Hermeneutics and Archaeology

On the Philosophy of Contextual Archaeology

Bibliographic Data

ID2575196
AuthorsHarald Johnsen (0000-0003-4927-1234, UiT The Arctic University of Norway), Bjørnar Olsen
Year1992
Volume57
Issue3
Pages419-436
Publication date1992-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/280931
OpenAlexW2048751473
LanguageEN
Citations received52
References cited35

In this paper we situate and discuss critically Ian Hodder's contextual archaeology in relation to a broader tradition of philosophical hermeneutics. We argue that Hodder's position comes close to the romantic conception of interpretation developed by German philosophers and historians. Central to this position is the equation of meaning and intention, context and origin, making historical understanding a transaction between the creative consciousness of the prehistoric agents and the receptive or reconstructive consciousness of the archaeologist. Drawing on Gadamer's critique of early hermeneutics we argue that Hodder's contextual archaeology disregards the dialectic between past and present horizons, a dialectic embedded in past material culture itself lying before us as present traces of a past

Archaeological theory · Dialectic · Hermeneutics · Material culture · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geographies of human-animal interactions

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