The Dark Abyss of Time: Archaeology and Memory

by Laurent Olivier

The field of archaeology continues to face a major crisis of interpretation. The traditional view is that the basic business of archaeology is to reconstruct the history of cultures and civilizations through their material productions. Olivier challenges this view with a new approach to archaeological remains based on the works of French theorists such as Foucault, de Certeaux, and Derrida, with insight from Darwin and Freud. His thesis is that archaeology does not study the past itself but rather what materially remains of the past in our present. Olivier also develops an interpretation of material culture based on Aby Warburg’s and Walter Benjamin’s work in the anthropology of art. With wider implications for history and all social sciences, The Dark Abyss of Time is a major contribution to the theory of time, memory, heritage, and archaeology. This flawless translation makes Olivier’s elegantly written work available in English for the first time.

Genres: Archaeology, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2011

Reviews

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time in a long time a book written by an archaeologist has captured my imagination and made me think about how we use concepts of time, memory, artifacts, and even seriation (!!). Cant wait to read more.

[St-Loup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre qui ouvre des perspectives fascinantes, malgré une tendance assez irritante au name-dropping.