An archaeology of the instant? Action and narrative in microscopic archaeological residue analyses

Haslam, M. (2006) An archaeology of the instant? Action and narrative in microscopic archaeological residue analyses. Journal of Social Archaeology, 6 3: 402-424.


Author Haslam, M.
Title An archaeology of the instant? Action and narrative in microscopic archaeological residue analyses
Journal name Journal of Social Archaeology  (ERA 2012 Listed)    (ERA 2010 Rank B)   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2006
Sub-type Review of research - research literature review (NOT book review
DOI 10.1177/1469605306067851
Volume number 6
Issue number 3
ISSN 1469-6053
Start page 402
End page 424
Total pages 23
Editor Meskell, L.
Place of publication London
Publisher Sage Publications
Collection year 2006
Language eng
Subject C1
430207 Archaeological Science
780107 Studies in human society
Abstract The discovery and interpretation of microscopic residues on stone artefacts is an expanding front within archaeological science, allowing reconstructions of the past use of specific tools. With notable exceptions, however, the field has seen little theoretical development, relying largely on a rationale in which either individual findings are widely generalized or the age of the site determines the importance of the results. Here an approach to residue interpretation is proposed that draws on notions of narrative, scale, action and agency as one means of expanding the theoretical scope and application of residue studies. It is suggested that the individual resonance of the findings of residue analyses with people in the present day can be used to provide a more nuanced understanding of past actions, which in turn allows both better integration and communication of those findings within and outside the archaeological comm unity, and begins to overcome the problems associated with the typically small sample sizes analysed in stone-tool residue studies.
Keyword Archaeology
Agency
Microscopy
Narrative
Residue Analysis
Scale
Stone Tools
Stone Tool Function
Blood Residues
Orinoco Valley
Starch Grains
Use Wear
Artifacts
Time
Venezuela
Surfaces
Q-Index Code C1

Document type: Journal Article
Sub-type: Review of research - research literature review (NOT book review
Collections: 2007 Higher Education Research Data Collection
School of Social Science Publications
 
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Created: Wed, 15 Aug 2007, 08:08:30 EST