Showing papers in "Journal of Social Archaeology in 2005"

Lives in Fragments? Personhood and the European Neolithic

Abstract: The European Neolithic has often been figured in ideational terms. The transformations that gave rise to sedentism, agriculture and the construction of monuments have been explained either in terms of abstract symbolic schemes or as a change in worldview and cosmology. As an alternative, this article suggests that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on the constitution of the person during this period of transformation. Instead of focusing on the playing out of symbolic structures, it is instead important to consider the role that materiality plays in forming social relations. By focusing on the treatment of material culture, human remains and the use of architecture, we begin to understand in concrete terms not only how the European Neolithic was built, but also how people were transformed through this process.

Gendered food behaviour among the Maya Time, place, status and ritual

Abstract: Ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence indicates that the production and distribution of food was an important source of agency and power for ancient Mayan women. Although it is believed that elite women controlled food used in rituals, isotopic measures of diet from a variety of sites representing different environments and time periods indicate that they ate fewer ideologically valued foods than males. By contrast, non-elite women appear to have consumed the same foods as their male equivalents. This finding may suggest that: women did not participate in ritual consumption of food in the same way or to the same extent that men did, or that food consumption was associated with gender identity. Preferential access to ritual foods by males ceases after the Spanish conquest but males continued to have more carnivorous diets. This phenomenon could be caused by the conversion of public rituals to private – the assimilation of Spanish gender values – or an underlying ideology that is maintained in gendered ...

Spiritual materiality: Heritage preservation in a Buddhist world?

Abstract: This article explores the role of Buddhism in current heritage preservation discussions and practice. Buddhism deals to a great extent with materiality, but the notion of the impermanence of matter...

The cultural landscape of interplanetary space

Abstract: Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, interplanetary space has become filled with human material culture. A ‘spacescape’ now exists including terrestrial space sites like rocket ranges, satellites and space junk in Earth orbit and planetary landing sites. The significance of this material is usually understood within a ‘Space Race’ framework that emphasizes high technology and the Cold War rivalry between the USA and the USSR. However, appropriate management of the cultural heritage of space exploration requires a broader scope and this can be provided by a cultural landscape approach. The heritage significance of space exploration is explored through three cultural landscapes which illustrate complex and conflicting perspectives on space: Peenemunde in Germany, Woomera in South Australia and Tranquility Base on the Moon.

Craft specialization, the reorganization of production relations and state formation:

Abstract: Since the late 1970s, archaeologists have been concerned with the origins and development of craft specialization in early civilizations. More recently, some have examined the organization of produ...

The roles of material culture in the colonization of the Orinoco, Venezuela

Abstract: The analysis of exchange and commerce, the introduction and consumption of foreign manufactures and technologies, and the process of commoditization of Native material products, service and labor, ...

Las Vegas in Africa

Abstract: Recent years have seen substantial capital investments in 'destination resorts', manyof which utilize heritage themes to attract consumers. This movement was led by the renaissance of Las Vegas and by major urban destination project, and coincided with Soouth Africa's reintegration into the global economy from the early 1990's onwards. As a result of new legislation in 1996 , South Africa has seen the opening of a number of major destination resorts, in partnership with international interests that include Las Vegas-based multinationals, which reinterpret heritage to provide themed entertainment for the post-apartheid middle-class consumer. This article looks in detail at four South African destination resorts, and shows how established themes in the presentation of Africa and its history have been re-appropriated by the heritage industry in the material/culture of casinos and associated retail and entertainment facilities.

Mediational techniques and conceptual frameworks in archaeology A model in ‘mapwork’ at Teotihuacán, Mexico

Abstract: A recent trend in archaeology has been to turn reflexive attention upon the methods employed by archaeologists in field practice. In this article, I take a step back to consider the map as a fundamental conceptual framework that archaeologists utilize in directing their methods and formulating interpretations. I explore what a map ‘does' for the consideration of a site. I work around this question with the ‘Millon map’ of Teotihuacan, Mexico as a case study. Building upon ideas expressed by Alfred Gell and Roland Barthes, I argue that maps cannot be utilized as independent, self-contained media, as maps ‘work’ via an inherent mutuality of subjective and objective elements. In archaeological discourse, this is best expressed by the integration of photography and graphic representation. Finally, I offer an example of integrated ‘mapwork’ through a novel interpretation of space at Teotihuacan. It is reiterated that media such as maps operate as conceptual frameworks and so predispose certain interpretations....

Dominant narratives, social violence and the practice of Bolivian archaeology

Abstract: Recent social violence in Bolivia is examined in the context of that country's dominant historical narratives. The practice of archaeology in Bolivia is intimately tied to the development of nationalism and a history of colonialism. While the history of Bolivian archaeology has seen multiple interpretations of the past, the dominant voices have consistently emphasized understandings of the past that legitimize and bolster Bolivian nationalism and contemporary social politics. In particular, theAltiplano site ofTiwanaku has been formulated as a locus of Bolivian national patrimony, while other regions have been marginalized as ‘peripheries’ or ‘frontiers’. This understanding of history is not simply a matter of debate for archaeologists, but has very real consequences in present-day geopolitics and the lives of individuals.

