Summary:

Jari Okkonen, Repeatedly lost – some thoughts on archaeological information, its interpretation and Iron Age axes

Working with human beings from the past is a deeply personal and subjective mental process. It is therefore important that archaeologists should consider carefully both their position as researchers and the conditions laid down by our contemporary society for such studies. The production and maintenance of archaeological knowledge is not of a neutral nature. It is laden with ideas of dominance and supremacy which are usually ignored or have been regarded as uninteresting by the experts. Archaeologists in the modern world are increasingly having to face the fact that they are not the only supervisors of the archaeological heritage. Ordinary people can obtain experiences of the past from various sources which are beyond the control of archaeologists – from movies or computer games, for example.