Re Floyd Jones' query on Classical vs. Historical & theory therein.
 
I'd recommend reading Michael Fotiadis on theory in Classical archaeology, e.g.,
 
Fotiadis, Michael.  1995.  Modernity and the Past-Still-Present:  Politics
of Time in the Birth of Regional Archaeological Projects in Greece.
American Journal of Archaeology 99: 59-78.
 
This should lead you to other works.
 
Most Classical archaeologists within my ken (they're all around me!) claim
that theory is a lot of bunk and they don't need it and it's just faddish
anyway.  One Classical archaeologist--a young one!--challenged a speaker
who was discussing Caesar's writings on Gaul, saying that there was no need
to read him critically, it could all be taken at face value since Caesar
didn't need to justify himself.  EEK!  Another Classical archaeologist in
my department won't let students use a term like "foodways" because, to
him, it is jargon.  It's great to work with and learn from Classical
archaeologists, but I learned very quickly that despite all their claims
that they could offer historical archaeologists lots of pointers when it
came to using historical sources, I find just the opposite to be the case.
Well, using, maybe, but critical analysis and creative use thereof, in an
ethnographic sense, not a chance.  Look at the way that only recently is
there developing an integration between the work of social historians of
the Roman family/household and the huge corpus of excavations of Roman
houses and villas.  People still are naming rooms on the basis of the
frescoes and what not found within them!
 
The training of Classical archaeologists also differs substantially from
training for historical archaeologists.  In the former the emphasis is on
mastering lots of info, taking an egregious number of exams on every topic
under the sun, and generally preparing to be a scholar in a sense that has
nothing to do with the real world and how it works today.  But then the job
openings for Classical archaeologists are very much for people trained in
the crusty, time-honored fashion.
 
I have observed, however, that there is resistance at large to training
archaeologists of any stripe in a way that will do them and the field the
maximum good.
 
MCB
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Mary C. Beaudry
Editor, Northeast Historical Archaeology
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Archaeology
Boston University
Boston, MA 02215
 
tel. 617-353-3415
fax. 617-353-6800
email [log in to unmask]
 
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