Call For Papers:

When the Abyss Stares Back: Time, Material Memory, and the “Science of the Past” Session to be held at the Theoretical Archaeology Group 2016 Conference in Boulder, CO April 22-24, 2016



Organizers: Evan Levine ([log in to unmask]) and Edgar A. Garcia ([log in to unmask])



We invite abstracts for an upcoming session to be held at the Theoretical Archaeology Group 2016 Conference at the University of Colorado Boulder. We are open to submissions that share the broad aims of the session: questioning the nature of archaeological time, examining the dependence of archaeology on historicist narratives, and discussing the nature of material memory.



In his 2011 monograph The Dark Abyss of Time, Laurent Olivier remarks that, rather than following traditional historicist perspectives toward archaeological research, we should instead strive to direct the field of archaeology to develop into a true “science of the past” (Olivier 2011: 189). For Olivier, archaeologists must stop employing the concept of linear, sequential time— developed for the field of History—instead opting to employ a concept of time that fits the field of archaeology and the objects of archaeological study.



In order to facilitate this major paradigm shift in the field of archaeological scholarship, Olivier offers a new perspective with which archaeologists can approach the material of their study. Instead of treating archaeological matter as the remnants of the past—objects which have somehow found their way to the present, to be dug up and subsequently analyzed as a part of that past—Olivier suggests that this matter should be approached as a part of the present. Through this perspective, archaeology ceases to act as an agent of history, but rather as a field that deals with the inherent material memory held by archaeological matter.



Despite the popularity of Olivier’s scholarship, and a community of strong supporters of his paradigms, there are still many archaeologists who allow history to guide their research, or who treat archaeological matter as nothing more than vestiges of an earlier era. In light of the concept of Bolder Theory, this session aims to bring together scholarship on these topics, addressing the themes of material memory, archaeological time as multilinear, and the nature of archaeological research in light of this work. We also welcome scholarship on the relationship between contemporary archaeological research and traditional historicist narratives.



It is our hope that this session will act as an opportunity for a diverse cadre of scholars to convene in order to discuss and further develop Olivier’s theoretical concepts. In addition, we hope to foster a discussion that will encourage archaeologists to engage with material memory as something that escapes the conscious perspectives held by historicist research. In short, we hope to nudge the field of archaeology ever more slightly away from a sub-discipline of history, to a true discipline of things.



Brief abstracts and a select bibliography for prospective papers should be submitted to either of the session co-organizers in DOCX or PDF format via email by February 27, 2016. Submissions will be reviewed by the co-organizers, and a final decision will be made before March 1, 2016. For more information and a complete list of other TAG 2016 sessions, see http://anthropology.colorado.edu/tag2016/