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Figurine enigmas: who's to know?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2010

N. James  and
Juliet Chippindale
N. James
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK (Author for correspondence)
Juliet Chippindale
Affiliation:
c/o Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK (Email: [email protected])
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Extract

Should a public archaeology exhibition focus on objects as objects, or should it also explain something of where they come from and processes of interpreting them? If background is necessary, then how much is needed to make sense of the exhibits? Two recent exhibitions offered different answers. The first was largely descriptive, the second theoretical, and specifically, ‘post-processualist’. Both featured prehistoric anthropomorphic figurines of fired clay. Whether or not because ‘themore human, the less intelligible’ (Hawkes 1954: 162), figurines are among the most intriguing and enigmatic finds. What were they for, and what did they mean? Why do they captivate us today; and how should archaeologists cater for that interest?

Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 326 , December 2010 , pp. 1172 - 1176
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2010

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