A arqueologia entre os desafios da modernidade e da contemporaneidade

Abstract

This article discusses archaeology within the contexts of the socio-cultural project of modernity and contemporaneity ethical thought. By exploring the relationship between archaeological practice and the project of modernity, one can question whether an archaeologist is able to produce knowledge that avoids both the false promises and inevitable failures of modernity. It is argued that from the dialogue between archaeological epistemology and contemporaneity ethical thought an alternative to the modern project of knowledge of the past may emerge; an understanding that is more focussed on the irreducibility of past vestiges and a recognition of its difference.