SPEAKING MATERIALS SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY The one-day conference to be held on the occasion of the AREA meeting at Freiburg University in July 2007 will be devoted to the concept and nature of the historical source, emphasizing that archaeologists researching on the history of archaeology have to apply historical methods and do not work as archaeologists but rather as historians in interdisciplinary mode. The conference will be open to the public. Collecting, but also reading, writing and drawing have been recognized as scientific practices. In the history of archaeology, such practices have produced collections (which may have survived in their original state) and have left a variety of written, printed and pictorial sources providing very different information. Such sources can be extraordinarily rare and require specific skills in tracing and investigating them, whether they date from the 20th or 15th century. Viewed in the broader historical context, research in the history of archaeology always has to develop precise questions in its treatment of this kind of historical evidence. The conference will further encourage the use of primary sources in the history of archaeology and will address all the problems which occur in the course of dealing with them. What textual or material evidence has survived (incl. artefacts from historical collections and photographs)? In which social and cultural contexts was it created? What was the process of transmission and the history of its provenance? How can access to the sources be made easier via the www, providing full texts and digital images? Guest speakers are welcome. AREA members are asked to present case studies, reporting on their own experiences, results and interdisciplinary approaches.

 
Kontakt:
Dr. Dietrich Hakelberg
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte & Archäologie des Mittelalters
Tel.: 0761 203 - 3369
E-Mail: hakelberg@ufg.uni-freiburg.de