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Archaeology as science-fiction (2001)
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Arkeologi archaeology
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Aug 1, 2008
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Fredrokk



Archaeology as science fiction.
A microarchaeology of the unknown
Fredrik Fahlander 2001

This treatise discusses aspects of the constitution of social identity and
social practice in prehistoric social formations. A number of epistemological
perspectives of social theory and methodology are examined in order to
develop operational strategies suitable for the particular possibilities and
constraints of the archaeological record. It is suggested that social practice,
i.e. structurative performance, is a suitable object of study as it mediates
macro theory of social formations and micro theory of individual identity and
motivation. The work departs from a social constructionist standpoint,
pointing out the possible different constitution of prehistoric social
formations as being temporally distant from contemporary formations. It is
argued that the probable existence of ‘extinct’, unknown social practices
implies that traditional anthropological and sociological theory and method
are not sufficient for archaeological studies. Prehistoric social formations
have to be considered on their own terms rather than interpreted through
cross-cultural analogies with contemporary societies. Hence the operational
strategies suggested here focus on, and seek to increase, the available
social information that can be extracted from the archaeological record,
including aspects of the local environment. It is proposed that a
microarchaeology of locales, i.e. specific analysis of the structurative
processes of a smaller time-space sector, is a promising approach to
interpret structurating principles and properties of prehistoric social
formations. The constitution of the social subject and initiation of social
practices are also discussed from various perspectives, including corporeal
and psychological aspects.

Key-words: social theory, social identity, social practice, materialities,
corporealism, constructionism, landscape.

Comments

This sounds like a lot of postmodern crap. The fact that Google does not seem to know anything much about Fredrik Fahlander is another red flag.
Sistromo: "postmodern" is just name-calling. For sure, these posts are jargon-laden, and that makes me suspicious that it is just empty sophistry, but there is, on just a cursory reading, at least propositional content here, i.e. content that is either true or false. It will no doubt take work to sift it for meaning, but then how does that differ from any technical paper in logic or math or natural science? Granted, I do not know whether Fahlander would assent to a logical and evidential treatment of his claims; if he rejects logic and evidence, then I'd happily join you in rejecting him out of hand.

I don't know what you entered into Google, but Dr. Fahlander comes up at the top of my search, as junior faculty in the Department of Archeology and Classical Studies, University of Gothenburg: http://hum.gu.se/institutioner/arkeologi/personal/arkff
Thank you. It is sthg very interesting from the viewpoint of social archaeology.