The Archaeology of Plural and Changing Identities: Beyond Identification

273 Pages·2005·2.31 MB·English

by  Eleanor Conlin Casella

The Archaeology of
Plural and Changing Identities
The Archaeology of
Plural and Changing Identities
Beyond Identification
Editedby
Eleanor Conlin Casella
UniversityofManchester
Manchester,UnitedKingdom
and
Chris Fowler
UniversityofNewcastleuponTyne
NewcastleuponTyne,UnitedKingdom
Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
New York Boston Dordrecht London Moscow
ISSNHB:0-306-48693-8
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(cid:1)C 2005byKluwerAcademic/PlenumPublishers,NewYork
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Tothememoriesof
MARYAGNESCONLIN
1908–2004
ELIZABETH‘NANCY’HILTON
1911–2002
Contributors
JoannaBru¨ck,DepartmentofArchaeology,JohnHenryNewmanBuilding,Uni-
versityCollegeDublin,BelfieldCampus,Dublin4,Ireland
Eleanor Conlin Casella, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of
Manchester,OxfordRoad,ManchesterM139PL,UnitedKingdom
ChrisFowler,DepartmentofArchaeology,UniversityofNewcastleuponTyne,
NewcastleuponTyne,NE17RU,UnitedKingdom
TimothyInsoll,SchoolofArts,HistoriesandCulturesUniversityofManchester,
OxfordRoad,ManchesterM139PL,UnitedKingdom
Ross W. Jamieson, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby,BC,CanadaV5A1S6
Tadhg O’Keeffe, Department of Archaeology, John Henry Newman Building,
UniversityCollege,Dublin,Belfield,Campus,Dublin4,Ireland
AndrewJones,DepartmentofArchaeology,UniversityofSouthampton,Avenue
Campus,HighfieldSouthampton,SO171BF,UnitedKingdom
LynetteRussell,ChairofAustralianIndigenousStudies,MonashUniversity,PO
Box55,VIC3800Australia
RobertA.Schmidt,ArchaeologicalResearchFacility,UniversityofCalifornia,
Berkeley,Berkeley,CA94720
BarbaraL.Voss,DepartmentofCulturalandSocialAnthropology,StanfordUni-
versity,Stanford,CA94305–2134
vii
Contents
1. BeyondIdentification:AnIntroduction ................................. 1
EleanorConlinCasellaandChrisFowler
BeyondIdentification ....................................................... 1
TheNegotationofIdentitythroughDifferentMaterialMedia:
Architecture,Landscape,Text,BodyandObject ...................... 2
PolysemicVariations ....................................................... 4
Mutability ................................................................... 6
Conclusion:PracticeIsNotIdentity,butNeitherIsForm ................ 7
PARTI. IDENTITYANDSOCIALCHANGE
2. MedievalTowns,ModernSigns,IdentityInter-spaces:Some
ReflectionsinHistoricalArchaeology.................................... 11
TadhgO’Keeffe
Introduction ................................................................. 11
TheBoroughofFethard .................................................... 15
MetrologyandProcessionintheMedievalBorough ..................... 17
TheWallingofFethard ..................................................... 20
“FethardCastle”inFocus .................................................. 22
TextualIdentityandtheRiseofanE´liteinFethard ...................... 24
ix
x Contents
TheSeventeenthCenturyUrbanE´liteandtheAlmshouses .............. 26
MovingOutfromFethard:TheorisingMaterial
CorrelativesofIdentity .................................................. 29
SomeFinalThoughts ....................................................... 31
3. “Either,or,NeitherNor”:ResistingtheProductionofGender,Race
andClassDichotomiesinthePre-ColonialPeriod..................... 33
LynetteRussell
Preface ...................................................................... 33
Introduction ................................................................. 34
ContactRelations ........................................................... 35
ADiscussionofDefinitions ................................................ 36
Bricolage,IncorporationandAcculturation ............................... 39
ThePre-ColonialonKangarooIsland,SouthAustralia .................. 41
PARTII. IDENTITY:CATEGORYANDPRACTICE
4. SexualSubjects:IdentityandTaxonomyin
ArchaeologicalResearch................................................... 55
BarbaraL.Voss
Introduction ................................................................. 55
TaxonomiesandSubjectivities ............................................. 56
InPractice:ArchaeologicalStudiesofSexualIdentity ................... 60
Sexology,Sex/Gender,Performance:Pitfallsand
ProductiveTensions ..................................................... 67
ClosingThoughts ........................................................... 71
5. TheContributionofGendertoPersonalIdentityintheSouthern
ScandinavianMesolithic................................................... 79
RobertA.Schmidt
Introduction ................................................................. 79
TheSouthernScandinavianMesolithicandthe
DivisionofLabor ........................................................ 81
SouthernScandinavianMesolithicMortuaryContexts ................... 84
MortuaryVariationintheSouthernScandinavianMesolithic ........... 86
GenderedPatternsinSouthernScandinavianMesolithic
MortuaryContexts ....................................................... 90
Conclusions ................................................................. 104
Contents xi
6. IdentityPolitics:Personhood,Kinship,GenderandPowerin
NeolithicandEarlyBronzeAgeBritain................................. 109
ChrisFowler
Introduction ................................................................. 109
IntroducingNeolithicandEarlyBronzeAgeIdentities .................. 110
