Cyber-Archaeology and Grand Narratives: Digital Technology and Deep-Time Perspectives on Culture Change in the Middle East

Description

This volume asks how the current Information Technology Revolution influences archaeological interpretations of techno-social change. Does cyber-archaeology provide a way to breathe new life into grand narratives of technological revolution and culture change, or does it further challenge these high-level theoretical explanations? Do digital recording methods have the potential to create large, regional-scale databases to ease investigation of high-level theoretical issues, or have they simply exposed deeper issues of archaeological practice that prevent this? In short, this volume cuts beyond platitudes about the revolutionary potential of the Information Technology Revolution and instead critically engages both its possibilities and limitations. The contributions to this volume are drawn from long-term regional studies employing a cyber-archaeology framework, primarily in the southern Levant, a region with rich archaeological data sets spanning the Paleolithic to the present day. As such, contributors are uniquely placed to comment on the interface between digital methods and grand narratives of long-term techno-social change. Cyber-Archaeology and Grand Narratives provides a much-needed challenge to current approaches, and a first step toward integrating innovative digital methods with archaeological theory. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Cyber-archaeology and Grand Narratives: Where Do We Currently Stand? (Ian W. N. Jones, Thomas E. Levy)....Pages 1-17 3D Recording in the Field: Style Without Substance? (Matthew D. Howland)....Pages 19-33 Integrating Micro- and Macro-Archaeology at a Multi-period Site: Insights and Outcomes from Tell es-Safi/Gath (Aren M. Maeir)....Pages 35-50 Using Tools in Ways in Which They Were Not Intended: A Test Case of the Use of PlanGrid for Field Registration at Tel Burna (Chris McKinny, Itzhaq Shai)....Pages 51-66 From Multispectral 3D Recording and Documentation to Development of Mobile Apps for Dissemination of Cultural Heritage (Miriam Cabrelles, Silvia Blanco-Pons, Berta Carrión-Ruiz, José Luis Lerma)....Pages 67-90 Toward a Grand Narrative of Bronze Age Vegetation Change and Social Dynamics in the Southern Levant (Patricia L. Fall, Mariela Soto-Berelov, Elizabeth Ridder, Steven E. Falconer)....Pages 91-110 The Challenge of Digitized Survey Data (Moti Haiman)....Pages 111-122 The West Bank and East Jerusalem Archaeological Database: Narratives of Archaeology and Archaeological Practices (Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert)....Pages 123-141 At-Risk World Heritage, Cyber, and Marine Archaeology: The Kastrouli–Antikyra Bay Land and Sea Project, Phokis, Greece (Thomas E. Levy, T. Sideris, M. Howland, B. Liss, G. Tsokas, A. Stambolidis et al.)....Pages 143-234 Back Matter ....Pages 235-238