Multiple fields & archaeological practice: Reiterative issues

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Mediating Archaeology

Rather than begin a completely new project of excavation or survey, my reiterative practice builds on the materials, archive, and final productions of the AEP. We will recall from Chapter 3 that just as the ‘upstream’ component of the archaeological process is composed of multiple fields which together work toward the mediation of the material past in the region of the Southern Argolid in the form of a final publication, so too the ‘downstream’ component is one of iteration and subsequent reiteration. In reworking the references, which mark each field in the AEP archives, we can produce new knowledge concerning the southern Argolid thereby build upon and enrich the AEP without running the risk of repetition. Reiterative practice is a key aspect of the sciences and a complimentary aspect of mediation.

The different media and techniques presented in this chapter were enrolled during the summers of 2003 and 2004 when I was able to revisit almost a third of the 328 sites identified by the AEP (Figure 4.12). In addition to the media component, my reiterative practice was comprised of assessments of the accelerated transformations of features, monuments and landscapes occurring in step with contemporary development in the region; more accurate GPS feature mapping with video panoramas; and a few local interviews. In assessing the impact of contemporary development I was able to document some archaeological features in the process of transformation from the first instances of their inscription whether by antiquaries or topographers in the 19th and early 20th centuries or by the AEP twenty years ago.

Whereas the media enlisted on the ground during the intensive survey of the AEP were ‘supports’ against the commotion and disorder (the belles noiseuses) of the countryside, I chose to enroll new media in order to hold onto something of the ambiguity, complexity and messiness of the material world. But new media are not the only answer. In the next chapter I address the issue of mediation on paper through a ‘topology’ of the southern Argolic landscape.

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