Book•
The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and Present
01 Jan 1997-
TL;DR: Sian Jones as mentioned in this paper argues for a fundamentally different view of ethnicity, as a complex dynamic form of identification, requiring radical changes in archaeological analysis and interpretation, and presents a comprehensive and critical synthesis of recent theories of ethnicity in the human sciences.
Abstract: The question of ethnicity is highly controversial in contemporary archaeology. Indigenous and nationalist claims to territory, often rely on reconstructions of the past based on the traditional identification of 'cultures' from archaeological remains. Sian Jones responds to the need for a reassessment of the ways in which social groups are identified in the archaeological record, with a comprehensive and critical synthesis of recent theories of ethnicity in the human sciences. In doing so, she argues for a fundamentally different view of ethnicity, as a complex dynamic form of identification, requiring radical changes in archaeological analysis and interpretation.
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Book•
11 Nov 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied how climate affected the social relations between neighbouring communities of occasionally differing nature, arguing that developments in these relations will fall within a continuum between competition on one end and cooperation on the other.
Abstract: Throughout history, climate change has been an important driving force behind human behaviour. This archaeological study seeks to understand the complex interrelations between that behaviour and climatic fluctuations, focussing on how climate affected the social relations between neighbouring communities of occasionally differing nature. It is argued that developments in these relations will fall within a continuum between competition on one end and cooperation on the other. The adoption of a particular strategy depends on whether that strategy is advantageous to a community in terms of the maintenance of its well-being when faced with adverse climate change. This model will be applied to northern Mesopotamia between 3000 and 1600 BC. Local palaeoclimate proxy records demonstrate that aridity increased significantly during this period. Within this geographical, chronological, and climatic framework, this study looks at changes in settlement patterns as an indication of competition among sedentary agriculturalist communities, and the development of the Amorite ethnic identity as reflecting cooperation among sedentary and more mobile pastoralist communities.
72 citations
01 Jan 2018
72 citations
Dissertation•
01 Nov 2018
71 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use ethnohistoric and ethnographic examples to show that people in nonstate societies moved frequently as a result of warfare and captive taking, processes of fission and fusion, and random demographic events typical of small-scale societies.
Abstract: Archaeologists have made great strides in understanding prehistoric migration, yet they have tended to focus on only part of the continuum of human movement. In nonstate societies, individuals and groups moved frequently across social and environmental boundaries for a range of reasons. Although archaeologists are well aware of the fluid nature of social boundaries, we are only beginning to use this knowledge to understand human movement. I use ethnohistoric and ethnographic examples to show that people in nonstate societies moved frequently as a result of warfare and captive taking, processes of fission and fusion, and random demographic events typical of small-scale societies. Such movement was often hurried, sometimes coerced, and decision making could be constrained by social factors beyond migrants’ control. Illustrated with a case study from the American Southwest, I argue here that consideration of such forms of movement can significantly improve our interpretations of the past.
71 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined learning and motor-skill development as factors in conservative cordage production behavior and then interprets cordage twist direction distributions in the prehistoric Southeast from this perspective, concluding that participation in communities of practice or learning networks, the automatization of motor skills, and the practicalities of production have important effects.
Abstract: Over the past decade, textile researchers have identified large temporal and geographic regions in the eastern United States in which strong patterns of cordage twist direction existed prehistorically. This work prompted questions about why cordage production processes seem to be so conservative. Recent research demonstrates that handedness, fiber type, and spinning technique probably do not determine cordage twist direction. The results indicate, instead, that participation in communities of practice or learning networks, the automatization of motor skills, and the practicalities of production have important effects. This paper also examines learning and motor-skill development as factors in conservative cordage production behavior and then interprets cordage twist direction distributions in the prehistoric Southeast from this perspective.
69 citations