Wiley-Blackwell Envisioning the Past: Archaeology an the Image: 19 (New Interventions in Art History)

Envisioning the Past: Archaeology and the Image is a groundbreaking collection of original essays that brings together archaeologists, art historians and anthropologists to provide new perspectives on the construction of knowledge concerning the antiquity of man. Covers a wide variety of time periods and topics, from the Renaissance and the 18th century to the engravings, photography, and virtual realities of today Questions what we can learn from considering the use of images in the past and present that might guide our responsible use of them in the future Available within the prestigious New Interventions in Art History series, published in connection with the Association of Art Historians. Review "I recommend this book to anyone interested in the relationship between archaeology and 'the image', and particularly point to the contributions by Glazier, Scott, Phillips and Arnold." Cultural Studies “Envisioning the Past dissects a range of visual reconstructions of antiquity to expose conventions so widely accepted that their distorting effect has become all but invisible. The reader undergoes a process of re-sensitization that is eye-opening in the most literal sense.” Arthur MacGregor, Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford From the Inside Flap Envisioning the Past brings together archaeologists, art historians, and anthropologists to offer new perspectives on the construction of knowledge concerning the antiquity of man. The volume demonstrates the extent to which the visual presentation of archaeological research creates a particular discourse, powerful enough to shape our understanding of archaeological knowledge. No category of images is immune from this process, from site drawings to museum displays and from manuscript illustrations to digital media. Yet, given the frequent use of images as illustrative material in professional archaeological publications, museums, websites, and TV programs, there are important lessons to be learned. If a genuinely unmediated image is impossible, how should images be used? What can we learn from considering the use of images in the past and present that might guide our responsible use of them in the future? Moving beyond unchallenged presumptions about the passivity of the visual record, Envisioning the Past re-evaluates the importance of the image as a key contributor to the reconstruction of the past. From the Back Cover Envisioning the Past brings together archaeologists, art historians, and anthropologists to offer new perspectives on the construction of knowledge concerning the antiquity of man. The volume demonstrates the extent to which the visual presentation of archaeological research creates a particular discourse, powerful enough to shape our understanding of archaeological knowledge. No category of images is immune from this process, from site drawings to museum displays and from manuscript illustrations to digital media. Yet, given the frequent use of images as illustrative material in professional archaeological publications, museums, websites, and TV programs, there are important lessons to be learned. If a genuinely unmediated image is impossible, how should images be used? What can we learn from considering the use of images in the past and present that might guide our responsible use of them in the future? Moving beyond unchallenged presumptions about the passivity of the visual record, Envisioning the Past re-evaluates the importance of the image as a key contributor to the reconstruction of the past. About the Author Sam Smiles is Professor of Art History at the University of Plymouth. He is the author of The Image of Antiquity: Ancient Britain and the Romantic Imagination (1994) and Eye Witness: Artists and Visual Documentation in Britain, 1770–1830 (2000). Stephanie Moser is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Southampton. She is the author of Ancestral Images: The Iconog