Irresponsibility in archaeology

Abstract

Many scholars believe that since the emergence of "New Archaeology" in America and Britain in the mid-1960s, lively and widespread interest has developed in theoretical aspects of archaeology. This trend has been most marked in the United States and Great Britain, but has also been active in other countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, and Czechoslovakia. Especially welcome in the field today is an interest of many scholars in bringing new theoretical approaches to bear on the ever-expanding database. In fact, development of new theoretical aspects in archaeology is the most important character of "New Archaeology". In "New Archaeology", scholars argued that archaeological reasoning should be made explicit. Conclusions should be based not simply on the personal authority of the scholar making the interpretation, but on an explicit framework of logical argument. The aim of this paper is twofold, to identify and to criticize irresponsibility in archaeology in the age of reason. The potential for irresponsibility in old archaeology is greater than in "New Archaeology". The paper will thus use the problem of irresponsibility and its figure to investigate the play between seduction and authority. It will point to the blurring of borders between the respectable and the "pseudo" archaeologists.