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Archaeologies of Listening

Peter R. Schmidt and Alice B. Kehoe (eds)

Archaeologies of Listening provides a fresh and bold look at how archaeologists and heritage managers may enhance their capacity to interpret and understand material culture and heritage values. By ... More

Archaeologies of Listening provides a fresh and bold look at how archaeologists and heritage managers may enhance their capacity to interpret and understand material culture and heritage values. By listening closely to indigenous voices and to those who have long-term relationships with the landscape, deeper empirical understandings are brought to interpretations. Drawing on the founding principles of anthropology, Archaeologies of Listening demonstrates the value of cultural apprenticeship, an almost forgotten part of archaeological practice. The authors argue that epistemic humility is central to creating relationships of equality and mutuality, critical components in an anthropological archaeology that overcomes a narrowly scientific approach. By embracing a humanistic perspective with people-centric practice and ethics, this volume points the way to reawakening the core principles of anthropology in community archaeology and heritage studies.Less

An Archaeology of Abundance: Reevaluating the Marginality of California's Islands

Kristina M. Gill, Mikael Fauvelle, and Jon M. Erlandson (eds)

An Archaeology of Abundance focuses on the archaeology and historical ecology of a series of islands located off the Pacific Coast of Alta and Baja California, from the Channel Islands to Cedros ... More

An Archaeology of Abundance focuses on the archaeology and historical ecology of a series of islands located off the Pacific Coast of Alta and Baja California, from the Channel Islands to Cedros Island. Compared to the adjacent mainland, these islands have long been considered marginal habitats for ancient hunter-gatherers, beginning with accounts of early Spanish explorers and by later naturalists, scientists, and government agents, as well as the anthropologists and archaeologists who followed. This perception of marginality has greatly influenced our interpretation of a variety of archaeological issues including the antiquity of first settlement; the productivity of island floras, freshwater, and mineral resources; human population density; and the nature of regional exchange, wealth, and power networks. Recent advances in archaeological and historical ecological research, combined with field observations of recovering ecosystems suggest that the California Islands may not have been the marginal habitats they once appeared to be. Severe overgrazing and overfishing during historic times heavily impacted local ecosystems, which are now recovering under modern management, conservation, and restoration practices. While older models developed through the perspective of island marginality may hold true for certain resources or islands, it is important to reconsider our interpretations of past and present archaeological data, and reevaluate long-held assumptions, given these new insights. Ultimately, a reexamination of the effects of perceived marginality on the history of archaeological interpretations on California's islands may have broad implications for other island archipelagos worldwide.Less

Archaeology of Identity and Dissonance: Contexts for a Brave New World

Bernice Kurchin

Diane F. George  (ed.)

In situations of displacement, disruption, and difference, humans adapt by actively creating, re-creating, and adjusting their identities using the material world. This book employs the discipline of ... More

In situations of displacement, disruption, and difference, humans adapt by actively creating, re-creating, and adjusting their identities using the material world. This book employs the discipline of historical archaeology to study this process as it occurs in new and challenging environments. The case studies furnish varied instances of people wresting control from others who wish to define them and of adaptive transformation by people who find themselves in new and strange worlds. The authors consider multiple aspects of identity, such as race, class, gender, and ethnicity, and look for ways to understand its fluid and intersecting nature. The book seeks to make the study of the past relevant to our globalized, postcolonized, and capitalized world. Questions of identity formation are critical in understanding the world today, in which boundaries are simultaneously breaking down and being built up, and humans are constantly adapting to the ever-changing milieu. This book tackles these questions not only in multiple dimensions of earthly space but also in a panorama of historical time. Moving from the ancient past to the unknowable future and through numerous temporal stops in between, the reader travels from New York to the Great Lakes, Britain to North Africa, and the North Atlantic to the West Indies.Less

The Cumberland River Archaic of Middle Tennessee

Tanya M. Peres  and Aaron Deter-Wolf (eds)

Prior to 2010, the only major literature on the manifestation of the Shell Mound Archaic in the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee was an unpublished dissertation and technical or ... More

Prior to 2010, the only major literature on the manifestation of the Shell Mound Archaic in the Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee was an unpublished dissertation and technical or avocational reports. Recent research by the coeditors reveals that there are nearly forty Archaic shell-bearing sites in the region. This volume brings together multiple lines of evidence to more fully examine a major cultural phase that has been virtually overlooked in the professional literature. We approach this topic by incorporating data and discussions of recent research at Archaic shell-bearing sites in the western Middle Cumberland River Valley combined with contemporary examinations of prior investigations, which until now have been difficult for scholars to access. The data presented in this volume are a testament to the sustainability of riverine adaptions in antiquity.Less