IN THE SHADOW OF ANTIQUITY: for Other Modes of Archaeological Worldmaking

In this brief introduction to the volume, the editors offer a characterization of what they call shadow archaeologies. These are modes of knowledge production, which are either on the periphery or outside the circle of light projected by mainstream, historically oriented archaeology. Importantly, this does not mean they are any less significant or pertinent. On the contrary, they expose the field’s underbelly and dwell on issues that standard practice ignores or glosses over. They are central because they question what archaeology and the archaeological are or could be. They are shadow archaeologies because they operate where the light of mainstream archaeology does not reach. Indeed, as this volume illustrates, they operate behind, inside, and off-centre of antiquity and the discipline’s history-focused gaze. The rest of the chapter then outlines three key themes and sections which structure the contributions to this volume: politics, practices, and objects. The chapters, in different ways, illuminate the diverse forms in which this concept of shadow archaeology can be articulated as they engage with the political dimensions of the discipline’s mode of production, develop alternate practices, and conceive of other manifestations of the archaeological object.