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Ancestors of Worthy Life: Plantation Slavery and Black Heritage at Mount Clare

Teresa S. Moyer

Historic plantation sites continue to struggle with the legacy of slavery and black heritage, particularly concerning their relevance in American life. Although slavery and black history are erased ... More

Historic plantation sites continue to struggle with the legacy of slavery and black heritage, particularly concerning their relevance in American life. Although slavery and black history are erased from the contemporary landscape of Carroll Park in Baltimore, Maryland, the historical and archaeological record preserves their importance to the Carroll family and the plantation called Georgia or Mount Clare. Enslaved blacks held essential roles in every aspect of Mount Clare from circa 1730 to 1817. They became culturally American at the intersection of race and status, not only through the practice of their own cultural beliefs and values, but those of elite whites as well. In freedom, formerly enslaved individuals and families became part of the growing middle class of Baltimore. Until recently, the story of the people who experienced slavery and freedom went untold, disabling contemporary peoples from their right to access their heritage. Plantations can further social justice and enable all people’s right to access their heritage when underrepresented historical groups are integrated into interpretations of historical house museums and landscapes. Focus on white ancestors reveals only part of the history of Mount Clare: blacks’ own achievements cannot be ignored.Less

Ancient Maya Political Dynamics

Antonia E. Foias

This book is meant to show how archaeologists worldwide understand and reconstruct ancient political systems, and more specifically, how Maya archaeologists have reconstructed political power, ... More

This book is meant to show how archaeologists worldwide understand and reconstruct ancient political systems, and more specifically, how Maya archaeologists have reconstructed political power, institutions, and dynamics among ancient Maya states during the Classic period in the first millennium A.D. The book engages with the theoretical literature in political anthropology, the debates and history of how archaeologists have reconstructed ancient politics, and then describes specific cases of archaeological projects that focus on political questions across the world, and more specifically, in the Maya civilization of the Classic period. It summarizes studies of Maya political organization, again by highlighting the debates, issues involved, manners in which the questions are approached, and specific projects that have focused on political questions. The author’s investigations at Motul de San José are used to highlight some of the main points of these current debates. Politics dominate today’s public arena, and this book will provide a window into how archaeologists reconstruct and understand ancient politics and their dynamics. This exploration of ancient Maya politics tries to answer the question of why the political landscape was so dynamic during the apogee of Maya civilization in the first millennium A.D. by focusing on political analysis at three levels: the macro level of polity and inter-polity relations, the middle level of political organization and dynamics within each polity, and the micro level of individuals, households, communities, and power blocs within each polity.Less

Ancient Maya Pottery: Classification, Analysis, and Interpretation

James John Aimers (ed.)

Pottery sherds are the most abundant artifacts recovered from ancient Maya sites. Analyzed correctly, they reveal much about artistic expression, religious ritual, economic systems, cooking ... More

Pottery sherds are the most abundant artifacts recovered from ancient Maya sites. Analyzed correctly, they reveal much about artistic expression, religious ritual, economic systems, cooking traditions, and cultural exchange in Maya society. Today, nearly every Maya archaeologist uses the type-variety classificatory framework for studying sherd collections. Ancient Maya Pottery brings together many of the archaeologists signally involved in the analysis and interpretation of ancient Maya ceramics and offers new findings and state-of-the-art thinking. The result is a book that serves both as a valuable resource for archaeologists involved in pottery classification, analysis, and interpretation and as an illuminating exploration of ancient Maya culture.Less

Ancient West Mexicos: Time, Space, and Diversity

Joshua D. Englehardt, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, and Christopher S. Beekman (eds)

Ancient west Mexico has often been viewed as an isolated mishmash of cultures, separated from Mesoamerica “proper,” a region that lacked “civilization.” This volume argues against this vision by ... More

