Perspectivism in Archaeology
Insights into Indigenous Theories of Reality

This book explores the foundations of Amerindian perspectivism and its theoretical and methodological possibilities.

Andrés Laguens (Author)

9781009393911, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 February 2024

262 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1.9 cm, 0.53 kg

'… as a series of thought experiments the various case studies raise intriguing possibilities for examining the region's past … Recommended.' J. Seibert, CHOICE

Perspectivism in Archaeology explores recurring features in Amerindian mythology and cosmology in the past, as well as distinctions and similarities between humans, non-humans and material culture. It offers a range of possibilities for the reconstruction of ancient ontological approaches, as well as new ways of thinking in archaeology, notably how ancient ontological approaches can be reconciled with current archaeological theories. In this volume, Andrés Laguens contributes a new set of approaches that incorporate Indigenous theories of reality into an understanding of the South American archaeological record. He analyses perspectivism as a step-by-step theory with clear explanations and examples and shows how it can be implemented in archaeological research and merged with ontological approaches. Exploring the foundations of Amerindian perspectivism and its theoretical and methodological possibilities, he also demonstrates applications of its precepts through case studies of ancient societies of the Andes and Patagonia.

List of figures
Foreword by Ian Hodder
Preface
Acknowledgements List of abbreviations
1. Perspectivism
2. Perspectivism as a theory
3. Perspectivism, materials and objects
4. A perspectivist approach to the archaeology of Ambato
5. Pot-persons in Ambato
6. Inhabiting a perspectivist world
7. Perspectivism and archaeology: a coda
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Archaeological theory [HDA]