From determinism to accountability. Archaeology, anthropology and ethics

Bibliographic Data

ID2131273
AuthorsKathryn Lafrenz Samuels (0000-0002-1150-9297, University of Maryland, College Park, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume26
Issue01
Pages14-17
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeological Dialogues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1380-2038 • E-ISSN: 1478-2294
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1380203819000096
OpenAlexW3037898050
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited6

The discussion by Arponen et al. inserts itself into long-standing debates about the place of causality and determinism in archaeological interpretation. While some of the discussion might feel like retreading familiar ground in those debates, the authors bring a refreshing clarity of exposition to the problem, and more importantly they propose several promising directions for future research. For example, their exhortation to 'see the human-environment relationship as always already sociocultural' (p. 8) should be firmly established by now, but I agree with their assertion that this perspective 'seems underdeveloped in archaeology' (p. 8) and that looking to anthropology is one especially productive route for developing such a sensibility. In the following I wish to extend and respond to their arguments by (1) addressing how anthropological approaches might best be incorporated into archaeological research on palaeo-environments and coupled human-environment systems, and (2) highlighting the ethical and moral dimensions of this process as integral to it

Accountability · Art · Assertion · CLARITY · Determinism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Political science · Sensibility · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Philosophy · Social Representations and Identity

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