ABSTRACT

This paper explores the entanglement of the innovation discourse with discourses of power. Innovation is a frequent topic of archaeological research, but its implications for how we understand flows of power between individuals, groups, and regions has seen little attention. Here, we argue that our innovation narratives often blindly reproduce hierarchical relations which place dynamic cores in positions of power over their more passive peripheries and margins. In doing so, they obscure the complex and creative processes which occur in these marginal zones. We illustrate this discussion with an exploration of southwestern Britain and the resilience of people living at the margins of the Roman world. We argue that more attentiveness to these creative margins allows us to challenge the flattening hierarchies embedded in traditional innovation narratives, creating space for more complex and multi-layered stories of past innovation.

摘要

本文探讨了创新话语与权力话语的纠缠。创新是考古研究的一个常见话题，但它对我们如何理解个人、群体和地区之间的权力流动的影响却很少受到关注。在这里，我们认为我们的创新叙述经常盲目地复制等级关系，将动态核心置于更被动的边缘和边缘的权力位置。在这样做的过程中，他们掩盖了发生在这些边缘区域的复杂和创造性的过程。我们通过探索英国西南部和生活在罗马世界边缘的人们的复原力来说明这一讨论。