Histories of archaeology traditionally traced the progress of the modern discipline as the triumph of secular disenchanted science over pre-modern, enchanted, world-views. In this article I complicate and qualify the themes of disenchantment and enchantment in archaeological histories, presenting an analysis of how both contributed to the development of scientific theory and method in the earliest decades of the twentieth century. I examine the interlinked biographies of a group who created a joke religion called “The Cult of Kata”. The self-described “Kataric Circle” included notable archaeologists Harold Peake, O.G.S. Crawford and Richard Lowe Thompson, alongside classicists, musicians, writers and performing artists. The cult highlights the connections between archaeology, theories of performance and the performing arts – in particular theatre, music, folk dance and song. “Wild worship” was linked to the consolidation of collectivities facilitating a wide variety of scientific and artistic projects whose objectives were all connected to dreams of a future utopia. The cult parodied archaeological ideas and methodologies, but also supported and expanded the development of field survey, mapping and the interpretation of archaeological distribution maps. The history of the Cult of Kata shows how taking account of the unorthodox and the interdisciplinary, the humorous and the recreational, is important within generously framed approaches to histories of the archaeological imagination. The work of the Kataric Circle is not best understood as the relentless progress of disenchanted modern science. It suggests a more complicated picture in which dynamics of enchantment and disenchantment stimulate and discipline the imagination simultaneously. I conclude with a reexamination of the politics of an emphasis on playfulness and enchantment.

中文翻译：

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“对失落和被埋葬的过去的疯狂崇拜”：魔法考古学和卡塔崇拜，1908-1924

考古学的历史传统上将现代学科的进步视为世俗化的科学战胜了前现代的、着迷的世界观。在这篇文章中，我将考古历史中的祛魅和魅惑主题复杂化并加以限定，分析了这两者如何促进了 20 世纪最初几十年科学理论和方法的发展。我查看了一个创建了一个名为“卡塔崇拜”的笑话宗教的团体的相互关联的传记。自我描述的“卡塔里克圈”包括著名的考古学家哈罗德·皮克、OGS 克劳福德和理查德·洛·汤普森，以及古典主义者、音乐家、作家和表演艺术家。崇拜强调考古学、表演理论和表演艺术之间的联系——尤其是戏剧、音乐、民间舞蹈和歌曲。“狂野崇拜”与集体的整合有关，促进了各种各样的科学和艺术项目，这些项目的目标都与未来乌托邦的梦想有关。邪教模仿了考古学的思想和方法，但也支持和扩大了实地调查、制图和考古分布图解译的发展。卡塔崇拜的历史表明，考虑到非正统性和跨学科性、幽默性和娱乐性，在对考古想象历史的慷慨框架方法中是多么重要。Kataric Circle 的工作不能很好地理解为幻灭的现代科学的无情进步。它暗示了一幅更复杂的图景，其中魅惑和祛魅的动态同时激发和训练想象力。最后，我重新审视了强调趣味性和魅力的政治。