On Interdisciplinarity and Historical Archaeology

This review assesses some of the more recent contours of interdisciplinarity within the historical archaeology of the modern world. Three areas with unique integrative capabilities are assessed: i) archaeologies of landscape, space and place; ii) archaeologies of the contemporary past; and iii) archaeologies of science and historic materials. At its strongest, historical archaeology demonstrates an eclectic engagement with theories and methods developed elsewhere, setting the groundwork for interdisciplinary and even transdisciplinary futures. However, if one argues that interdisciplinarity requires a more reflexive sense of engagement with non-archaeological modes of enquiry, our discipline still has room for improvement.