Archaeol Dialogues 1 (1)

Comprises a main paper, `Recent developments in Dutch archaeology: a scientific-historical outline' by Jan Slofstra (9-33), followed by four essays drawing on certain issues raised. Slofstra's paper is an account of the history of Dutch archaeology considered in four phases: the cultural-historical tradition (1915-69); the New Archaeology (1968-80); the post-processual era (1980-89); and the recent years (1989-94). The dominant influence of the work of Gordon Childe is noted for the first phase, while the adoption of post-processual theory in Britain in the 1980s is shown to have had little impact in the Netherlands. The first essay `Stereotypes and Big Brothers. An Anglo-German perspective on Dutch archaeology', by Heinrich Härke (34-6) puts across the view that, as well as drawing inspiration from Britain, Dutch archaeology has also been influenced by the strong empirical tradition of Germany. Ian Hodder (36-8) then considers `The Dutch experience experienced from Britain'. Although Dutch archaeology is seen to follow most European archaeological traditions, it is shown to have a distinctive predisposition towards large scale, multidisciplinary projects, and also to have a strong tradition in the natural sciences. Dutch theoretical archaeology is considered against this background, and is compared in passing to that in Britain. Leendert P Louwe Kooijmans (38-45) gives `Another participant's view on Dutch archaeology in post-war times', asserting that the period before 1940 should be considered as a separate phase in the development of Dutch archaeology. Identifying `functionalism' as an alternative to the cultural-historical approach, the influence of British functionalist archaeologists such as Gordon Childe and Grahame Clark is shown to have been most active in the post-war period. The New Archaeology is consequently seen to have been less of a novelty. `The history of European archaeology as evidence for a philosophy of science?', by Herman C D G de Regt (46-55), examines Slofstra's paper in relation to Ian Hodder's syntheses of the development of European archaeological theory (Archaeological theory in Europe: the last three decades, 1991, and Archaeological theory in contemporary European societies: the emergence of competing traditions, 1991).