Department of Anthropology University of Colorado Boulder

Distinguished Lecture in Archaeology

Anti-Anthropos: On the Promise of a More-Than-Human Archaeology

Oliver Harris, University of Leicester, UK

Thursday, November 6, 4pm; Paleontology Hall, University of Colorado

Museum of Natural History

Over the last twenty years, archaeology has seen a host of theoretical ‘turns’, with emphasis being placed variously on ontology, materials, object-oriented approaches, relations and more. One of the critical issues here has been the question of the human: has archaeology managed to fully historicise what it means to be human in the past? Is this a worthwhile goal, and what would we need to do to achieve this? In this lecture, I evaluate the potentials for an archaeology that takes a radically immanent approach to the past, with consequences for how it explores the role of materials, time and human beings.