Archaeological ethnographies

TLDR

Living spaces shape and reflect social, political, economic, and ritual aspects of life, and people actively produce, use, and experience them. The study aims to conduct social and historical analyses of lived space, following Ashmore’s call to socialise spatial archaeology, and to promote greater inclusion of outdoor spaces in archaeological research. The authors adopt a holistic approach that integrates analyses of both indoor/outdoor and built/unbuilt spaces, expanding spatial archaeology to include outdoor environments traditionally neglected by site‑centric studies.

Abstract

The way people organize living spaces defines and is defined by all aspects of their lives - social, political, economic and ritual. People meaningfully produce, use and experience living spaces. This calls for social and historical analyses of space as actually lived. By exploring notions of lived or living spaces we attempt to take up the idea of socializing spatial archaeology called for by Ashmore in her distinguished lecture. As a vehicle for exploring a holistic notion of lived space we, like many landscape archaeologists, advocate a greater incorporation of analyses of outdoor spaces in archaeological thought and research design, because it is important to consider the loci of all human activities (e.g. indoor/outdoor, built/unbuilt), and because outdoor spaces, significant to many aspects of life, have been traditionally overlooked by site- or structure-centric archaeologies.