What conditions of existence sustain a tension found in the use of written and material documents in archaeology?

Abstract

A tension will be explored here. 'Tension' implies: a quality or state of that which is tense, stretched with force, extended, stiff. This is the sense which characterizes the state of tension referred to in this paper's title potentially found between written and material documents in the field of archaeology. In fact, it speaks of tired themes of Archaeology versus History, document versus artifact and whatever it may be (Johnson, 1999: 23) as unresolved tension leads to tiredness. The situation about this tension is not an end, a completion, nor a termination, but a pause and new beginning in order to continue questioning. © 2005 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.