Relational Archaeologies: Humans, Animals, Things - Paperback

by Christopher Watts (Editor)

Many of us accept as uncontroversial the belief that the world is comprised of detached and disparate products, all of which are reducible to certain substances. Of those things that are alive, we acknowledge that some have agency while others, such as humans, have more advanced qualities such as consciousness, reason and intentionality. Relational Archaeologies questions how such a view of human beings, 'other-than-human' creatures and things affects our reconstruction of past beliefs and practices, and emphasizes how humans, animals and things come to exist by virtue of the dynamic and fluid processes of connection and transaction.