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Excavating the Archive/Archiving the Excavation: A (Re)assessment of the Use of Documentary Archives from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Archaeology of Egypt

Ward, Chloë; (2020) Excavating the Archive/Archiving the Excavation: A (Re)assessment of the Use of Documentary Archives from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Archaeology of Egypt. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

The aim of this PhD is to evaluate and critique the use of historical documentary archives in current and future archaeological research, acknowledging the distinct nature of archaeological archives. Rather than considering the archaeological archive as another tool in archaeological research — whether reconstructing evidence or interpreting past practices — this research evaluates archive production in archaeology and the role of archival processes in knowledge production. The focus is on archives from mid 19th to mid 20th century Egyptian contexts but many of the results can be applied to archaeological archives as a whole. The first part of the research assesses the distinctiveness of the archaeological archive, in relation to the specific archaeological site archive and more generally across disciplines. Arguably this divergence occurs at the creation stage which could make traditional archival methods and theory problematic in archaeological research. Furthermore, as both regular creators and users of archive material, archaeological research using the archive fits into a more liminal space of the archival process. The second part of this research explores the extent that archival methods from other disciplines, including archival studies and the archival turn, are used and are effective in archaeological research. The applicability of methods and theories from different disciplines and the archive profession are discussed in relation to major aspects of archival research. This establishes a methodology on considering, approaching, and studying archaeological archives at different scales and stages of their ‘life’ and how this feeds back into knowledge production in archaeological research. By evaluating the historical archiving process, past practices, biases, silences, and distortions can be revealed which can inform future archaeological archiving and recording processes. Therefore, this research makes a practical contribution — by looking at the creation and collection of archival material — and theoretical contribution — by exploring the nature and role of the archaeological archive.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: Ph.D
Title: Excavating the Archive/Archiving the Excavation: A (Re)assessment of the Use of Documentary Archives from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Archaeology of Egypt
Event: UCL (University College London)
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
UCL classification: UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10117801
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