (Belgium) 1
Co-organisers:
Andrej Magdič (Slovenia) 2
Monika Milosavljević (Serbia) 3
Affiliations:
1. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Maritime Cultures Research Institute
2. Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Research Institute
3. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology
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