In search of interdisciplinarity in Portuguese archaeology: notes on the 1960s

Abstract

«Beginning with the question of whether there had been any kind of interdisciplinarity in Portuguese archaeology during the 1960s, this chapter examines some of the situations of that decade through the analysis of certain episodes and the pages of the journal O Arqueólogo Português (The Portuguese Archaeologist), published by the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia (National Museum of Archaeology) in Lisbon since 1895. It aims to assess the extent to which the older generation of Portuguese archaeologists understood and applied the new theories and methods arriving from abroad, including interdisciplinarity. It also analyses the role played by the ‘Transition Generation’/‘Three Pillars’ in training the succeeding generation in new theories and methods, with special focus on interdisciplinarity. Finally, the chapter reflects on whether the presumed interdisciplinarity claimed by many actors from these three generations was really an interdisciplinary approach or, in contrast, a multidisciplinary one.»