Enduring relations: Exploring a paradox of new materialism

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine tensions between understandings of material things as either bundles of relations or as things-in-themselves. Rather than take either of these positions, they instead set out an argument for approaches that allow them to modulate between these understandings whilst treating both as relational. Taking such a position allows them to consider how things endure through time without returning to any notion of essence. They explore the theoretical arguments through an analysis of one particular enduring material phenomenon: the Neolithic chambered tomb of West Kennet.