HierarchyandE´lites ........................................................ 111
Kinship ...................................................................... 114
KinshipandtheBodiesoftheDead ....................................... 116
Personhood .................................................................. 121
AgeandGender ............................................................. 127
Conclusion .................................................................. 129
7. HomingInstincts:GroundedIdentitiesandDividualSelvesinthe
BritishBronzeAge......................................................... 135
JoannaBru¨ck
Preface ...................................................................... 135
Introduction ................................................................. 136
BuildingsandtheBody .................................................... 137
ConstructingtheSelf ....................................................... 140
The“DomesticDomain” ................................................... 142
BronzeAgeRoundhouses .................................................. 146
TermsofReference ......................................................... 149
TheConstructionofGenderedIdentityintheMiddleBronzeAge ...... 151
ArchitectureandMeaning .................................................. 154
Conclusion .................................................................. 156
PARTIII. IDENTITYANDPLACE
8. “Games,SportsandWhat-Not”:RegulationofLeisureandthe
ProductionofSocialIdentitiesinNineteenthCenturyAmerica...... 163
EleanorConlinCasella
TheMakingofaWorking-Man’s“Hero” ................................. 163
SpatialAlternatives:OntheMaintenanceofParallelWorlds ............ 166
ADayTriptotheSeaside .................................................. 170
Sutro’sGardens:“AFormofBeautyinEveryBarrenRock” ............ 172
Sutro’sBaths:“AFabulous,Three-AcreGlassPalace” .................. 178
“TheGigglingGhostofSutroBaths” ..................................... 184
Conclusion:ParallelWorlds,AbandonedWorlds ........................ 185
xii Contents
9. ChangingIdentitiesintheArabianGulf:Archaeology,Religion,
andEthnicityinContext................................................... 191
TimothyInsoll
Introduction ................................................................. 191
TheoreticalandMethodologicalFrameworks ............................. 192
ContemporaryPerspectivesonIdentities .................................. 195
HistoricalandArchaeologicalDimensionsofIdentities ................. 197
Conclusions ................................................................. 205
10. CasteinCuenca:ColonialIdentityintheSeventeenth
CenturyAndes ............................................................ 211
RossW.Jamieson
Introduction ................................................................ 211
IdentityinModernEcuador .............................................. 213
IdentityinLatinAmericanColonialHistory ............................ 215
ColonialCuenca ........................................................... 217
MaterialCultureandHouseholdInventories ............................ 222
MaterialCultureandBackyardArchaeology ............................ 226
Conclusions ................................................................ 228
11. NaturalHistoriesandSocialIdentitiesinNeolithicOrkney......... 233
AndrewJones
Introduction ................................................................ 233
ConstructingtheNeolithic ................................................ 234
MaterialCulture,LandscapeandPlace .................................. 235
NaturalHistoriesandSocialIdentities ................................... 236
WorldsofStone ........................................................... 237
InhabitingWorldsofStoneinEarlierNeolithicOrkney ................ 239
Clay,StoneandPlaceinEarlierNeolithicOrkney ...................... 242
Memory,PlaceandIdentityintheEarlierNeolithic .................... 245
Clay,StoneandPlaceinLaterNeolithicOrkney ....................... 245
Memory,IdentityandHabitation:TheBiographyofLater
NeolithicSettlements .................................................... 249
ConstructingWorldsofStoneinLaterNeolithicOrkney ............... 250
Conclusion:MemoryandMaterialityintheNeolithicofOrkney ...... 253
Index ....................................................................... 261
1
Chapter
Beyond Identification
An Introduction
ELEANORCONLINCASELLAANDCHRISFOWLER
BeyondIdentification
Unionjackswereemblazonedonthebacksofgrubbyparkaanoraksorcutup
andconvertedintosmartlytailoredjackets.Moresubtly,theconventionalinsignia
ofthebusinessworld—thesuit,collarandtie,shorthair,etc.—werestrippedof
their original connotations—efficiency, ambition, compliance with authority—
andtransformedinto‘empty’fetishes,objectstobedesired,fondledandvalued
intheirownright.(Hebdige1979:104–5)
Questionsofidentityhaveplaguedthefieldofarchaeologysinceitsearliest
antiquarianorigins.Theabilitytodiscover,recover,oruncoverapastculturere-
quired the assumption of a direct relationship between its material remains and
social identity. Artefacts and architectural features alike have been conceptual-
izedas“signatures”or“representations”ofspecificcultures—fromthe“Beaker
People” of the European Neolithic to the “Georgian” world view of eighteenth
centuryColonialAmerica.Thus,archaeologistshaveemployedanexplicitlyma-
terialfocusintheirexaminationsofidentity.Yet,aspeoplemovethroughlifethey
continuallyshiftaffiliationfromonepositiontoanother,dependentonthewider
1