‘Only connect’: global and local networks, contexts and fieldwork

Abstract

We examine the ways in which the variety of voices and multiple networks that constitute field work are reduced in its representation, particularly within the discipline of archaeology. The interrelatedness of structures, constraints and opportunities which constitute the conditions and outcomes of fieldwork raises issues beyond notions of intertextuality and the ethics of representation. The specificity and contingency of ‘the field’ is demonstrated through a case study set partly in southern Albania. Contrasts are drawn between ethnographic and archaeological experiences and understandings, and the ways in which the metaphor of ‘tourism’ can be understood as relating to both. These issues of the reduction and representation of richness and diversity are also pursued through amalgamation and experimentation in the relationship between form and content, including montage, both visual and textual. In part, a traditional written style of intellectual argument, albeit employing genres ranging from diary and commentary to footnotes, is used. We also integrate less formal text highlighting the different modes and contexts of production of archaeological knowledges, including this paper, along with the use of multiple narratives and interwoven and layered images.