Saturday 31 May 2014

Detectorists seriously behind the times


I find the notion that archaeology is a science to be absurd.

"archaeology as John Hooker says, is not a science".

One wonders where transatlantic metal detectorists and dugup antiquity collectors have been since 1985. They seem to be in some kind of a 30-year retarded Binfordian timewarp. 

UPDATE: see comment. 

1 comment:

Paul Barford said...

Fuddledbrain Hooker replies: "Even more amusing is when they get it completely wrong because of their own confusions about archaeology theory. Recently, one who had condemned my postmodern outlook thought I was being old fashioned for following Binford while giving that date as the eighties. Perhaps it was slip and he had intended to write Hodder -- who knows?"

I think most of us who write on archaeological theory know a good deal than Hooker what we intended to write. He is not a mind reader and clearly is lost trying to catch up with what others are saying.

To explain: Hooker is stating as some kind of "discovery" that "archaeologists get it all wrong" (and that only he, the amateur fired up by Jung "understands how it really is", the man-in-the-street that perceives through his "common sense" what "the experts cannot see" ). In fact the archaeological paradigm he is attacking is that of thirty years ago.

By the way, he might not know that Hodder himself (and Shanks) have gone on a considerable way from the positions which he ascribes to them. I am writing something on this now, but in Polish.

I suggest that Mr Hooker does a bit more reading in archaeological theory before he attempts to deconstruct it from the viewpoint and platform of his amateurish coineyism, the results would be less comical.

http://pasttimesandpresnttensions.blogspot.com/2014/06/so-speak-you-dead-thoughts-about_3.html

 
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