Driving by: Visiting Australian colonial monuments

Abstract: The tempo of the long-distance car journey and the locales constituted by road-side monuments define the itinerary of this article, which visits four widely-scattered examples of (post)-colonial Au...

Keeping the dead at arm’s length: Memory, weaponry and early medieval mortuary technologies

Abstract: Archaeologists have identified two kinds of furnished graves dating to the late fifth and sixth centuries AD from southern and eastern England: inhumation and cremation. While the ‘weapon burial ri...

Keeping the dead at arm's length

Abstract: Archaeologists have identified two kinds of furnished graves dating to the late fifth and sixth centuries AD from southern and eastern England: inhumation and cremation. While the ‘weapon burial rite’ is a frequent occurrence for inhumation graves, weapons are rarely found in cinerary urns. This article argues that this divergence may relate to the contrasting roles of cremation and inhumation as mortuary technologies of remembrance linked to alternative strategies for managing the powerful mnemonic agency of weapons.

Reproduction, creativity, restriction: Material culture and copyright in Vanuatu

Abstract: Copyright legislation is often described in relation to a series of abstract legal and economic constructs, without due attention to the ways in which it may be constituted by the persons and artifacts that it legislates over. In this article, I focus in detail on some ways in which concepts of copyright are negotiated in the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. I analyze copyright in relation to the technical, social and conceptual processes of copying, restriction and creativity, respectively, in order to draw out some of the diverse social and material processes that are built into the legal category. I draw specifically on my research with Ni-Vanuatu men and women using local resources to earn money through the production of artifacts for the market – an exemplary context for the emergence of discussions about ‘indigenous' copyright legislation. In describing copyright in one very local context, I emphasize that focusing on the materiality of different property forms can enable us to more sensitively...

Ornaments as social and chronological icons: A case study of southeastern Zimbabwe

Abstract: Studies of ornaments from the Zimbabwe plateau have focused mainly on glass beads. When other ornaments are referred to, little effort is made to produce a broad classification to enhance broader comparisons across the spectrum of ornaments in the region. This article examines archaeological ornaments as chronological indicators and communication devices. The period to be covered ranges from the eight to the eighteenth centuries AD, in southern Africa. In addition, the study attempts to contribute to filling the spatial gap between the well-researched areas of Mapungubwe to the south and Great Zimbabwe to the north of the Limpopo.

Orientalism, ideology and identity: Examining caste in South Asian archaeology

Abstract: While many would argue that the preoccupation with caste in South Asian anthropology can be linked to an essentializing and orientalist project that has increasingly come under fire in post-colonial and subaltern studies, this article suggests that within South Asian archaeology it is, in contrast, the almost complete neglect of caste that hints at deeper problems within the discipline. After attempting to identify why caste has been largely omitted from archaeological studies in South Asia, the article goes on to explore some of the issues that archaeologists will have to consider if they are going to begin to explicitly address caste in their research, including the relationship between caste and material culture, time, place, agency and ideology. The article concludes by examining the reasons why archaeologists need to address caste, and the ways in which archaeology can contribute to a more sophisticated and nuanced understanding of caste and its development and contemporary relevance in South Asia.

Towards a definition of politico-ideological practices in the prehistory of Minorca (the Balearic islands) The wooden carvings from Mussol Cave

Abstract: Archaeological research into political relations and ideology among prehistoric societies has often been seen as unreliable or intrinsically speculative. Without denying the difficulties of this task, great advances can nevertheless be made when societies produced specialized artefacts in order to enhance social communication. Starting from historical materialism, the goal of this article is to show how Minorcan communities from the late second millennium BC constructed social differences in the context of a changing non-classist society. The research is based upon a unique set of wooden carvings recently found inside the Mussol Cave (Minorca, Balearic Islands, Spain). The analysis begins with a careful description of these objects and the place where they were used, before categorizing them as a form of specialized ‘communicative artefacts’. As such, they played a crucial role in the context of practices aimed at enabling certain people to acquire a new social condition.

Anthropological suspicion, public interest and NAGPRA

Abstract: This article asks why suspicion regarding the aims of anthropology has been heightened in an era when anthropologists are perhaps engaged in more advocacy work than ever.While it may seem contradictory or even ‘unfair’ that anthropology continues to get a ‘bad rap’, this perception (of and about all parties involved) is itself an important focus for anthropological reflection. In this article, I examine an event that has contributed to this issue in important ways - the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 - to illustrate why suspicions about anthropologists have taken on new dimensions, and to suggest what kind of approach anthropologists might take in responding to these issues.