Human, Transhuman, Posthuman Digital Archaeologies: An Introduction

Diaz-Guardamino, Marta; Morgan, Colleen

doi:10.1017/eaa.2019.26

Human, Transhuman, Posthuman Digital Archaeologies: An Introduction

Diaz-Guardamino, Marta; Morgan, Colleen

Authors

Dr Marta Diaz-Guardamino marta.m.diaz-guardamino@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Colleen Morgan

Abstract

Current archaeological thought evokes a sparking Catherine wheel: spinning fireworks that detonate light, colour, and sound with every movement. These theoretical turns swirl alongside the ongoing development and adoption of scientific and digital techniques that have wide-ranging implications for archaeological practices and interpretations. Two particularly combustible developments are posthumanism and the ontological turn, which emerged within the broader humanities and social sciences. Posthumanism rejects human exceptionalism and seeks to de-centre humans in archaeological discourse and practice. Linked to this is the so-called ‘ontological turn’ (aka the ‘material turn’), a shift away from framing archaeological research within a Western ontology and a movement beyond representationalism (i.e. focusing on things themselves rather than assuming that objects represent something else).

Citation

Diaz-Guardamino, M., & Morgan, C. (2019). Human, Transhuman, Posthuman Digital Archaeologies: An Introduction. European Journal of Archaeology, 22(3), 320-323. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2019.26

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 25, 2019
Online Publication Date	Jun 3, 2019
Publication Date	Aug 31, 2019
Deposit Date	May 3, 2019
Publicly Available Date	May 3, 2019
Journal	European Journal of Archaeology
Print ISSN	1461-9571
Electronic ISSN	1741-2722
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	22
Issue	3
Pages	320-323
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2019.26