One of a Kind: Approaching the Singular Artifact and the Archaeological Imagination

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "One of a Kind: Approaching the Singular Artifact and the Archaeological Imagination," at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Archaeologists, especially in the North American tradition, have customarily held an ambivalent relationship towards singular artifacts. Fighting against the charge of treasure hunting, archaeologists have favored speaking in terms of assemblages, contexts, and mass data, rather than single objects. At the same time, singular artifacts are ultimately the medium through which archaeology engages with the public, and which may be displayed in museums. Furthermore, it is often the single artifact that pulls on our own heartstrings in excavation, and provides the emotional reward for our own hard work. This session considers different approaches to singular artifacts, taking seriously the dangers of fetishization while at the same time not discounting the affective power and informative potential of singular objects. How can we critically attend to the affective power of singular objects over assemblages and data sheets, and interrogate the role they play in archaeology's development and its relationship with various publics?