Ancient west Mexico has often been viewed as an isolated mishmash of cultures, separated from Mesoamerica “proper,” a region that lacked “civilization.” This volume argues against this vision by highlighting current archaeological research on the diverse and complex pre-Hispanic societies that developed in this area. Through the presentation of original data and interpretations, contributions provoke debate and advance understanding of regional complexity, chronology, and diversity, as well as the role of the west in broader, pan-Mesoamerican sociocultural processes. The volume illustrates the ways in which research and areal data from western Mesoamerica can meaningfully contribute to the construction of theoretical models applicable in multiple contexts and capable of enhancing archaeological descriptions and explanations of the dynamic diversity characteristic of all Mesoamerican societies. The volume also presents intriguing case studies from western Mesoamerica that illuminate alternative pathways to sociopolitical complexity in pre-Hispanic societies. In doing so, the volume seeks to contribute to contemporary anthropological and archaeological debates regarding the ways in which archaeologists describe and explain the material configurations that they encounter in the archaeological record, and how these configurations may explain, relate to, and enhance our understanding of the ancient lifeways of the diverse societies that inhabited the region.Less

The Anthropology of Marriage in Lowland South America: Bending and Breaking the Rules

Paul Valentine, Stephen Beckerman, and Catherine Alès (eds)

Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom one should marry and on rules that anthropologists induce from those statements. This volume is a ... More

Traditional treatments of marriage among indigenous people focus on what people say about whom one should marry and on rules that anthropologists induce from those statements. This volume is a cultural and social anthropological examination of the ways the indigenous peoples of lowland South America/Amazonia actually choose whom they marry. Detailed ethnography shows that they select spouses to meet their economic and political goals, their emotional desires, and their social aspirations, as well as to honor their commitments to exogamic prescriptions and the exchange of women. These decisions often require playing fast and loose with what the anthropologist and the peoples themselves declare to be the regulations they obey. Inevitably then, this volume is about agency and individual choice in the context of social institutions and cultural rules. There is another theme running through this book—the way in which globalization is subverting traditional hierarchies, altering identities, and eroding ancestral marital norms and values—how the forces of modernization alter both structure and practice. The main body of the book is given over to eleven chapters based on previously unpublished ethnographic material collected by the contributors. It is divided into three sections. The first collects essays that describe the motives behind breaking the marriage rules, the second describes how the marriage rules are bent or broken, and the third gathers chapters on the effects of globalization and recent changes on the marriage rules.Less

Archaeological Perspectives on the French in the New World

Elizabeth M. Scott (ed.)

This collection offers a new understanding of communities of French heritage in the New World, drawing on archaeological and historical evidence from both colonial and post-Conquest settings. It ... More

This collection offers a new understanding of communities of French heritage in the New World, drawing on archaeological and historical evidence from both colonial and post-Conquest settings. It counters the prevailing but mistaken notion that the French role in New World histories was confined largely to Québec and New Orleans and lasted only through the French and Indian War. Some chapters in the volume reveal new insights into French colonial communities, while others concern the post-Conquest Francophone communities that thrived under British, Spanish, or American control, long after France relinquished its colonies in the New World. The authors in this collection engage in a dialogue about what it meant to be ethnic French or a French descendant, Métis, Native American, enslaved, or a free person of color in French areas of North America, the Caribbean, and South America from the late 1600s until the late 1800s. The authors combine archaeological remains (from artifacts to food remains to cultural landscapes) with a rich body of historical records to help reveal the roots of present-day New World societies. This volume makes clear that, along with Spanish, British, and early American colonial influences, French colonists and their descendant communities played an important role in New World histories, and continue to do so.Less

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

Archaeologies of Slavery and Freedom in the Caribbean: Exploring the Spaces in Between

Lynsey Bates, John M. Chenoweth, and James A. Delle (eds)

All parts of the Caribbean were shaped by similar forces, including race-based chattel slavery, sugar, capitalism, and the tropical and sometimes deadly natural environment. Within these ... More

All parts of the Caribbean were shaped by similar forces, including race-based chattel slavery, sugar, capitalism, and the tropical and sometimes deadly natural environment. Within these commonalities, however, is also a great deal of diversity. Large sugar plantations populated by hundreds of enslaved Africans rightfully receive a great deal of attention from archaeologists, historians, and the public. The authors in this volume, however, use innovative techniques and perspectives to reveal the stories of places and times where the rules of this system did not always apply. Collectively, the chapters focus on the spaces in-between, alternate views of plantation landscapes, and the complex dynamics at play in the days following slavery. The authors assess these threads through the analysis of lesser known contexts, such as Dominica, St. Lucia, and the Dominican Republic, and the reexamination of more familiar places, like Jamaica and Barbados. Despite grueling work regimes, and the social and economic restrictions of slavery, people held in bondage carved out places at the margins of plantation societies. In similar fashion, the lives of poor whites, soldiers, and free people of color demonstrate that binary models of black slaves and white planters do not fully encompass the diverse landscape of Caribbean identities before and after Emancipation. The studies in this volume employ innovative research tools to integrate data from a variety of historical and archaeological sources to better understand these alternate stories within and beyond the sprawling sugar estates.Less

