Art and Science in the Age of Digital Reproduction: From Mimetic Representation to Interactive Virtual Reality

This paper places the digital humanities generally and virtual archaeology in particular into the larger context of the evolution of the arts and sciences from antiquity through the Middle Ages and Renaissance to the present, postmodern period.The argument is made that the basis of virtual reality representations of cultural objects is not primarily mimetic but interactive and that in this sense virtual archaeology reflects larger trends in contemporary science and the arts.