Archaeologies of Memory

As in the present, past peoples commemorated, constructed, and manipulated their past for their own social and political ends. Archaeologists can use a variety of evidence to study social memory and to recover past ideas about what the more distant past was like. Archaeologies of Memory is a groundbreaking text that presents a coherent framework for the study of memory in past societies. This unique collection of new essays brings together contributions from both anthropological and classical archaeologists. Essays, drawn from a variety of cultures and time periods, engage a number of common themes, such as issues of authority and identity, and the role memory plays in their creation and transformation. Archaeologies of Memory is an accessible investigation into the central issues in the study of memory and provides an engaging introduction to this controversial subject.

Author Biography

Ruth M. Van Dyke is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Colorado College. She directs archaeological research in Chaco Canyon and in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. She has recently published work in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Kiva and American Antiquity. Susan E. Alcock is John H. D’Arms Collegiate Professor of Classical Archaeology and Classics at the University of Michigan. Her publications include Graecia Capta: The Landscapes of Roman Greece (1993), Pausanias: Travel & Memory in Roman Greece (co-editor, 2001), Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History (co-editor, 2001), and Archaeologies of the Greek Past: Landscape, Monuments and Memory (2002).