Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology?
This paper asks whether archaeologists might profitably re-engage with the pre-Enlightenment doctrines of elemental philosophy and humoral theory as paradigms more relevant for archaeological interpretation in certain contexts than much of current theoretical discourse. These ancient cosmologies are...
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| Format: | Article |
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Cambridge University Press
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49951/ |
| _version_ | 1848798118049480704 |
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| author | Jones, Richard Miller, Holly Sykes, Naomi |
| author_facet | Jones, Richard Miller, Holly Sykes, Naomi |
| author_sort | Jones, Richard |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper asks whether archaeologists might profitably re-engage with the pre-Enlightenment doctrines of elemental philosophy and humoral theory as paradigms more relevant for archaeological interpretation in certain contexts than much of current theoretical discourse. These ancient cosmologies are here reconceptualized to suggest ways in which archaeologists might provide fairer representations of past cultures, through the readoption of ideas that they understood rather than through the imposition of more recent and thus anachronistic frames of analytical reference. In four brief case studies, the paper seeks to show how the foregrounding of elemental and humoral theories might lead to new ways of thinking about the study and interpretation of the landscape, material culture, consumption and the senses. Through them, the paper looks to encourage reflection on whether elemental and humoral theories represent the intellectual paradigms that archaeologists have been striving to invent since the discipline's creation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:14:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-49951 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:14:41Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-499512020-05-04T18:18:45Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49951/ Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? Jones, Richard Miller, Holly Sykes, Naomi This paper asks whether archaeologists might profitably re-engage with the pre-Enlightenment doctrines of elemental philosophy and humoral theory as paradigms more relevant for archaeological interpretation in certain contexts than much of current theoretical discourse. These ancient cosmologies are here reconceptualized to suggest ways in which archaeologists might provide fairer representations of past cultures, through the readoption of ideas that they understood rather than through the imposition of more recent and thus anachronistic frames of analytical reference. In four brief case studies, the paper seeks to show how the foregrounding of elemental and humoral theories might lead to new ways of thinking about the study and interpretation of the landscape, material culture, consumption and the senses. Through them, the paper looks to encourage reflection on whether elemental and humoral theories represent the intellectual paradigms that archaeologists have been striving to invent since the discipline's creation. Cambridge University Press 2016-12-01 Article PeerReviewed Jones, Richard, Miller, Holly and Sykes, Naomi (2016) Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? Archaeological Dialogues, 23 (2). pp. 175-192. ISSN 1380-2038 archaeological theory; humoral theory; elemental theory; ‘Age of Reason’; archaeological science; landscape archaeology https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/archaeological-dialogues/article/is-it-time-for-an-elemental-and-humoral-return-in-archaeology/B1C1FEC8F15D4C1305AF40B4A13086CA doi:10.1017/S1380203816000210 doi:10.1017/S1380203816000210 |
| spellingShingle | archaeological theory; humoral theory; elemental theory; ‘Age of Reason’; archaeological science; landscape archaeology Jones, Richard Miller, Holly Sykes, Naomi Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title | Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title_full | Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title_fullStr | Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title_short | Is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| title_sort | is it time for an elemental and humoral (re)turn in archaeology? |
| topic | archaeological theory; humoral theory; elemental theory; ‘Age of Reason’; archaeological science; landscape archaeology |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49951/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49951/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49951/ |