Interpretation of archaeological data

The interpretation of archaeological data and its association to the biblical text is a veritable minefield,
as it is often inspired by the scholar’s personal attitude towards the text . . . we face over and over again arguments that, at their core, are circular.
This was as true at the time of William F. Albright and his followers as it is today.
There are few items of data in the archaeological record that are not disputable.
Amihai Mazar, “The Spade and the Text: The Interaction between Archaeology and Israelite History Relating to the Tenth-Ninth Centuries BCE,”
in Understanding the History of Ancient Israel, ed. H. G. M. Williamson,
Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 143 (Oxford: Oxford University Press for The British Academy, 2007), 145.

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Preceding articles:

1. Digging in words, theories and artefacts
2. Archaeology and the Bible researcher 1/4Archaeology and the Bible researcher 2/4Archaeology and the Bible researcher 3/4Archaeology and the Bible researcher 4/4
3. Modern day archaeological discoveries verify the Biblical account of historic events

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From the book William Foxwell Albright and the Origins of Biblical Archaeology by Peter Douglas Feinman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Read also:

When values matter (Lesure about Bailey)

• archaeology
• WAC
• values
• Douglass W Bailey

Archaeology is this field of research where it is very difficult to build barriers that will make it only high quality discipline. The reasons are two: there is a standard (although wrong) view that every publication of a new archaeological material is a value. In fact, this view creates most damaging situation when instead values reviewers, readers and authors create or communicate pseudoscience and pseudoculture. The cult of new evidence in archaeology damages culture (Durankulak syndrome). Corrupted authors even begin to compare empirical archaeological publications (considered as high value) with theoretical most important archaeological contributions (considered as lower value) without recognizing that empirical is empirical and just first stage while theory is always the highest stage of knowledge although very often under the theme of theory can be seen pseudoknowledge.

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World Archaeological Congress in Jordan online

Bailey makes a bold effort to open up interpretation of Neolithic figurines from southeastern Europe…provoking thoughts far beyond any traditional archaeological bounds.

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