A new peer-reviewed volume has been published in the series “Archive Archaeology” with Brepols Publishers. The volume Turning the Page - Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge edited by O. Bobou, R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou, is the sixth volume in the series and deals with critical archival studies and archaeological historiographies.

The 16 chapters by international scholars are the outcome of a conference held at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters (Copenhagen) in November 2023, which was funded by the Carlsberg Foundation, the Danish National Research Foundation (grant: DNRF119), the John Fell Fund, University of Oxford, and the Shuffrey Fund of Lincoln College, University of Oxford.

The book explores how fragmented legacy data, often never intended as archival material in the first place, can be reinterpreted to uncover larger historical and cultural narratives. It highlights the challenges of working with incomplete and multilingual sources from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries across the world. The contributors emphasize the need for collaboration and interdisciplinary research to fully understand such complex material. The volume also draws attention to the often-overlooked roles of local and non-European actors who were marginalized in both historical records and earlier scholarship. Ultimately, it advocates for a holistic approach to studying archives and legacy data, arguing that this complexity is essential for gaining new insights into the development of modern archaeological and collection practices.

References

Bobou, O., R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou (eds). 2025. Turning the Page - Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge, Archive Archaeology 6 (Turnhout: Brepols).

Bobou, O., R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou. 2025. ‘Turning the Page: Critical Archival Studies and Archaeological Historiographies’, in Turning the Page - Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge, ed. by. O. Bobou, R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou, Archive Archaeology 6 (Turnhout: Brepols), pp. 1–12.

Raja, R. 2025. ‘In the Field and through the Archives: The 1928 American-British Campaign in Gerasa and the Excavation of the Church of St Theodore’, in Turning the Page - Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge, ed. by. O. Bobou, R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou, Archive Archaeology 6 (Turnhout: Brepols), pp. 105–88.

Bobou, O. and R. Raja. 2025. ‘Archival Palimpsests: Investigating the History of Harald Ingholt’s Archive of Palmyrene Sculptures’, in Turning the Page - Archaeological Archives and Entangled Knowledge, ed. by. O. Bobou, R. Raja, and M. Stamatopoulou, Archive Archaeology 6 (Turnhout: Brepols), pp. 405–28.

About the series “Archive Archaeology”

Archive Archaeology is a series dedicated to the publication of monographs and edited collections exploring archival material and legacy data relating to archaeological and historical investigations across the centuries. Read more here.

Previous titles in the series

Johannes Østrup, Shifting Horizons: Observations from a Ride Through the Syrian Desert and Asia Minor. A Translation of Johannes Elith Østrup’s ‘Skiftende horizonter’, trans. by Cisca Spencer (2022)

The Ingholt Archive: The Palmyrene Material, Transcribed with Commentary and Bibliography, ed. by Olympia Bobou, Amy C. Miranda, Rubina Raja, and Jean-Baptise Yon (4 vols) (2022)

Archival Historiographies: The Impact of Twentieth-Century Legacy Data on Archaeological Investigations, ed. by Olympia Bobou, Amy C. Miranda, and Rubina Raja (2022)

Shaping Archaeological Archives: Dialogues between Fieldwork, Museum Collections, and Private Archives, ed. by Rubina Raja (2023)

Trends in Archive Archaeology: Current Research on Archival Material from Fieldwork and its Implications for Archaeological Practice, ed. by Jon M. Frey and Rubina Raja (2024)