‘Not within the scope of this argument’: Archives and Rabbit Holes
HARN (Histories of Archaeology Research Network) Conference 2017
UCLan Campus, Preston, UK
3 November, 2017

As archaeologists and historians, we depend upon archives as crucial repositories of primary and secondary sources. We visit them to dive deeper into our subjects and to learn about people and events on a personal level. Not only are archives rich in unpublished sources that undoubtedly add new angles to our scholarship, but they also produce a number of curious topics that simply do not fit within the scope of our projects. The goal of this conference is to highlight the utility of archives in our work as historians and archaeologists and we hope to analyse the purpose of archives in our unique investigations while at the same time answering questions about archival research. We focus specifically on the idea of research rabbit holes. We have all fallen into these, but what subjects keep leading us astray? Or are we led astray? Does the seemingly unrelated material bring us back to our original research? We have all experienced the mischief of archives and their materials but they do not always fit in the scope of our larger research. We invite presentations that talk about and analyse the important influence archives, archival materials, and the tangents that pull us away temporarily.

Papers may focus on the study of archival research as a methodology, but we will give preference to papers that allow researchers to discuss a topic that they have found interesting but that does not fit within the scope of their usual projects.

We are seeking abstracts of 250 words for papers/presentations that will be no longer than 20 minutes. By August 1, 17:00 GMT, send your abstracts in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format with your name, institutional affiliation, title, and contact information to HARNgroup@googlemail.com Please note that all presenters must be members of HARN, which is free, or will join automatically upon acceptance