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A philosophical-archaeological study explores the meaning of a controversial term and links it to current debates.
The term “culture” has a bad reputation in archaeological research – and for good reason. In the early 20th century, the German archaeologist Gustaf Kossinna argued that archaeological cultures were to be equated with racially and ethnically distinct peoples. Ultimately, he attempted to use this basis to trace the history of Germanic peoples, whom he considered superior to all other ethnic groups – an approach that Nazi propaganda was only too happy to exploit as a pseudo-scientific justification for its racist ideology and wars of extermination.
“Since the Second World War, the term ‘culture’ has therefore been fraught with great unease in archaeology. At the same time, however, it is still very much present, as can be seen in terms such as the Neolithic Funnel Beaker Culture,” explains archaeologist Johanna Brinkmann. Together with philosopher Vesa Arponen, she has investigated this contradiction as part of the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University. Their findings are now presented in the journal Germania.
The two conclude that the concept of culture in archaeology rests not on one, but on three pillars. “One of these consists of Kossinna's ideas. We call it the ethnocentric, romanticist and nationalistic pillar. It is scientifically untenable and therefore unsuitable for further research,” says Vesa Arponen.
However, another pillar consists of cultural-evolutionary ideas. “Here, culture is seen as an ongoing process in which cultural abilities – from craft skills to thoughts and ideas – are passed on from generation to generation,” explains Johanna Brinkmann.
The third pillar, which Brinkmann and Arponen call ‘culturalism,’ is typically sceptical of cultural-evolutionary assumptions – “culturalism tends to view these as reductionist and environmentally deterministic,” explains Arponen. For culturalism, culture consists rather of unique forms that cannot be reduced to universal patterns. At the same time, culturalism also tends to view culture as something that consists of human ideas and practices that are specific to people in certain communities and can be passed on from generation to generation.
Beyond these additional pillars, which consist of very contrasting approaches, the authors identify five key points that are typically associated with cultures. "We imagine that people live in specific places – where their settlements, buildings and other permanent structures are located. At the same time, we see them not only as individuals, but as members of groups that can be summarised in various ways, for example, anthropologically, sociologically or archaeologically. These groups pass on their ideas and customs to both the next generation and other communities. What is passed on includes not only objects and material things but also the beliefs, values and meanings that are important to people. These five aspects – location, group, transfer, material culture and ideas – are reflected in all three pillars of the concept of culture, albeit with sometimes very different interpretations. “They form the core of our understanding of culture,” says Johanna Brinkmann, “which explains why the concept of culture is still so powerful in researching the past, even though one of its pillars has broken away.”
The question of whether and how the concept of culture is problematic and suitable for research into human communities also links the distant past with the present, because the concept of culture is not only important today for our social positioning but also in discussions about polarisation. “Today, we regularly use terms such as ‘culture war’ or ‘cancel culture’ to describe contemporary social positions, identity groups and the like,” says Vesa Arponen. The study, which was conducted as part of the Reflective Turn Forum in the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence, thus also provides a basis for discussion on contemporary society. “This brings us to the topic of tolerance research, which is also strongly represented at Kiel University with the DFG Research Group on Tolerance,” emphasises the interdisciplinary philosopher. In addition to his work at ROOTS, Arponen also heads a philosophical sub-project in the tolerance group at Kiel University on ‘The Difficulty and Possibility of Tolerance: The Diverse Challenges of the Concept and Practice of Tolerance’.
Vesa P. J. Arponen
Philosophical Seminar/ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University
varponen@roots.uni-kiel.de
Johanna Brinkmann
Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University
j.brinkmann@ufg.uni-kiel.de
Johanna Brinkmann, Vesa P. J. Arponen: Tackling an old dilemma anew: a reflective modular approach for analysing the concept of archaelogical cultures in European Prehistoric Archaeology. Germania 102, 2024 (2025), https://doi.org/10.11588/ger.2024.113886
https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/cluster-roots/details/news/222-culture-archaeology Original ppress release on the website of the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University
https://www.uni-kiel.de/de/cluster-roots/forschung/reflective-turn-forum The ROOTS Reflective Turn Forum
https://www.uni-kiel.de/en/groups/for5472 DFG-Research Unit Tolerance
This type of pottery is typical of the first farmers in Central and Northern Europe. To this day, t ...
Quelle: Sara Jagiolla
Copyright: Uni Kiel
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This type of pottery is typical of the first farmers in Central and Northern Europe. To this day, t ...
Quelle: Sara Jagiolla
Copyright: Uni Kiel
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