The Archaeology and Historical Ecology of Small Scale Economies

Victor D. Thompson and James C. Waggoner Jr. (eds)

The purpose of this book is to engender ideas and discussion regarding broader issues related to historical ecology. The unifying topic of the case studies presented in this volume is that they deal ... More

The purpose of this book is to engender ideas and discussion regarding broader issues related to historical ecology. The unifying topic of the case studies presented in this volume is that they deal with groups that are pursuing small-scale economies. Small-scale economies in this context refer to groups primarily making their living by hunting, gathering, fishing, or limited agricultural endeavors. The volume is divided into two sections. Part I consists of historical ecology case studies of small-scale economies from various regions around the world, including Denmark, California's Channel Islands, Japan, the Georgia Coast, Mexico and American Southwest, Coastal Brazil, and the mountains of Montana. The case studies span a wide variety of climates and encompass a temporal scale that begins in the late Pleistocene and extends to modern-day groups. In Part II, researchers from multiple disciplines, including anthropology and ecology, offer their thoughts and perspectives on the themes explored in the volume as a whole and the theoretical future of historical ecology. All the contributors to this volume consider the relevance of such inquiry with respect to modern society's interaction with the environment.Less

An Archaeology and History of a Caribbean Sugar Plantation on Antigua

Georgia L. Fox (ed.)

An Archaeology and History of a Caribbean Sugar Plantation on Antigua uses archaeological and documentary evidence to reconstruct daily life at Betty’s Hope plantation on the island of Antigua, one ... More

An Archaeology and History of a Caribbean Sugar Plantation on Antigua uses archaeological and documentary evidence to reconstruct daily life at Betty’s Hope plantation on the island of Antigua, one of the largest sugar plantations in the Caribbean. It demonstrates the rich information that the multidisciplinary approach of contemporary historical archaeology can offer when assessing the long-term impacts of sugarcane agriculture on the region and its people. Drawing on ten years of research at the 300-year-old site, the researchers uncover the plantation’s inner workings and its connections to broader historical developments in the Atlantic World. Excavations at the Great House reveal similarities to other British colonial sites, and historical records reveal the owners’ involvement in the Atlantic slave trade and in the trade of rum and other commodities. Artifacts uncovered from the slave quarters—ceramic tokens, repurposed bottle glass, and hundreds of Afro-Antiguan pottery sherds—speak to the agency of enslaved peoples in the face of harsh living conditions. Contributors also use ethnographic field data collected from interviews with contemporary farmers, as well as soil analysis to demonstrate how three centuries of sugarcane monocropping created a complicated legacy of soil depletion. Today tourism has long surpassed sugar as Antigua’s primary economic driver. Looking at visitor exhibits and new technologies for exploring and interpreting the site, the volume discusses best practices in cultural heritage management at Betty’s Hope and other locations that are home to contested historical narratives of a colonial past.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

The Archaeology of Ancestors: Death, Memory, and Veneration

Erica Hill and Jon B. Hageman (eds)

Ancestor veneration is a common practice cross-culturally, and since the 1990s archaeologists have started to explore ancestor veneration in the past. The usual explanation for ancient ancestors is ... More

