Slow science for fast archaeology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37718/CSA.2019.05Keywords:
anticipation, epistemology of archaeology, history of archaeology, interdisciplinarity, Isabelle Stengers, speculationAbstract
This contribution contends that, with the recent genetic revolution, archaeology has reached a new scientism, a development that could lead to fewer opportunities in the epistemology of archaeology to think difference. Drawing from discussions in slow science and the related idea that scientific importance is a matter of concern rather than fact, the contribution proposes that archaeologists start to cultivate methods of deceleration. In particular, as a measure to mitigate the epistemological effects of archaeology’s methodological acceleration, the contribution suggests the publishing of personal hunches, failed hypotheses, and so forth in addition to research results, and a cultivation of historical awareness in order to better anticipate possible epistemological effects of pursuing conflicting research interests.
Downloads
References
Aspelin, J.R. 1875. Suomalais-ugrilaisen muinaistutkinnon alkeita. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia 51. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
Bedford, S. Blust, R., […] Sand, C. & Sheppard, P. 2018. Ancient DNA and its Contribution to Understanding the Human History of the Pacific Islands. Archaeology in Oceania. Vol. 53 pp. 205–219.
Binford, L.R. 1968. Archaeological Perspectives. In: Binford, S.R. & Binford, L.R. (eds). New Perspectives in Archaeology, pp. 5–32. Chicago: Aldine.
Bintliff, J. & Pearce, M. (eds) 2011. The Death of Archaeological Theory? Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Boozer, A.L. 2015. The Tyranny of Typologies. Evidential Reasoning in Romano-Egyptian Domestic Archaeology. In: Chapman, R. & Wylie, A. (eds). Material Evidence: Learning from Archaeological Practice, pp. 92–109. London: Routledge.
Caraher, W. 2013. Slow Archaeology. North Dakota Quarterly. Vol. 80(2) pp. 43–52.
Caraher, W. 2016. Slow Archaeology: Technology, Efficiency, and Archaeological Work. In: Averett, E.W., Gordon, J.M. & Counts, D.B. (eds). Mobilising the Past for a Digital Future. The Potential of Digital Archaeology. Grand Forks, ND: The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota.
Caraher, W. 2019. Slow Archaeology, Punk Archaeology, and the ‘Archaeology of Care’. European Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 22(3) pp. 372–385.
Cassel, K. 2000. Where Are We Going? Attitudes Towards Migrations in Archaeological Thought. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 8 pp. 33–49.
Chiffi, D. & Pietarinen, A.-V. 2019. The Extended Gabbay-Woods Schema and Scientific Practices. In: Gabbay, D., Magnani, L., Park, W & Pietarinen, A.-V. (eds). Natural Arguments: A Tribute to John Woods, pp. 1–17. London: College Publications.
Cunningham, J.J. & MacEachern, S. 2016. Ethnoarchaeology as Slow Science. World Archaeology. Vol. 48(5) pp. 628–641.
Currie, A. & Sterelny, K. 2017. In Defence of Story-telling. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Vol. 62 pp. 14–21.
Debaise, D. 2017. Speculative Empiricism. Revisiting Whitehead. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Der Sarkissian, C., Allentoft. M.E. […] Willerslev, E. & Orlando, L. 2015. Ancient Genomics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. Vol. 370(1660) 20130387.
Fossheim, H.J. 2017. Science, Scientism, and the Ethics of Archaeology. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 50(2) pp. 116–119.
Furholt, M. 2018. Massive Migrations? The Impact of Recent aDNA Studies on our View of Third Millennium Europe. European Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 21(2) pp. 159–191.
Gero, J.M. 2007. Honoring Ambiguity/Problematizing Certitude. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. Vol. 14(3) pp. 311–327.
González-Ruibal, A. 2014. Archaeological Revolution(s). Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 22 pp. 41–45.
González-Ruibal, A. 2018. Beyond the Anthropocene: Defining the Age of Destruction. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 51(1–2) pp. 10–21.
Gräslund, B. 1987. The Birth of Prehistoric Chronology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hagelberg, E., Hofreiter, M. & Keyser, C. 2015. Ancient DNA: The First Three Decades. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. Vol. 370(1660) 20130371.
Hakenbeck, S. 2008. Migration in Archaeology: Are We Nearly There Yet? Archaeological Review from Cambridge. Vol. 23(2) pp. 9–26.
Hakenbeck, S. 2019. Genetics, Archaeology and the Far Right: An Unholy Trinity. World Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2019.1617189.
Hanson, N.R. 1958. Patterns of Discovery. An Inquiry into the Conceptual Foundations of Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Heyd, V. 2017. Kossinna’s Smile. Antiquity. Vol. 91(356) pp. 348–359.
Hildebrand, H. 1873. Den vetenskapliga fornforskningen. Hennes uppgift, behof och rätt. Stockholm.
Högberg, A., Holtorf, C., May, S., & Wollentz, G. 2017. No Future in Archaeological Heritage Management? World Archaeology. Vol. 49(5) pp. 639–647.
