@0xAlaric If you could go back in time and shoot Foucault with a cannonball, would you do it?
@LapisRobustus It would be funny but he is only so dominant for reasons really outside his own purview
@0xAlaric Very insightful article! I recently graduated with a master's degree in archaeology and I totally agree with what you said. Besides the privatization of archaeology proper, where do you see a (new) theoretical, academic side of archaeology finding a place (if any at all)?
@RDacian20 Thank you — but I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. My boring and predictable answer would be in the think tank world, or some analogue to it; maybe entirely-private groups akin to the Explorer’s Club producing periodicals and funding resident researchers.
@0xAlaric Another great example of credentialism and trusting the experts bogging everything down. What is happening at Gobekli Tepi is a far cry from Heinrich Schliemann and Troy.
@0xAlaric archeology shutdown due to what started coming out of iran in the 60s & 70s. enough of it got through for curious minds to find in academic journals. they tried locking tthe zero point to Iraq with Sumer, but the artefactual evidence kept pointing further east, and away from
@0xAlaric BRAVO. Much needed. You could go on and on. The whole field has become one giant Sokal Affair. A fortiori: Indo-European archaeology, the Kurgan Hypothesis and the Earth-shattering revelations of ancient DNA. Nice shout out to Robert Drews. James Mallory and David Anthony
@0xAlaric The academics who do more serious work run cover for the silly ones. Sparta Soyjak, for example, will provide links to horribly bitter female medieval sex historians. Symbiotic relationship. He provides respectability and they provide status/attract donors.
@0xAlaric Thank you.
@0xAlaric Julian Barbour is a physicist who does private research. He has a legit degree but makes his living as a translator. For research, there is so much accumulated results from particle accelerators he can use public data.
@0xAlaric Fantastic essay!