Eventful Archaeology

Abstract

Unexpected ruptures in material culture patterning present interpretive challenges for archaeological narratives of social change. The concept of the event, as proposed by William Sewell Jr., offers a robust theoretical vocabulary for understanding the sudden appearance of novel patterning. Sewell defines historical events as sequences of happenings or occurrences that transform social structures by creating durable ruptures between material resources and their associated virtual schemas. Thus conceived, events occur in three phases: (1) a sequence of contingent happenings produces (2) ruptures in the articulation of resources and schemas, creating (3) an opportunity for rearticulation within new frames of reference. This perspective has much to recommend it for archaeology because it explicitly and uniquely grounds the concepts of structure, structural change, and agency in materiality. The implications of this approach are apparent in the cases of Iceland’s conversion to Christianity (AD 1000–1050), barrow construction during Denmark’s Bronze Age (1700–1500 BC), platform construction at Formative Chiripa, Bolivia (450–400 BC), and the planning and layout of Mississippian Cahokia, Illinois (AD 1050–1100).

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