ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIALOGUES sits at the fence between Anglo-Saxon and Continental archaeology. It combines the best of theoretical and empirical research traditions that have shaped the history of European archaeology.

In previous years much attention has been given to themes from theoretical archaeology, including relativism, Heideggerian approaches and gender studies. More than being another catwalk of theoretical fashions, Archaeological Dialogues has critically followed these trends—thereby not shunning polemics and controversy. Our present essay competition is just another attempt at delineating the place of theoretical archaeology in contemporary archaeological practice.

Handaxe or thunderbolt ? Discussions on relativism question whether handaxes in the 17th century actually existed as thunderbolts, or whether they were only regarded as such...

Interpretative approaches are at the core of the journal’s ambition. Later European prehistory (the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age of northwestern Europe) is traditionally the laboratory for such perspectives, but other regions and periods have been extensively dealt with. The journal has zoomed in on the so-called ‘theory-poor fields’ of the discipline such as Mediterranean, historical and Palaeolithic archaeology.

Cultural biography of landscapes. Historic landscape are not only places of dwelling in the past, but also of remembering and appropriating previous inhabitants...

The archaeology of landscapes has been a key topic within Archaeological Dialogues. Appreciating the social and cosmological dimensions of prehistoric people’s surroundings, as well as the later interpretations of these mythical landscapes have been integral parts of the influential, cultural-biographical approach.

 

Understanding the role of material culture has been a dominant theme of archaeology in the 1990s. Food, traditionally neglected for being too ‘functionalist’, has proven a fascinating topic in a special issue of the journal. Likewise, modern ethnoarchaeological studies on iron smelting in sub-Saharan Africa and on domestic architecture in Anatolia go well beyond the finding of modern correlates, but illuminate relevant social processes in past and present....
Turkish delight. Using survey material and iconographic sources, the archaeology of Ottoman food habits adds a cultural perspective to the caloric intake..

Archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the socio-politics of their discipline, ranging from nationalist propaganda to ostensibly innocent museum displays. Archaeological Dialogues has at large dealt with themes like nationalism, Europeanism, the Malta convention, forensic archaeology, heritage industry, tourism and museology.

Thinking about archaeology today and in the future requires a sound understanding of archaeology in the past. Topical research from the history of archaeology as well as in-depth interviews with scholars who have shaped the discipline are an integral part of the journal’s policy.

Visual prehistory. Three-dimensional landscape reconstructions of a site like Avebury entails apart from technical difficulties a whole range of theoretical questions.

The digital revolution has brought up fascinating possibilities for methodological and technical innovation in archaeology. What are the theoretical challenges of GIS and virtual reality? Is there still room for enriching ecological analysis and survey methods with new theoretical insights?