
Pasts Otherwise
An Archaeology of War
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 23. July 2026
Book
Hardback
224 pages
979-8-8818-0546-3 (ISBN)
Description
Unleash archaeology's potential by turning toward pasts that resist historical time and reveal the power of an archaeology other than history.
History has long shaped our expectations of what the past is and how it should be recalled, written, and displayed. Thus while objects of all ages endure and accumulate around us-often broken and fragmented-we continue to interpret them through historical tropes of completion, succession, and replacement. What if we were to see this indiscriminate persistence and fragmentation not as archaeological defects to be mended by history and historical narration, but as material expressions suggestive of pasts other than history? What might these other pasts look like, and how might we account for them?
In this book, Bjornar Olsen and Christopher Witmore pursue these questions. Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork at Svaerholt-an abandoned fishing hamlet, Wehrmacht artillery battery, and prisoner-of-war camp in Arctic Norway-they explore what difference archaeology can make when working with objects of war routinely saturated by history. Through meticulous material investigations, novel ways of writing, and striking imagery, the authors open glimpses onto the distinctive pasts that forgotten things remember. In attending to what endures above and below the surface, they also confront central challenges of archaeological thought and interpretation, developing new conceptions of presence, patience, and waiting. The result is a bold and compelling vision of what archaeology might yet become.
History has long shaped our expectations of what the past is and how it should be recalled, written, and displayed. Thus while objects of all ages endure and accumulate around us-often broken and fragmented-we continue to interpret them through historical tropes of completion, succession, and replacement. What if we were to see this indiscriminate persistence and fragmentation not as archaeological defects to be mended by history and historical narration, but as material expressions suggestive of pasts other than history? What might these other pasts look like, and how might we account for them?
In this book, Bjornar Olsen and Christopher Witmore pursue these questions. Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork at Svaerholt-an abandoned fishing hamlet, Wehrmacht artillery battery, and prisoner-of-war camp in Arctic Norway-they explore what difference archaeology can make when working with objects of war routinely saturated by history. Through meticulous material investigations, novel ways of writing, and striking imagery, the authors open glimpses onto the distinctive pasts that forgotten things remember. In attending to what endures above and below the surface, they also confront central challenges of archaeological thought and interpretation, developing new conceptions of presence, patience, and waiting. The result is a bold and compelling vision of what archaeology might yet become.
Reviews / Votes
Two of the most prominent archaeological thinkers of our time reinvent the genre of the field report. No longer grey literature, but a place for experimentation, creativity and deep reflection. In Pasts Otherwise, Olsen and Witmore fulfill the promise of a richer archaeology and open a path for others to follow -- Alfredo Gonzalez-Ruibal, Researcher, Institute of Heritage Sciences, SpainMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
188 colour photos
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
328 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-8818-0546-3 (9798881805463)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€78.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€78.49
Available for download
Persons
Bjornar J. Olsen is Professor of Archaeology at UiT - The Arctic University of Norway.
Christopher Witmore is Professor of Archaeology at Texas Tech University, USA.
Christopher Witmore is Professor of Archaeology at Texas Tech University, USA.
Author
UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
Texas Tech University
Content
Acknowledgments
1. An Arctic Land
2. Presence and Patience
3. Surface Encounters
4. Below the Surface
5. A Historical Interlude
6. For Pasts Other than History
7. Waiting, Still
Photo Credits
References
Index
1. An Arctic Land
2. Presence and Patience
3. Surface Encounters
4. Below the Surface
5. A Historical Interlude
6. For Pasts Other than History
7. Waiting, Still
Photo Credits
References
Index