The Archaeology of Counterculture at the New Buffalo Commune

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this poster, I will conduct an analysis of the assemblage excavated from a 1960s back-to-the-land commune in Taos called New Buffalo. Tracing commodity chains of objects brought to and bought at New Buffalo, reveals patterns of consumption and engagement with the American Market, even within am Anti-Capitalist site. Individual objects from the assemblage also serve to illustrate the particular cultural and societal conflicts that affected the commune during its history. Additionally, this project examines the excavated handmade and organic artifacts that demonstrate the ways in which an anti-capitalist space was engaging with practices of craftsmanship and repurposing. Interviews and oral histories with former members of New Buffalo further illustrate the ways that the commune's material culture reflects many of the formative memories, issues, and ideologies that were prospering at the time. The material culture of the commune represents the confluence of industrial capitalisms and countercultural values that were being negotiated at New Buffalo and the other communes of the era.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37241.0