Are We There Yet? Archaeology and the Postmodern in the New Millennium

Abstract

The present text discusses the significance of the postmodern condition in contemporary archaeology. Five themes associated with postmodernism are discussed (a) the relativization of truth, knowledge, and meaning, (b) the fragmentation of the grand narrative, (c) the relation between agency and discourse, (d) pluralism, multivocality, and heterogeneity, and (e) rhetoric and styles of writing. In contemporary debate it has been suggested that postmodernism is a past phase and that these contested issues have become less important. It is, however, argued here that these are by no means resolved, but rather bypassed by shifting focus to archaeology as a contemporary practice or, in theoretical terms, towards particularistic neo-materialist ontologies.