Immonen, V. & Taavitsainen, J.-P. 2011. Oscillating Between National and International: The Case of Finnish Archaeology. In: Lozny, L.R. (ed). Comparative Archaeologies. A Sociological View of the Science of the Past, pp. 137–177. New York: Springer.
Ion, A. 2017. How Interdisciplinary is Interdisciplinarity? Revisiting the Impact of aDNA Research for the Archaeology of Human Remains. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 25 pp. 87–108.
Johannsen, N.N., Larson, G., Meltzer, D.J. & Vander Linden, M. 2017. A Composite Window into Human History. Science. Vol. 356(6343) pp. 1118–1120.
Klejn, L. 2017. The Steppe Hypothesis of Indo-European Origins Remains to be Proven. Acta Archaeologica. Vol. 88(1) pp. 193–204.
Kristiansen, K. 2011. Theory Does not Die it Changes Direction. In: Bintliff, J. & Pearce, M. (eds). The Death of Archaeological Theory?, pp. 72–80. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Kristiansen, K. 2014. Towards a New Paradigm? The Third Science Revolution and Its Possible Consequences in Archaeology. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 22 pp. 11–34.
Kristiansen, K., Allentoft, M., [...] Sikora, M. & Willerslev, E. 2017. Re-theorising Mobility and the Formation of Culture and Language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe. Antiquity. Vol. 91(356) pp. 334–347.
Lahiri, N. 2017. Are Archaeological Discoveries like Scientific Discoveries? The Curious Case of the Indus Civilization. World Archaeology. Vol. 49(2) pp. 174–186.
Latour, B. 1987. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Latour, B. 2004. Why has Critique Run Out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern. Critical Inquiry. Vol. 30(2) pp. 225–248.
Law, J. 2004. After Method. Mess in Social Science Research. London: Routledge.
Lidén, K. 2017. A Common Language is the Basis for Sound Collaboration. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 50(2) pp. 124–126.
Lidén, K. & Eriksson, G. 2013. Archaeology vs. Archaeological Science. Do We Have a Case? Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 21 pp. 11–20.
Lipson, M., Skoglund, P., […] Pinshasi, R. & Reich, D. 2018. Population Turnover in Remote Oceania Shortly after Initial Settlement. Current Biology. Vol. 28 pp. 1157–1165.
Lucas, G. 2015. The Mobility of Theory. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 23 pp. 13–82.
Lucas, G. 2019. Writing the Past. Knowledge and Literary Production in Archaeology. London: Routledge.
Marila, M. 2017. Vagueness and Archaeological Interpretation: A Sensuous Approach to Archaeological Knowledge Formation through Finds Analysis. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 50(1) pp. 66–88.
Marila, M. 2018. Finnish Reactions to New Archaeology. Fennoscandia Archaeologica. Vol. 35 pp. 19–47.
Marila, M. forthcoming. Introductory Notes to a Speculative Epistemology of Archaeology. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.
McKaughan, D. 2008. From Ugly Duckling to Swan: C.S. Peirce, Abduction and the Pursuit of Scientific Theories. Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society. Vol. 44(3) pp. 446–468.
Medawar, P.B. 1991. The Threat and the Glory: Reflections on Science and Scientists. New York: Oxford University Press.
Meinander, C.F. 1954. Var bodde urfinnarna? Nordenskiöld-samfundets Tidskrift 1954 pp. 79–87.
Montelius, O. 1884. Den förhistoriske fornforskarens metod och material. Antiqvarisk tidskrift för Sverige. Vol. 8(3) pp. 1–28.
Montelius, O. 1899. Typologien eller utvecklingsläran tillämpad på det mänskliga arbetet. Svenska Fornminnesföreningens Tidskrift. Vol. 10(3) pp. 237–268.
Morris, A.G. 2017. Ancient DNA Comes of Age, but Still has some Teenage Problems. South African Journal of Science. Vol. 113(9/10) pp. 1–2.
Müller, S. 1884. Mindre bidrag til den forhistoriske archæologis methode. Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie. 1884 pp. 161–216.
Müller, J. 2013. Kossinna, Childe and aDNA. Comments on the Construction of Identities. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 21 pp. 35–37.
Nicholas, G. & Markey, N. 2015. Traditional Knowledge, Archaeological Evidence, and Other Ways of Knowing. In: Chapman, R. & Wylie, A. (eds). Material Evidence. Learning from Archaeological Practice, pp. 287–307. London: Routledge.
Nilsson Stutz, L. 2018. A Future for Archaeology: In Defense of an Intellectually Engaged, Collaborative and Confident Archaeology. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 51(1–2) pp. 48–56.
Niklasson, E. 2014. Shutting the Stable Door After the Horse has Bolted. Critical Thinking and the Third Science Revolution. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 22 pp. 57–63.
Nordman, C.A. 1915. Den förhistoriska arkeologins metod. Nya Argus. Vol. 1915(1) p. 19 and Vol. 1915(2), p. 20.
