The Future of Periodization. Dissecting the Legacy of Culture History

Abstract

This paper discusses the future role of periodization in the wake of recent critiques of culture-historical chronologies concurrent with the rise of high-definition radiocarbon dating. It is argued that periodization has two distinct facets, a narrative function and a dating function, which should be separated. Archaeology may eventually be able to abandon the latter, but not the former. However, the two aspects are closely intertwined and the goal of this paper is to disentangle them and, through a case study of archaeological periodization in Iceland, demonstrate the need to re-engage with culture-historical taxonomies by reverse engineering their construction. Only in this way will the utility or poverty of such culture-historical periods be exposed to proper scrutiny and the ground cleared for building new, narrative periodizations.