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9 - Pragmatic Synthesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2014

Bruce G. Trigger
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
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Summary

Niels Bohr said that the most fundamental truths were so profound that quite the opposite ones were also true!

leo klejn, Metaarchaeology (2001a), pp. 55

Papers that end with the depressingly banal conclusion … that “we should look for a middle ground” should be banned.

matthew johnson, Archaeological Theory (1999), p. 187

There is no evidence that in their interpretation of archaeological data archaeologists today are less influenced by the milieu in which they live than they were formerly. Archaeological interpretations consciously and unconsciously (it is often impossible to determine which) echo current concerns. These relate to a vast array of issues, including globalization, American hegemony, international terrorism, pandemics, rising debt loads, environmental pollution, the changing role of government, and the disintegration of the family. Current understandings of ideologies, such as Marxism, neoconservatism, and nationalism, also color interpretations of the past. Like everything else in modern society, these biased understandings are growing more varied, complex, and individualized and are changing more rapidly than ever before. By contrast, the history of archaeology suggests that a growing body of archaeological data offers ever stronger resistance to the misapplication of such ideas and the specific misinterpretation of archaeological evidence. Although there can be no certainty about the “objectivity” of any specific interpretation of archaeological findings, the chances of archaeologists construing such findings in whatever way they wish appear to be lessening.

Since 1990, there also has been a continuing diversification of theoretical viewpoints in both prehistoric and historical archaeology.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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  • Pragmatic Synthesis
  • Bruce G. Trigger, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: A History of Archaeological Thought
  • Online publication: 05 June 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813016.010
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  • Pragmatic Synthesis
  • Bruce G. Trigger, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: A History of Archaeological Thought
  • Online publication: 05 June 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813016.010
Available formats
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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.

  • Pragmatic Synthesis
  • Bruce G. Trigger, McGill University, Montréal
  • Book: A History of Archaeological Thought
  • Online publication: 05 June 2014
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813016.010
Available formats
×