Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T04:50:21.501Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - The Context of the Argument

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2009

Louise Revell
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Archaeology is based upon labels: from the artefact in the museum case to the culture we are describing, we provide it with a label. This seemingly small and unproblematic description encompasses much: a geographical area, a time period, or a group of people, often all three. Such labelling activity is rooted in the origins of archaeology as a discipline, and in spite of recent disquiet about their usefulness, it is still central to the way we communicate and practise archaeology. The problem is that a label is more than a neutral shorthand, but forms the fundamental core of the way in which we conceptualise the world, past or present. If we describe a pot as Bronze Age, or Minoan, or Anglo-Saxon, we are assigning it a category which fits into our divisions of cultures in the past, and our understanding of their relationship with others. Therefore, if we describe a pot as Roman, we are grouping it together with a series of other pots and artefacts we recognise as Roman. The problem with this approach is that when we are using such a label to describe Roman material culture, we are using it to describe a set of material which is far spread in time and in space. Yet it has increasingly been recognised that when we examine the material culture in detail, there is similarity, but not homogeneity, both in form and patterns of use.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Context of the Argument
  • Louise Revell, University of Southampton
  • Book: Roman Imperialism and Local Identities
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511499692.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Context of the Argument
  • Louise Revell, University of Southampton
  • Book: Roman Imperialism and Local Identities
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511499692.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Context of the Argument
  • Louise Revell, University of Southampton
  • Book: Roman Imperialism and Local Identities
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511499692.002
Available formats
×