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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Dissertation•
01 Sep 2013
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used belt fittings from fifteen of the major towns and cities of late medieval England to examine the wider social significance of dress accessories within contemporary late medieval society.
Abstract: This thesis uses belt fittings excavated from fifteen of the major towns and cities of late medieval England and is the first national survey of dress accessories from the urban centres of this period. This research moves beyond the identification and categorisation of these objects, which have been the traditional foci of studies of this type, to examine the wider social significance of dress accessories within contemporary late medieval society. The themes explored include the regional variation between the assemblages and the significance of this in terms of the expression of regional identities; the changes in production techniques and technology for the manufacture of dress accessories and the related changes in dress and its social perception from the mid-thirteenth century; the significance of dress accessories within a funerary context; the use of the acorn as a repeated decorative motif and the significance of this within the construction, maintenance and manipulation of personal identities; and the use of text on belts and belt fittings and importance of this in the construction of the symbolism of the belt within late medieval society. An interdisciplinary approach is used throughout which combines the material evidence with other forms of archaeological, literary, historical, and art historical evidence in order to place the dress accessories within their wider social context.
19 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored the origins and trends in the study of ethnic groups and ethnicity in Andean archaeology, arguing that we may be seeing the persistence of the culture concept in the guise of ethnicity.
Abstract: Although Andean archaeology has long used the term “ethnic” to refer to human groups, new understandings of ethnicity have injected less static understandings of contextualized identity construction into our models of the past. A review of recent work on ethnicity in the field reveals, however, that methodological approaches to these social entities do not always follow suit and rather favor normative synchronie comparisons. This paper explores the origins and trends in the study of ethnic groups and ethnicity in Andean archaeology, arguing that we may be seeing the persistence of the culture concept in the guise of ethnicity. It also examines best practices in the literature in order to make recommendations concerning the adoption of local, contextual, and diachronic methods in conjunction with multiple lines of evidence. These practices are more likely to expose the processes of identity construction by rendering explicit the relationships among culture, ethnicity, and the use of emblemic material culture. It argues, thereby, for the provision of proof of this process rather than its assertion.
19 citations
Dissertation•
09 Sep 2019
19 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored everyday practices as sites of memory-making, arguing that such practices have the potential to serve as markers and makers of cultural identity, and examined evidence of changing butchery practices on the Eastern Pequot reservation as they related to the adoption of metal tools.
Abstract: This essay explores everyday practices as sites of memory-making, arguing that such practices have the potential to serve as markers and makers of cultural identity. I use frameworks of social memory to interpret 19th-century butchery practices on the Eastern Pequot reservation in North Stonington, Connecticut. Colonialism meant change for Pequot peoples, including shifts in family structures and the adoption of mass produced material culture. I argue that, within these abrupt changes, social memory and memory-making practices played a central role in maintaining and congealing indigenous identity. I examine evidence of changing butchery practices on the reservation as they related to the adoption of metal tools. Archaeological investigations demonstrate that even though the Eastern Pequot increasingly used metal tools for butchery, they also continued to use chipped tools made of either stone or glass. I suggest that this pattern is significant because of the ‘mnemonic’ qualities that chipped-tool usage might have carried on reservation grounds. These mnemonic practices served as binding ties for the reservation community.
19 citations
Dissertation•
22 Apr 2008
TL;DR: People and Identities in Nessana as mentioned in this paper ) is a collection of people and identities from the island of Nessana, including people and their identities: http://www.nessana.org.
Abstract: People and Identities in Nessana
19 citations