在《重写历史》一书中，丹尼斯·哈丁阐述了当代人对信息及其解读的担忧。他的重点是史前和早期历史英国的考古学，以及两个多世纪以来，随着当时政治、社会和知识气候的变化，考古学遗产的解读发生了变化。远古时期的文化传播或社会重建等看似无害的问题的研究和呈现方式，不仅不是学术界所关注的话题，还反映了当代思维的重要转变，挑战了长期以来被接受的言论和辩论自由惯例。
有些问题极具争议，比如巨石阵世界遗产的提议。其他人则挑战长期以来流行的神话，比如对凯尔特人的解构，以及由此引申的皮克特人。一些传统的学术信条仍然没有受到挑战，比如文明本身的经典定义。
为什么这很重要？几代人态度的转变难道不是健康而充满活力的辩论的征兆吗？有没有理由相信当前的变化是更令人不安的性格，否认理性论证和自由探究的基本假设，这是启蒙运动以来西方学术的基础？《重写历史》提供了哈丁对这些问题的个人评价，这不仅会引起考古学从业者和学者的共鸣，还会引起面临类似问题的广泛学科的共鸣。
Rewriting History: Changing Perceptions of the Archaeological Past (EPUB)
In Rewriting History, Dennis Harding addresses contemporary concerns about information and its interpretation. His focus is on the archaeology of prehistoric and early historic Britain, and the transformation over two centuries and more in the interpretation of the archaeological heritage by changes in the prevailing political, social, and intellectual climate. Far from being topics of concern only to academics, the way in which seemingly innocuous issues such as cultural diffusion or social reconstruction in the remote past are studied and presented reflects important shifts in contemporary thinking that challenge long-accepted conventions of free speech and debate.
Some issues are highly controversial, such as the proposals for the Stonehenge World Heritage sites. Others challenge long-held popular myths like the deconstruction of the Celts, and by extension the Picts. Some traditional tenets of scholarship have yet remained unchallenged, such as the classical definition of civilization itself.
Why should it matter? Are the shifting attitudes of successive generations not symptomatic of healthy and vibrant debate? Are there grounds for believing that current changes are of a more disquieting character, denying the basic assumptions of rational argument and freedom of enquiry that have been the foundation of western scholarship since the Enlightenment? Rewriting History offers Harding’s personal evaluation of these issues, which will resonate not only with practitioners and academics of archaeology, but across a wide range of disciplines facing similar concerns.
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