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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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TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that between 4,500 and 2,000 BP coastal hunter-gatherers buried on the Robberg Peninsula and adjacent Plettenberg Bay ate large quantities of hightrophiclevel marine protein.
Abstract: Integration of new biological information (stable isotope analyses of archaeological human skeletons) with the archaeological sequence of southernmost Africa and with wider sociocultural studies of hunters and gatherers shows that between 4,500 and 2,000 BP coastal huntergatherers buried on the Robberg Peninsula and adjacent Plettenberg Bay ate large quantities of hightrophiclevel marine protein. This contrasts with more mixed diets reflected in skeletons from Matjes River Rock Shelter, only 14 km along the shore. Assuming that the burials represent the populations that inhabited the sites, such clear economic separation could have come about only if these were two separate groups of people who lived in clearly demarcated, mutually exclusive territories. Such a settlement pattern directly contradicts ethnographic studies of southern African huntergatherers, all derived from inland areas. Later Stone Age material culture, including the assemblages from these sites, shows many similarities to that of twenti...
150 citations
TL;DR: A review of ethnohistorical sources in conjunction with a human osteological study of cranial shape modification offers original data regarding diversity in Tiwanaku society, which was situated in the southern Andes from ca. AD 500-1100 as mentioned in this paper.
135 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue for the primacy of regional and interregional exchange in generating the complex distributions of ethnolinguistic identities traced by linguists and archaeologists in the area.
Abstract: This paper critically reviews reconstructions of cultural development in prehistoric Amazonia and argues for the primacy of regional and interregional exchange in generating the complex distributions of ethnolinguistic identities traced by linguists and archaeologists in the area. This approach requires an explicit abandonment of notions of migrating peoples in favor of modern anthropological understandings of ethnicity and ethnogenesis. Further, the paper discusses the significance of such a regional system perspective on Amazonian ethnogenesis for the ongoing debate on the extent of social stratification and agricultural intensification on the floodplains and wet savannas of lowland South America. It concludes that the emergence of Arawakan chiefdoms and ethnic identities in such environments after the first millennium BC signifies the occupation of a niche defined in terms of both ecology and regional exchange but also that it transformed both these kinds of conditions. In these processes, ethnicity, s...
132 citations
01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: The use of radiogenic strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis in archaeological and bioarchaeological research has resulted in the creation of new data by which to evaluate models of migration, culture change, colonization, trade, and exchange as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The inclusion of radiogenic strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analysis in archaeological and bioarchaeological research has resulted in the creation of new data by which to evaluate models of migration, culture change, colonization, trade, and exchange. Overwhelmingly, archaeologists have used radiogenic strontium isotope signatures in human enamel and bone apatite to reconstruct ancient mobility patterns and to distinguish between individuals of local and non-local origins at archaeological sites. The method also has been employed to establish the provenience of artifacts, ancient building materials, and foodstuffs as well as to track the origins and migratory patterns of prehistoric animals. The present chapter provides an introduction to the fundamental principles, approaches, applications, and future directions of radiogenic strontium isotope analysis in archaeology.
132 citations
TL;DR: Using inherited skeletal features and artificial cranial deformation, community patterning is explored within the Titicaca Basin in comparison to that for the Moquegua Valley, a region known to have strong cultural ties with the highland altiplano.
Abstract: Nothing is more central to theories of prehispanic Andean state formation than the relationship between highland core areas and ecologically‐distinct peripheral regions. Various models, ranging from direct colonization to trade relations have been proposed and are usually grounded in architectural and material cultural patterning. We examine the human biological implications of colonization from the perspective of Tiwanaku, primarily during the expansive Tiwanaku IV and V periods (c. AD 500–1000). Using inherited skeletal features and artificial cranial deformation, we explore community patterning within the Titicaca Basin in comparison to that for the Moquegua (Middle Osmore) Valley, a region known to have strong cultural ties with the highland altiplano. Based in a sample of over 500 individuals, we test archaeologically‐derived models that posit mass migration into the Moquegua region. Our results are not inconsistent with a migration model.
131 citations