The dynamic processes of knowledge production in archaeology and elsewhere in the humanities and social sciences are increasingly viewed as the collaborative effort of groups, clusters and communities of researchers rather than the isolated work of so-called 'instrumental' actors. Shifting focus from the individual scholar to the wider social contexts of her work and the dynamic creative processes she participates in, this volume critically examines the importance of informal networks and conversation in the creation of knowledge about the past. Engaging with theoretical approaches such as the sociology and geographies of knowledge and Actor-Network Theory (ANT), and using examples taken from different archaeologies in Europe and North America from the seventeenth to the mid-twentieth century, the book caters to a wide readership, ranging from students of archaeology, anthropology, classics and science studies to the general reader.

Reviews

'This is an interesting book for anyone interested in archaeological theory and the history of archaeology.'
Ulster Archaeological Society

Introduction: clusters of knowledge - Julia Roberts, Kathleen Sheppard
1 How archaeological communities think? Re-thinking Ludwik Fleck's concept of the thought-collective according to the case of Serbian archaeology - Monika Milosavljevic
2 Circular 316: archaeology, networks, and the Smithsonian Institution, 1876-9 - James E. Snead
3 'More for beauty than for rarity': the key role of the Italian antiquarian market in the inception of American Classical art collections during the late-nineteenth century - Francesca de Tomasi
4 Digging dilettanti: the first Dutch excavation in Italy, 1952-8 - Arthur Weststeijn and Laurien de Gelder
5 A romance and a tragedy: Antonín Salac and the French school at Athens - Thea De Armond
6 Geographies of networks and knowledge production: the case of Oscar Montelius and Italy - Anna Gustavsson
7 'More feared than loved': interactional strategies in late-nineteenth-century Classical archaeology: the case of Adolf Furtwängler - Ulf R. Hansson
8 The permeable clusters of Hanna Rydh - Elisabeth Arwill-Nordbladh
9 'Trying desperately to make myself an Egyptologist': James Breasted's early scientific network - Kathleen Sheppard
10 Frontier gentlemen's club: Felix Kanitz and Balkan archaeology - Vladimir V. Mihajlovic
11 Re-examining the contribution of Dr. Robert Toope to knowledge in later seventeenth century Britain: was he more than just 'Dr. Took'? - Jonathan R. Trigg
Index

Editors

Julia Roberts is an independent researcher and occasional lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire
Kathleen Sheppard is Associate Professor of History at Missouri University of Science and Technology
Ulf R. Hansson is Director of the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome and Senior Research Fellow in classics at the University of Texas at Austin
Jonathan R. Trigg is a part-time lecturer at the University of Liverpool