Re-presenting the Past

The archaeological past exists for us through intermediaries. Some are written works, descriptions, narratives and field notes, while others are visual - the drawings, paintings, photographs, powerpoints or computer visualisations that allow us to re-present past forms of human existence. This volume brings together nine papers, six of which were presented at a symposium hosted at Brown University in March 2007. Two papers explore the classical past and medieval visualisations. Three treat the Maya and one considers the imaging by 18th-century antiquarians of British history; yet another ranges broadly in its historical considerations. Several consider the trajectory over time of visualisation and self-imaging. Others engage with issues of recording by looking, for example, at the ways in which 19th-century excavation photographs can aid in the reconstruction of an inscription or by evaluating the process of mapping a site with ArcGIS and computer animation software. All essays raise key questions about the function of re-presentations of the past in current archaeological practice.