Ancestor veneration is a common practice cross-culturally, and since the 1990s archaeologists have started to explore ancestor veneration in the past. The usual explanation for ancient ancestors is that people in past societies used them and their material correlates (architecture, iconography, tombs, and cemeteries) to validate their rights to land and resources. Yet ethnographic and ethnohistoric accounts of ancestor veneration around the world indicate that ancestors are about much more than just land and resources: they referee domestic problems; advertise wealth; validate authority; materialize identity; and negotiate power and status relationships. The Archaeology of Ancestors explores these dimensions of ancestor worship, as well as the more traditional association of ancestors with resource rights. In addition to providing an alternative to the usual approach to ancestors in the past, this volume includes a comprehensive, authoritative overview of the anthropology of ancestors, exploring its historical roots, discussing key ethnographic sources, and summarizing the ways that ancestors have been identified archaeologically. The Archaeology of Ancestors provides world-wide archaeological coverage of the topic, treating the traditional “core” areas of East Asia and Africa as well as Central and South America, Greece, and central Europe. Contributors approach the issue of ancestors in the past using several lines of archaeological evidence, including human remains, art and iconography, structured (e.g., ritual) deposits, architecture, and historical documents.Less

An Archaeology of Asian Transnationalism

Douglas E. Ross

This book is about how displacement associated with long-distance population movements and the relationships migrants maintain with both home and host societies shape their consumer habits and the ... More

This book is about how displacement associated with long-distance population movements and the relationships migrants maintain with both home and host societies shape their consumer habits and the formation of collective diasporic identities. These themes are addressed using an interpretive framework rooted in interdisciplinary literature on transnationalism, diaspora, and material consumption and are developed through an archaeological study of the everyday lives of Chinese and Japanese immigrant laborers at a turn-of-the-twentieth century industrial salmon cannery in British Columbia. Results demonstrate that migrant consumption patterns draw on traditions from the homeland but are influenced by a range of factors at the local, regional, and international levels. Furthermore, diasporic identities are as much a product of the migration process as of homeland traditions, and consumer goods play an important role in how they are constructed and maintained. Overall, this study accomplishes three things: (1) it paints a portrait of the contextual factors affecting how migrant consumers maintain some homeland practices and adapt others from the host society; (2) it develops a model of ethnicity that is shaped and transformed as cultural traditions from home and host societies come together; and (3) it outlines a framework for how migrant communities use consumer goods and practices to maintain a sense of diasporic identity in the face of displacement and associated culture change. This research is one of the first in-depth studies in historical archaeology on overseas Japanese migration and the first detailed comparison of archaeological material from Chinese and Japanese sites.Less

Archaeology of Domestic Landscapes of the Enslaved in the Caribbean

James A. Delle and Elizabeth C. Clay (eds)

Archaeology of Domestic Landscapes of the Enslaved in the Caribbean examines the diversity of living environments that the enslaved inhabitants of the colonial Caribbean by analyzing archaeological ... More

Archaeology of Domestic Landscapes of the Enslaved in the Caribbean examines the diversity of living environments that the enslaved inhabitants of the colonial Caribbean by analyzing archaeological evidence collected from a wide variety of sites across the region. Archaeological investigations of domestic architecture and artifacts illuminate the nature of household organization; fundamental changes in settlement patterns; and the manner in which power was invariably linked with the material arrangements of space among the enslaved living and working in a variety of contexts throughout the region, including plantations, fortifications, and urban centers. While research in the region has provided a considerable amount of data at the household-level, much of this work is biased towards artifact analysis, resulting in unfamiliarity with the considerations that went into constructing and inhabiting households. The chapters in this book provide detailed reconstructions of the built environments associated with slavery and account for the cultural behaviors and social arrangements that shaped these spaces. It brings together case studies of Caribbean slave settlements through historical archaeology as a means of exposing the diversity of people and practices in these various landscapes, across the British, French, Dutch, and Danish colonies in both the Greater and Lesser Antilles as well as the Bahamian archipelago.Less

Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba

Roberto Valcárcel Rojas

Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, examines the interactions between indigenous peoples and European invaders in the Caribbean and the way in which domination ... More

