Turning the Archaeology of Colonialism on its Head

Summary

Questions about colonialism are integral to the field of Historical Archaeology. Indeed, according to some definitions, Historical Archaeology is the archaeology of Euro-American colonialism. Traditionally, the questions that historical archaeologists have posed about colonialism have tended to focus on the profound changes instituted by colonial systems. (E.g. how did colonists change the places in which they settled? How did indigenous and enslaved populations change as a result of colonization? What changes in food, dress, architecture, production, exchange, identity, etc. were effected by colonialism?) Yet one of the most profound and often overlooked changes instituted by colonialism was the introduction of new forms of continuity’or the perception of continuity’particularly among colonized populations. This paper investigates the ways in which the meanings of ‘Native American’ became concretized through newly static forms of material culture that were created and regulated by colonial institutions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• Questions that Will Count in the Future: Global Perspectives on Historical Archaeology

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-7,16