Envisioning The Past : Archaeology And The Image, Paperback by Smiles, Sam (E...

Envisioning The Past : Archaeology And The Image, Paperback by Smiles, Sam (EDT); Moser, Stephanie (EDT), ISBN 140511150X, ISBN-13 9781405111508, Like New Used, Free P&P in the UKA drawing, a photograph, a computer-generated reconstruction can have a much more powerful impact than pages of descriptive text, yet their use is rarely critiqued. The accuracy of visual representations of the past relies wholly on the integrity and accuracy of the creator, but even this is fraught with issues of technical constraints, conventions, style, strategies and ideological assumptions. This collection of twelve essays approaches the question of how we envision the past from a variety of angles, from 19th-century engravings, site drawings and museum displays to virtual reality. The contributors explore how we have represented the past, what this has meant for archaeology and its audience and what we can learn for the future. Just some of the subjects covered include museum displays of African material, representations of Native Americans following European expeditions to the Americas, images of ancient Rome from different periods in history, the use of photography in recording sites and antiquities, and debates over the use of computer-generated images.