Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict," at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This session interrogates how military history and memorial practice draw distinctions between armed conflicts in American history in ways that contribute to the erasure of significant episodes of collective violence, and how archaeological and historical practice can recenter their legacies. Pervasive failures to recognize and preserve sites associated with Indigenous suffering and resistance contribute to the erasure of Indigenous history from American landscapes. Further, historical distinctions between warfare and conflicts labeled as “riots,” “uprisings,” or “civil unrest” illustrate how the power relations that defined the conflicts themselves can legitimize some as more worthy of remembrance than others. The work of excavating and reimagining the past has potential to reshape these landscapes of memory. The scholars and practitioners participating in this forum will discuss how community-based research can inspire reckoning with the legacies of power and violence in the American past.

Other Keywords
Historical Archaeology • Memory • conflict archaeology • Violence • Historic Preservation • National Register of Historic Places • Labor • landscapes • Rosewood

Geographic Keywords
United States of America (Country) • United Mexican States (Country) • Cayman Islands (Country) • Turks and Caicos Islands (Country) • Bermuda (Country) • Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre (Country) • Republic of Cuba (Country) • Canada (Country) • Commonwealth of The Bahamas (Country) • Russian Federation (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-5 of 5)

  • Documents (5)
Documents
  • An Archaeology of Violent American Landscapes in Rosewood and Beyond (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Edward González-Tennant.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Landscape and violence are social processes. The complex interplay between the two is a key facet to racism and other forms of intolerance animating American history. Inspired by this session’s abstract, this paper examines the role archaeology plays in researching the violence inherent to many...

  • Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Button Kambic.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For over 20 years, the National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program has funded projects devoted to planning, interpreting, and protecting battlefields and other sites associated with armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States. This symposium...

  • The Temecula Massacre: Native American Casualties of the War between Mexico and the United States (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa Woodward.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The 1846 Temecula Massacre is among the few deadly conflicts associated with events tied directly to the Battle of San Pasqual, a skirmish of the Mexican-American War in California. Fought on December 7 and 8 between U.S. Col. Stephen Kearny’s military and the Californios, it is considered to be...

  • What is There for Remembrance?: Finding Significance and Integrity at Places of Labor Conflict and Violence (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael P Roller.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. For as long as work and inequality have been intertwined, there has been conflict over the issues of working and living conditions, pay, competition, power, and sovereignty. While often peaceful, sometimes this conflict has erupted into lengthy extensive violence between opposing sides. Place-...

  • Where They Fight: Apsáalooke Spirituality on the Battlefield (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Aaron Brien. Marty Lopez. Kelly Dixon.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Hidden Battlefields: Power, Memory, and Preservation of Sites of Armed Conflict" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. By the mid-19th century, waves of settlers along the Overland Trail invaded Indigenous North Americans’ traditional homelands and hunting grounds. This pushed people like the Sioux westward as colonists threatened game, timber, water, and other resources. The U.S. called for a council resulting...