NO EDGES: ARCHAEOLOGY, EXCAVATION AND LANDSCAPE
as a means by which to communicate the inhabitation of the past; not reducing the archaeology in to neat, descriptive packages that most archaeology is prone to do. While excavation is a destruction of the past, the ‘preservation by record’ mantra that requires a certain scientific rigour to the collection of ‘data’, it is not the only means of preservation. Nor should this be at the expense of other kinds of investigations. Indeed, more-than-representational forms of expression could – discursive, affective, visual - alongside the usual conventions, convey not only the form or substance of a site and landscape, but also its essence; something that ensures the telling of a good story. This is because conventional writing tropes in archaeology tend not to convey the enormous diversity of how people in the past lived in a landscape, or inhabited as landscape, and, least of all, considering landscape as more than a context or container for past action.
Figure 5: ‘Writing’ archaeology through practice - stacked wheelbarrows, at Oakington Airfield, Longstanton, Northstowe, in the morning 22nd March, 2017 © Cambridge Archaeological Unit
It is likely that many archaeologists, perhaps others too, disagree with this perspective. That is fine, as diversity in reflection is a necessary feature of a healthy disciplinary discourse. However, to the critics of this perspective, perhaps what should be considered first and foremost are the possible collaborations that come with opening the window of archaeology, not just for the practices of archaeology, but also for the wider arts and sciences. For instance, while literature, poetry, cinema, theatre and visual art all make use of archaeological themes in some form, it is a pretty rare occurrence for archaeology to employ these art forms in its own work to convey a the character of an excavation itself, or provide a different access into the narrative, or simply to present something that will appeal to a wider, perhaps new, audience. There 16