Archaeology of Early Colonial Interaction at El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba, examines the interactions between indigenous peoples and European invaders in the Caribbean and the way in which domination imposed by a foreign model ultimately transformed this relationship into a system of colonial subordination. Investigations of the domestic and funerary contexts at the El Chorro de Maíta, in the northeast of Cuba, permit the archaeological visualization of the cultural and ethnic diversity imposed by colonial domination. Presented, for the first time, is the identification and archaeological study of an indigenous village that was transformed during the 16th-century into a town of Indian encomendados, which is to say working for the Spanish as forced labor. The study distinguishes the Christianization of the indigenous inhabitants, principally among those of elite status, and the process of ethnogenesis which gave rise to the “Indian” as a colonial category. This occurred in a scenario where indigenous mortuary practices were maintained, and handled and restricted the Hispanic material culture. It treats the process that created the cemetery with syncretic characteristics, in which there is an adjustment to a process of transculturation where the cultures and the individuals are transformed, and in which the indigenous peoples demonstrated a capacity for resistance and adaptation that is generally underestimated. This book demonstrates the value of archaeology to observe unrecorded episodes of Caribbean and American history that are vital for constructing the link with the pre-Columbian world and the construction of an integrated and new history.Less

Archaeology of East Asian Shipbuilding

Jun Kimura

This book clarifies the dynamics of shipbuilding traditions evolved in East Asia, explained based on the detailed investigations of excavated ships in the region. The previous shipwreck study in East ... More

This book clarifies the dynamics of shipbuilding traditions evolved in East Asia, explained based on the detailed investigations of excavated ships in the region. The previous shipwreck study in East Asia regarding past seafaring, human migration, and material-culture transportation was highly focused on wreck cargo. The hull remains of individual shipwrecks have been only solely reported. This is the first comprehensive study of the early and medieval East Asian ships in the field from the viewpoint of nautical and maritime archaeological perspectives. It incorporates the archaeological examination of the hull structure and construction methods into an interpretation of the chronological development of shipbuilding technologies. Understanding the technological innovation is critique to the role of the ships that played in water transportation, maritime trade, and naval conflict in East Asian history. The author presents an extensive dataset of excavated coastal and oceangoing ships dating from the 1th century to the medieval periods excavated in China, Korea, and Japan. Three case studies of the 13th–14th century ship remains from China, Korea, and Japan are presented to identify technological innovations that occurred in shipbuilding industries along the middle and southern coast of China. Identifying such phenomenon leads to understanding three major spheres of shipbuilding traditions in the areas of the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea.Less

The Archaeology of French and Indian War Frontier Forts

Lawrence E. Babits and Stephanie Gandulla (eds)

Based on papers presented at the Society for Historical Archaeology meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, the chapters in this edited volume detail results of archaeological investigations at several ... More

Based on papers presented at the Society for Historical Archaeology meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia, the chapters in this edited volume detail results of archaeological investigations at several fortifications associated with the French and Indian War (1754–1763). The fort sites extend from the southern frontier (the Carolinas and Tennessee) to the Great Lakes and encompass individual farmsteads as well as colonial posts projecting imperial power in disputed zones. While most of these forts were short lived, some, such as Michilimackinac and Frontenac, survived for extended periods. This text does not claim to present a complete archaeological overview but is instead topically representative of work being done on both major and minor French and Indian War fort sites. Generalized comparison of artifact assemblages is included, along with a glossary and an extensive bibliography of the period’s archaeological resources.Less

The Archaeology of Human-Environmental Dynamics on the North American Atlantic Coast

Leslie Reeder-Myers, John A. Turck, and Torben C. Rick (eds)

Using archaeology as a tool for understanding long-term ecological and climatic change, this volume synthesizes current knowledge about the ways Native Americans interacted with their environments ... More

Using archaeology as a tool for understanding long-term ecological and climatic change, this volume synthesizes current knowledge about the ways Native Americans interacted with their environments along the Atlantic coast over the past 10,000 years. Leading scholars discuss how the region’s indigenous peoples grappled with significant changes to shorelines and estuaries, from sea level rise to shifting plant and animal distributions to European settlement and urbanization. Together, they provide a valuable perspective spanning millennia on the diverse marine and nearshore ecosystems of the entire eastern seaboard—the icy waters of Newfoundland and the Gulf of Maine, the Middle Atlantic regions of the New York Bight and the Chesapeake Bay, and the warm shallows of the St. Johns River and the Florida Keys. This broad comparative outlook brings together populations and areas previously studied in isolation. Today, the Atlantic coast is home to tens of millions of people who inhabit ecosystems that are in dramatic decline. The research in this volume not only illuminates the past but also provides important tools for managing coastal environments into an uncertain future.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