What do you think?
Rate this book
Archaeology as Cultural History
This book shows the reader how much archaeologists can learn from recent developments in cultural history.
- GenresHistoryArchaeology
375 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 1899
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 1, 2017
I recently acquired this through a friend who was cleaning out her Classics bookshelf, so she sent a couple boxes my way to enrich my classroom`s small Classics library. This title got my attention, partly for the archaeology (which is a rather recent passion of mine) and partly for the cultural history (which is a much more established historical passion). The time period, the beginning of the Greek Iron Age (or Dark Age, if you like) isn`t one of my strong points, so I figured I`d pick up a few things along the way. It was a good call.
What Dr. Morris offers is a amalgam of histiorical/archaeology theory and the practical application to the problems of the Iron Age in Greece. In the theoretical section, I particularly appreciated the discussion of the Western European appropriation of Hellenism as a support for cultural claims to hegemony. It is an issue that I struggle with because it is so pervasive in Classical Studies as well as some right-wing commentators. It bothers me because all to often it is used to underwrite claims of cultural superiority which are discordant to a culturally-diverse and multicultural environment which is increasingly becoming prevalent in Western societies. Morris' tracing of this history of this association of Greece with Western ideology is a helpful one and is one I'm likely to turn back to as I get back to planing my lessons for next year.
HIs interpretation of Iron Age Greece is an interesting one, but one that I feel less able to critique. It is based on a hypothesis of the triumph of the 'middle' man, who can be defined both economically and socially, in the Greek poleis during the transition to the Classical age. That aristocratic ethics waned in this period and kept waning in the better known Classical age is hard to deny. Yet, I worry about this triumph of a middle man or a middle class because I wonder if we're seeing it for a liberal version of the same cultural blindness that we discussed with Hellenism. I may be off base here, but this feels like a comfortable interpretation, perhaps rather too comfortable. It is in line with the work of Josiah Ober, who I reviewed last summer, and I'm suspicious of both works for much the same reason.
Regardless of this hesitation, this is a worthy book to read. It is thoughtful and careful about the evidence.
What Dr. Morris offers is a amalgam of histiorical/archaeology theory and the practical application to the problems of the Iron Age in Greece. In the theoretical section, I particularly appreciated the discussion of the Western European appropriation of Hellenism as a support for cultural claims to hegemony. It is an issue that I struggle with because it is so pervasive in Classical Studies as well as some right-wing commentators. It bothers me because all to often it is used to underwrite claims of cultural superiority which are discordant to a culturally-diverse and multicultural environment which is increasingly becoming prevalent in Western societies. Morris' tracing of this history of this association of Greece with Western ideology is a helpful one and is one I'm likely to turn back to as I get back to planing my lessons for next year.
HIs interpretation of Iron Age Greece is an interesting one, but one that I feel less able to critique. It is based on a hypothesis of the triumph of the 'middle' man, who can be defined both economically and socially, in the Greek poleis during the transition to the Classical age. That aristocratic ethics waned in this period and kept waning in the better known Classical age is hard to deny. Yet, I worry about this triumph of a middle man or a middle class because I wonder if we're seeing it for a liberal version of the same cultural blindness that we discussed with Hellenism. I may be off base here, but this feels like a comfortable interpretation, perhaps rather too comfortable. It is in line with the work of Josiah Ober, who I reviewed last summer, and I'm suspicious of both works for much the same reason.
Regardless of this hesitation, this is a worthy book to read. It is thoughtful and careful about the evidence.
July 4, 2007
Although my area of specialization is not classical Greece, I found the chapters 1-3 especially instructive on the history of the discipline and on the glass ceiling for archaeologists and social/religious historians in the field of classics.
Morris' study of Iron Age is certainly thought-provoking,and convincing, although I must defer to specialists in Iron Age Greece (if any can be found who will take seriously the questions Morris is addressing).
Morris' study of Iron Age is certainly thought-provoking,and convincing, although I must defer to specialists in Iron Age Greece (if any can be found who will take seriously the questions Morris is addressing).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews