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Experimentation and Interpretation: The Use of Experimental Archaeology in the Study of the Past

edited by Dana C.E. Millson

In December 2008, a session on Experimental Archaeology was held at the Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) meeting in Southampton, England. Although at first it seemed out-of-place to discuss a topic stemming from science at a theory-based conference, the contributions demonstrated that many of the best archaeological projects today are those which use methodology and interpretation from both the sciences and the arts. The contributions from the session, which focus on sites and material culture spanning from the Mesolithic to the Late Medieval periods, are presented in these proceedings. They range from the history of experimentation in archaeology and its place within the field today, to the theory behind 'the experiment', to several projects which have used controlled experimentation to test hypotheses about archaeological remains, past action, and the scientific processes we use. Now that archaeology has moved beyond the focus of the Processual/Post-Processual debates of the 1970s and 80s, which pitted science against the arts, archaeologists have more freedom to choose how to 'do archaeology'. The contributions to this book reflect this as problems are approached in creative ways, which move back and forth between science and theory in a hermeneutic fashion, and hypotheses are challenged and new theories formed. The session proved successful in creating a venue for positive discussion between archaeological scientists and theorists and it is this optimism that these proceedings aim to capture. 149p, 36 b/w illus, 5 tbls. (Oxbow Books 2011)

Review Quote

"Well-meaning and ambitious, and with interesting and varied case studies... "

Alison Sheridan
British Archaeology (July/August 2011)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction (Dana C. E. Millson)
2. Cache or Carry: Food Storage in Prehistoric Europe (Penny Cunningham)
3. Creating a History of Experimental Archaeology (Jodi Reeves Flores)
4. Breaking the Sound Barrier – New Directions for Complexity, Transformation and Reconstructive Practice in Experimental Neolithic Archaeoacoustics (Claire Marshall)
5. Experimental Archaeology After Simplicity – Implications for Reflexivity of Insights that a ‘Common World’ is not ‘Given’ (Stephanie Koerner)
6. Experiment or Demonstration? Making Fermentable Malt Sugars from the Grain and a Discussion of some of the Evidence for this Activity in the British Neolithic (Merryn Dineley)
7. Experiments in Beaker Construction Technologies (Harriet Hammersmith)
8. Luminescence Dating of Medieval Brick from Essex: An Example of the Physical Sciences Addressing Archaeological Questions (Thomas Gurling)

Related Titles

• Experiment and Design: aological Studies in Honour of John Coles
  edited by A. F. Harding

• Experiencing Archaeology by Experiment: Proceedings of the Experimental Archaeology Conference, Exeter 2007
  edited by Penny Cunningham, Julia Heeb and Roeland Paardekooper

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