Statements and Fragments of Archaeology

One of the great things about teaching the graduate historiography course is that I get a chance every year to return to some seminal texts not only in history, but in the humanities more broadly.  This semester, I am re-reading M. Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge.  In this iconic text he defines various features in  “the discourse” beginning with the concept of the statement.  The statements are meaning to Foucault and represent the smallest part of meaning in the discursive formations.  (There is, of course, much more to it than this!)

Producing statements in discourse archaeological involves producing abstract representations from the experienced environment.

Map grids crisscross the topography at the site of Pyla-Koutsopetria as represented by a Google Earth aerial photograph.

Human activity on the site of Vigla as represented by the distribution of artifacts in 6 survey units.

Excavated areas appear as outlines set against lines representing elevation change.

The features in the trenches appear as line drawings and can be re-arranged in convenient ways for publication on the printed page (or this blog).