Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Discussion session: session with a key note speaker with contributions from discussants and discussion
Speaker: Professor Stephen Mrozowski
Title:
Connections and concurrencies: The global turn in historical archaeology and future challenges in European historical archaeology.
Content:
The last two decades have seen a rapid growth in global perspectives in historical archaeology. The early modern emergence of the entwined forces of capitalism, colonialism and modernity are increasingly understood as global currents capable of interrogation from a wider range of comparative geographical standpoints, such as The Atlantic or The Arctic. However, global history and global archaeology can be critiqued as too general and too overarching, downplaying and overlooking the peculiarities and divergences of local perspectives, contexts and experiences. Eurocentrism is another concern. Global perspectives have tended to focus more upon European imprints in the world, instead of upon global impressions in Europe or multidirectional flows of influence. Addressing this critique is a rise in multi-sited archaeology and parallel studies, alongside a growing interest in concurrency as regards development and change in different geographical regions and across continents.
With this session we seek to gather scholars working with comparative, global perspectives in historical archaeology, from the medieval to the early modern periods. We specifically seek to discuss connections and relations between different localities, currents and experiences of the rise of globalization in local as well as global perspectives. Ultimately, we wish to explore and identify future directions for global historical archaeologies that clearly situate yet de-centre Europe in examining wider processes and expressions of transformation and globalization.
Keywords:
Historical Archaeology, Colonialism, Globalization, Concurrency
Session associated with MERC:
yes
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Associate Professor JONAS NORDIN (Sweden) 1
Co-organisers:
Professor Audrey Horning (United Kingdom) 2
Affiliations:
1. The Swedish History Museum
2. Queens University, Belfast
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