Events, narrative and data: why new chronologies or ethically Bayesian approaches should change how we write archaeology

IF 1.6 2区 历史学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY
S. Griffiths, N. Carlin, B. Edwards, Nicholas Overton, P. Johnston, Julian Thomas
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引用次数: 2

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss how the history of our discipline continues to shape how we think with material culture to produce narratives. We argue that recent developments in scientific dating—in combination with New Materialist and Big Data approaches—offer the potential to produce radical new interpretations. However, we can only achieve this if we adopt ‘ethically Bayesian’ approaches which recognise that some of the most fundamental aspects of our epistemological structures are highly situated, reflecting a Eurocentric, colonial legacy. This legacy is especially important when we study societies that did/do not produce texts—so-called ‘prehistoric’ societies. We suggest that the revolutionary potential of radiocarbon dating on archaeology has not been fully achieved, precisely because chronometric data have not yet been made sufficiently independent from materials-determined narrative structures. We outline the importance of ethically Bayesian approaches as means to challenge this disciplinary inheritance. We argue that we need to describe the richness and specificity of the pasts we bring into being in ways that take better account of the historical processes through which heterogeneous assemblages emerge, rather than to search for preconfigured entities (like ‘the Bronze Age’). Times have changed; we need our approaches to time to catch up.
事件、叙述和数据:为什么新的年表或伦理贝叶斯方法应该改变我们写考古学的方式
在这篇论文中,我们讨论了我们学科的历史如何继续塑造我们如何利用物质文化进行思考,从而产生叙事。我们认为,科学测年的最新发展——与新唯物主义和大数据方法相结合——提供了产生激进新解释的潜力。然而,只有我们采用“伦理贝叶斯”方法,认识到我们认识论结构的一些最基本方面处于高度位置,反映了以欧洲为中心的殖民遗产,我们才能实现这一点。当我们研究那些没有产生文本的社会——所谓的“史前”社会时,这一遗产尤其重要。我们认为,放射性碳年代测定在考古学上的革命性潜力尚未完全实现,正是因为计时数据尚未充分独立于材料确定的叙述结构。我们概述了伦理贝叶斯方法作为挑战这一学科继承的手段的重要性。我们认为,我们需要以更好地考虑异质组合出现的历史过程的方式来描述我们形成的过去的丰富性和特殊性,而不是寻找预先配置的实体(如“青铜时代”)。时代变了;我们需要及时赶上。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.10
自引率
8.30%
发文量
9
期刊介绍: The Journal of Social Archaeology is a fully peer reviewed international journal that promotes interdisciplinary research focused on social approaches in archaeology, opening up new debates and areas of exploration. It engages with and contributes to theoretical developments from other related disciplines such as feminism, queer theory, postcolonialism, social geography, literary theory, politics, anthropology, cognitive studies and behavioural science. It is explicitly global in outlook with temporal parameters from prehistory to recent periods. As well as promoting innovative social interpretations of the past, it also encourages an exploration of contemporary politics and heritage issues.
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