ARHM014 Archaeology of Identity
Annotation:
Studying identity is not an easy task. Depending on the definition of identity and whether a self-reference (how one sees herself/himself) or other people's (how other people view herself/himself) stance is favoured, it can be argued that identity cannot be revealed without living subjects. This not only would have a devastating impact on the epistemological basis of archaeology but more seriously, it would deprive past people of who they were by amalgamating them in an undifferentiated mass of mute partakers.
In the last two decades, an excellent scholarship has been developed in archaeology that stood up to the challenge and provided both the theoretical framework and the empirical data to study identities in the past. It also revealed that identities can and have been manipulated and politicized. A constant challenge in our discipline is how to study and deconstruct such activities in the past.
The objectives of this course are:
• to provide a summary of past studies of identity - from non-existent, to first steps and teething problems to the explosion of approaches
• to enable students to recognize the multiple aspects of identity and how this may affect the archaeological record
• to help students develop skills of recognising and studying the fluid and plural identities in the archaeological record through the use of wide-ranging case-studies
Lecturers:
Assoc. Prof. Boyan Dumanov, PhD
Course Description:
Competencies:
Students who complete this course:
1) Know:
Students will acquire essential knowledge about identity in general, and in particular, how to approach the subject in archaeological studies. The course will provide a solid foundation to perform further research in this area.
2) Be able to:
This course will enable students to read 'the politics of identity' that were as much part and parcel of daily life in the past as they are at present.
Prerequisites:
Types:
Full-time Programmes
Types of Courses:
Lecture
Language of teaching:
English
Topics:
- Introduction a. What is identity? Can archaeologists study identity? b. Fixed and fluid identities. c. Bodies and artefacts as indicators of identity. Artefacts as symbols
- Gender I a. History of gender studies in archaeology. Theoretical frameworks.
- Gender II a. Case-studies in mortuary and living domains
- Age a. Are children visible in the archaeological record? b. Archaeology of birthing, motherhood and infertility c. How are old people viewed in archaeology?
- Religion a. Hawkes’ ladder of inference b. Primitive religion/tribal religions/historical religions BUT also Marxist concepts of ideology c. The damaging influence of the ‘Mother Goddess' concept
- Ethnicity a. is archaeological culture and ethnicity the same thing? b. nationalism c. colonialism
- Personhood a. individual, dividual and communal identity b. personal skills
- Kinship and community a. The importance of households, kin groups and communities b. Case studies in houses and households c. Case studies in community identity
- Power and identity a. 'Power over' and 'power to' - forms of po b. Concepts of status at the individual and corporate levels c. Case studies in monumentality
- Place identity and Landscape identity a. from space to place - the significance of place to persons b. the constitution of landscapes c. case studies in landscape archaeology
- Concluding remarks a. summing-up - what we have learnt this semester
- Grading
Bibliography:
Bolger, D. 2013. A companion to Gender Prehistory. Willey-Blackwell.
Brück, J. and Goodman, M. 1999 Making Places in the Prehistoric World: themes in settlement archaeology, London.
Casella, E. and Fowler, C. 2004. The archaeology of plural and changing identities : beyond identification. New York : Springer.
Chapman, J.C., 2000, Fragmentation and Social Practices in the Later Prehistory of Central and Eastern Europe, London
Chapman ,J. and Gaydarska, B. 2006. Parts and wholes: fragmentation in prehistoric context. Oxford: Oxbow Books
Chapman, J. and Gaydarska, B. 2011. Can we reconcile individualization with relational per¬sonhood? A case study from the Early Neolithic. Documenta Praehistorica XXXVIII, 21–43.
Conkey, M. W. and Tringham, R. E. 1995 Archaeology and the goddess: Exploring the contours of feminist archaeology. In: D. C. Stanton and A. J. Stewart (eds.), Feminisms in the Academy. Ann Arbor, 199–247.
Díaz-Andre, M. & Champion, T. 1996 Nationalism and archaeology in Europe. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Díaz-Andreu, M. et al. 2005. The archaeology of identity : approaches to gender, age, status, ethnicity and religion. London : Routledge, 2005.
Eller, C. 2000 The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory. Boston
Fowler, C., 2004, The Archaeology of Personhood: an anthropological approach, London.
Goodison, L. and C. Morris. (eds.) 1998 Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence. London: British Museum.
Hamilton, S., Whitehouse, R. and C. Wright 2007. Archaeology and Women. Ancient and Modern Issues. Walnut Creek, Left coast Press.
Insoll, T. (Ed.) 2006. The Archaeology of Identities: A Reader. Routledge
Hutton, R. 1997. The Neolithic great goddess: a study in modern tradition. Antiquity, 71, p.91-9.
Jones, S. 1997. The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing identities in past and present. London: Routledge.
Meskell, L. 1998 Oh my goddess! Archaeology, sexuality and ecofeminism. Archaeological Dialogues 5: 126–42.
Power of Place 2000 Power of Place: The future of the Historic Environment. English Heritage, London
Petts, D. 1998 Landscape and Cultural Identity in Roman Britain. In R. Laurence & J. Berry (eds) Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire, London, pp.79-94.
Sørensen, M-L 2000 Gender Archaeology. Cambridge
Montón-Subías , S. and M. Sánchez-Romero 2008. Engendering social dynamics: the archaeology of maintenance activities. Oxford : Archaeopress, 2008.