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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: This paper explored the role of psychoanalysis in examining and explaining the origins and the need for these identities and their material symbols in the mind and showed that modern archaeology itself needs psychoanalysing: as a purveyor of culture, it is in the business of creating or reinforcing modern identities.
Abstract: Social groupings create material cultures and material objects reflect and maintain group identities. The author explores the role of psychoanalysis in examining and explaining the origins and the need for these identities � and their material symbols � in the mind. He then shows that modern archaeology itself needs psychoanalysing: as a purveyor of culture, it is in the business of creating or reinforcing modern identities.
12 citations
TL;DR: The study of vecino identity, a civic identity that united a multi-ethnic population of New Mexican villagers during the late Spanish colonial period, serves as a reminder that diverse populations often came together as communities, and that membership within these communities could be equally or more important than affiliation with an ethnic group.
Abstract: Archaeologists working in culture contact zones have devoted much of their attention to the ethnic component of cross-cultural relations, expecting that such interactions will lead to an exaggeration of ethnic differences and some of these differences will be detectable in the archaeological record. While this can be the case, ethnicity is never the only axis of social identification, and sometimes – especially in colonial or national frontiers – civic identity supersedes it as the more significant organizing principle of a population. This study of vecino identity, a civic identity that united a multi-ethnic population of New Mexican villagers during the late Spanish colonial period, serves as a reminder that diverse populations often came together as communities, and that membership within these communities could be equally or more important than affiliation with an ethnic group.
12 citations
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, the meaning of culture and how it is constituted in the Bronze Age has been investigated in the context of archeology, and the concept of culture has been employed in two different ways in archeology: from 1860s to 1960s, culture was predominantly used in an instrumental way, as a means to classify the past in time and space.
Abstract: The Bronze Age has sometimes been presented as the first period of ‘globalisation’ or ‘world system’ in Europe. I propose that in order to apply such terms onto the past, we first need to understand the meaning of culture and how it is constituted. I wish to propose that the concept of culture has been employed in two different ways in archeology: from 1860s to 1960s, culture was predominantly used in an instrumental way, as a means to classify the past in time and space. Typology was the method. As there existed no theory on the meaning of culture, early attempts to equate culture and people were flawed, as we know.
12 citations
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the sociopolitical significance of the decorated "Edomite pottery" in light of the re newed study of the material culture from Tel cAroer in the Negev and with an emphasis on recent anthropological approaches.
Abstract: Within the research of frontier areas, scholars have developed an approach that sees the frontier as a zone of interaction that plays host to complex relations with the external world. The tension between frontier dwellers and the external and internal worlds is reflected in the archaeological record of frontier zones, indicating not only the influence of the center and selective adoption of central motifs, but also preservation of unique regional characteristics. First identified by Nelson Glueck, decorated "Edomite Pottery" became a fossil di recteur at Edomite and Negev sites dated to the end of the Iron Age II. While the ty pology, chronology, and distribution of the "Edomite" vessels have been analyzed at length, hardly any discussion of the sociopolitical significance of this pottery has yet been undertaken. This article analyzes decorated "Edomite Pottery" in light of the re newed study of the material culture from Tel cAroer in the Negev and with an emphasis on recent anthropological approaches.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new assessment of the art will be attempted following this approach, with a tentative explanation for its rise and development, and they will be suggested that they are characterised by a conscious use of exogenous elements of different origins assembled in a local and original syntax and expressing local social and symbolic messages related to the emphasis of state or group identity.
Abstract: Several sites dating to the first half of the first millennium bc in Tigray and Eritrea are characterised by the occurrence of South Arabian elements mainly evident in monumental architecture, sculpture and inscriptions. The indisputable presence of such features was at first regarded as proof of a Sabaean colonisation of the region and was also cited to explain the origin of some Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Investigations conducted in the 1960s and 1970s showed that the South Arabian features should be regarded as status-markers of the elite; the contemporaneous presence of elements representing the culture of the indigenous population was also stressed. In this paper, some artworks of this date will be reconsidered. It will be suggested that they are characterised by a conscious use of exogenous elements of different origins (not just Sabaean, not just South Arabian) assembled in a local and original syntax and expressing local social and symbolic messages related to the emphasis of state or group identity. Finally, a new assessment of the art will be attempted following this approach, with a tentative explanation for its rise and development.
12 citations