Cambridge University Press eBooks· 2013
Archaeology and the Senses
- 383citations
- 2013year
Short summary
This book argues that archaeology has historically neglected multi-sensory experiences, favoring vision and a Western hierarchy of senses, and proposes a 'sensorial archaeology' for a richer understanding of the past.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Archaeology has historically privileged vision over other senses.
- A Western hierarchy of senses has limited archaeological interpretation.
- Proposes 'sensorial archaeology' to uncover lost sensory experiences.
- Case study on Bronze Age Crete shows application to heritage and social change.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This book is an exciting new look at how archaeology has dealt with the bodily senses and offers an argument for how the discipline can offer a richer glimpse into the human sensory experience. Yannis Hamilakis shows how, despite its intensely physical engagement with the material traces of the past, archaeology has mostly neglected multi-sensory experience, instead prioritising isolated vision and relying on the Western hierarchy of the five senses. In place of this limited view of experience, Hamilakis proposes a sensorial archaeology that can unearth the lost, suppressed, and forgotten sensory and affective modalities of humans. Using Bronze Age Crete as a case study, Hamilakis shows how sensorial memory can help us rethink questions ranging from the production of ancestral heritage to large-scale social change, and the cultural significance of monuments. Hamilakis points the way to reconstituting archaeology as a sensorial and affective multi-temporal practice.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2013 · DOI ↗
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