Nyrup, R. 2015. How Explanatory Reasoning Justifies Pursuit: A Peircean View of IBE. Philosophy of Science. Vol. 82(5) pp. 749–760.
Pétursdóttir, Þ. & Olsen, B. 2018. Theory Adrift: The Matter of Archaeological Theorizing. Journal of Social Archaeology. Vol. 18(1) pp. 97–117.
Piiroinen, T. 2018. A Meaning Holistic (Dis)Solution of Subject-Object Dualism – Its Implications for the Human Sciences. History of the Human Sciences. Vol. 31(3) pp. 64–82.
Pluciennik, M. 2006. Clash of Cultures? Archaeology and Genetics. Documenta Praehistorica. Vol. 33 pp. 39–49.
Posth, C., Nägele, K. […] Krause, J. & Powell, A. 2018. Language Continuity despite Population Replacement in Remote Oceania. Nature Ecology and Evolution. Vol. 2 pp. 731–740.
Prendergast, M.E. & Sawchuk, E. 2018. Boots on the Ground in Africa’s Ancient DNA ‘Revolution’: Archaeological Perspectives on Ethics and Best Practices. Antiquity. Vol. 92(363) pp. 803–815.
Preucel, R.W. & Mrozowski, S.A. 2010. The New Pragmatism. In: Preucel, R.W. & Mrozowski, S.A. (eds). Contemporary Archaeology in Theory: The New Pragmatism. 2nd Edition, pp. 3–49. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Reilly, M. 2019. Futurity, Time, and Archaeology. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology. Vol 6(1) pp. 1–15.
Ribeiro, A. 2016. Archaeology will be just Fine. Archaeological Dialogues. Vol. 23(2) pp. 146–151.
Riede, F. 2006. The Scandinavian Connection: The Roots of Darwinian Archaeology in 19th-Century Scandinavian Archaeology. Bulletin of the History of Archaeology. Vol. 16(1) pp. 4–19.
Saitta, D.J. 1983. The Poverty of Philosophy in Archaeology. In: Moore, J.A. & Keene, A.S. (eds). Archaeological Hammers and Theories, pp. 299–304. New York: Academic Press.
Savransky, M. 2012. Worlds in the Making: Social Sciences and the Ontopolitics of Knowledge. Postcolonial Studies. Vol. 15(3) pp. 351–368.
Snyder, S.H. 2005. The Audacity Principle in Science. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 149(2) pp. 141–158.
Sørensen, T.F. 2016. In Praise of Vagueness: Uncertainty, Ambiguity and Archaeological Methodology. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. Vol. 23(2) pp. 741–763.
Sørensen, T.F. 2017. The Two Cultures and a World Apart: Archaeology and Science at a New Crossroads. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 50(2) pp. 101–115.
Sørensen, T.F. 2019. The Triviality of the New. Innovation and Impact in Archaeology and Beyond. Current Swedish Archaeology. Vol. 26 pp. 93–117.
Ståhl, O., Tham, M. & Holtorf, C. 2017. Towards a Post-Anthropocentric Speculative Archaeology (Through Design). Journal of Contemporary Archaeology. Vol. 4(2) pp. 238–246.
Stengers, I. 2010. Cosmopolitics I. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Stengers, I. 2011. Cosmopolitics II. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Stengers, I. 2018. Another Science is Possible. A Manifesto for Slow Science. Cambridge: Polity.
Tallgren, A.M. 1934. Oman itsensä kanssa painiskeleva muinaistiede. Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja. Vol. 14 pp. 200–211.
Tallgren, A.M. 1937. The Method of Prehistoric Archaeology. Antiquity. Vol. 11 pp. 152–161.
Tringham, R. 2018. A Plea for a Richer, Fuller and More Complex Future Archaeology. Norwegian Archaeological Review. Vol. 51(1–2) pp. 57–63.
Tsing, A.L. 2015. The Mushroom at the End of the World. On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Vander Linden, M. 2018. David Reich’s Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past. Current Anthropology. Vol. 59(5) pp. 657–658.
Witmore, C. 2015. Archaeology and the Second Empiricism. In: Hillerdal, C. & Siapkas, J. (eds). Debating Archaeological Empiricism: The Ambiguity of Material Evidence, pp. 37–61. New York: Routledge.
Witmore, C. & Shanks, M. 2013. Archaeology. An Ecology of Practices. In: Rathje, W.L., Shanks, M. & Witmore, C. (eds). Archaeology in the Making. Conversations through a Discipline, pp. 380–398. London: Routledge.
Zubrow, E. 1989. Commentary: Common Knowledge and Archaeology. In: Pinsky, V. & Wylie, A. (eds). Critical Traditions in Contemporary Archaeology. Essays in the Philosophy, History and Socio-politics of Archaeology, pp. 44–50. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors contributing to Current Swedish Archaeology retain copyright of their work, with first publication rights granted to the Swedish Archaeological Society. Read the journal's full Copyright- and Licensing Policy.
