Duration and representation in archaeology and photography

In this paper I use the representation of the Brodgar Stone, a decorated Neolithic slab found in Orkney, Scotland, in 1925, as a case study for thinking through the multiple temporalities of both archaeology and photography. Beginning with the story of one photograph, I will explore the way in which images of this stone have shaped its ongoing biography as an artefact, and use this as a springboard from which to discuss the relationship between archaeology, photography and time. I will argue that this allows us to explore the association between images and their representations to examine more critically both the way in which archaeologists understand and interpret past visual culture, and how we encounter archaeological material in the present.