History and Archaeology: why we need an interdisciplinary approach to the past
Something I’ve noticed in my short academic career is the way that certain fields can become rather insular, and coming from a bit of an interdisciplinary background I’ve seen this as a bit of a problem: back when I was doing my undergrad, I majored in Medieval Studies -- a bit of a catch-all term that included literature, religion, history, and (to a much smaller extent at my university) archaeology. I see interdisciplinary approaches rather necessary to be able to understand the past. Despite archaeology being the smallest part of Medieval Studies at my university, it is what really spoke to me, because it felt so much more concrete, and when I continued on into my Masters I jumped into the discipline. To quote the esteemed archaeologist Indiana Jones “archaeology is the search for facts”, and often those facts seemed more real: in a course with a more traditional Celtic Studies focus I might read the Táin Bó Cúailnge (or any other saga) and engage with the papers on pape...