Archaeology, Annales, and Ethnohistory

This collection considers the relevance of the Annales 'school' for archaeology.

A. Bernard Knapp (Edited by)

9780521102605, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 12 March 2009

172 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 0.9 cm, 0.32 kg

This collection considers the relevance of the Annales 'school' for archaeology. The Annales movement regarded orthodox history as too much concerned with events, too narrowly political, too narrative in form and too isolated from neighbouring disciplines. Annalistes attempted to construct a 'total' history, dealing with a wide range of human activity, and combining divergent material, documentary, and theoretical approaches to the past. Annales-oriented research utilizes the techniques and tools of various ancillary fields, and integrates temporal, spatial, material and behavioural analyses. Such an approach is obviously attractive to archaeologists, for even though they deal with material data rather than social facts, they are just as much as historians interested in understanding social, economic and political factors such as power and dominance, conflict, exchange and other human activities. Three introductory essays consider the relationship between Annales methodology and current archaeological theory. Case studies draw upon methodological variations of the multifaceted Annales approach. The volume concludes with two overviews, one historical and the other archaeological.

1. Archaeology and Annales: time, space and change A. Bernard Knapp
Part I. Theoretical constructs: 2. Braudel's temporal rhythms and chronology theory in archaeology Michael E. Smith
3. Time perspectivism, Annales, and the potential of archaeology Roland Fletcher
Part II. Case Studies: 4. Rhythms of change in Postclassic central Mexico: archaeology, ethnohistory, and the Braudelian model Michael E. Smith
5. Pottery styles and social status in medieval Khurasan Richard W. Bullies
6. Independence and imperialism: politico-economic structures in the Bronze Age Levant A. Bernard Knapp
7. Braudel and North American archaeology: an example from the Northern Plains Philip Duke
8. Restoring the dialectic: settlement patterns and documents in medieval central Italy John F. Moreland
Part III. Overview and Prospects: 9. Annales and archaeology Richard W. Bullies
10. What can archaeologists learn from Annalistes? Andrew Sherrall.

Subject Areas: Archaeological science, methodology & techniques [HDW], Archaeological theory [HDA], Historiography [HBAH]