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Abstract: Abstract It is commonly said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. Alternatives, framed as a simplistic dualism of capitalism vs communism, make it difficult to envision any alternative. Instead, the “sprouts” of communism lie concealed in capitalism, inherent in its contradictory logic and the twofold nature of labor. We present this theoretical framing so that our archaeological work can focus on people’s ‘other doing’ and suggest that it will always be difficult to envision alternatives to our capitalist present until we reclaim the inspiration that exists internal to capitalism itself. PubDate: 2023-01-24
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Abstract: Abstract How do we learn to share' As contemporary Western folks, what do we share, under what conditions, and with whom' Through two personal “material stories,” our paper explores how archaeologists can think beyond capitalism when interpreting material worlds. We consider the dynamics (and limits) of sharing economies as an emerging form of collective production. Starting from the blunt force “consolidation” of a leading British archaeology department, we trace the subsequent fissures and spaces of opportunity created by this disruptive moment of neoliberal closure. We tell stories about the collective production of a replica lithic assemblage, and the construction of a community chicken hutch, to explore the intricacies of everyday sharing as an intentional means of resource creation. Through these two disparate case studies, we aim to not only demonstrate the complex social networks and object meanings generated by sharing (versus capitalist) economies, but also consider wider implications (both benefits and conflicts) generated through collective resource production. PubDate: 2023-01-23
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Abstract: This article presents an archaeological case study that explores a residential logging camp as a site of social antagonism between the relations of abstract and living labor. Within such settings, living labor overtly works to resist their full subsumption to the logic, relations, and rhythms of capitalist production. I explore this antagonistic relationship through the archaeological record of an early twentieth-century logging camp operated by an Anishinaabe family in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I argue that the logging camp context was integral to a larger Anishinaabe social strategy for pursuing the practices and teachings of bimaadiziwin, or “the good life,” while actively participating in industrial logging as timber workers. The way the Moses family structured their everyday life reflects the antagonism between living and abstract labor and helps to illuminate capitalism’s cracks. PubDate: 2023-01-21
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Abstract: Abstract An archaeological sample of organic residue in a noble wooden vessel excavated from the tomb of Japanese Samurai named Tsunamune Date who was buried in 1711 was analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The lipid extracts of plant nuts and vegetable oils were also measured as references to investigate source materials of the organic residue. The FT-IR spectrum suggests the occurrence of fatty acids in the sample, and the profile was similar to the result of IR analysis at the excavation event in 1983. This implies that the major components in the organic residue have not deteriorated, even though it has been stored at room temperature nearly 40 years. The fatty acids and their degradation products, dicarboxylic acids, were detected in the organic residue, implying that plant oil may be included in the sample. In addition, three diterpenes, pimaric acid, dehydroabietic acid, and abietic acid, and another four compounds derived from rosin were clearly identified. This result suggests that the sample analyzed here may be a mixture of lipid extracts of wax and lacquer tree nuts and rosin. Based on the ancient documents in the Edo periods (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries) in Japan, it was surmised that Tsunamune Date used the organic residues as either medical ointment or hairstyling foam in his life. PubDate: 2023-01-19
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Abstract: Abstract The NoMA Business Improvement District (BID) is one of Washington DC’s fastest developing areas and has one of the city’s largest concentrations of unhoused tent camps, many of which are located in underpasses that provide bits of protection and privacy. These underpasses were created during DC’s City Beautiful Movement and have been the site of neoliberal antihomeless strategies. In this paper I explore the production of space in the NoMA area and how property owners, business associations, and government actors sanitized public space for wealthy newcomers while excluding poor and unhoused residents. PubDate: 2023-01-18
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Abstract: Abstract Many archaeological projects of the contemporary past examine sites of abandonment, ruination, decay, and devastation. This contribution takes a step back, looking at the historical trajectories that have created the conditions for abandonment, ruination, and so on, in the first place. Before a site can become abandoned, it needs to be occupied, a practice that is inherently violent in capitalist contexts. Taking inspiration from family history, I offer a visual rendering of a nineteenth-century explorer’s (failed) attempt to navigate the Northwest Passage, which eventually led him to occupy a small Arctic Archipelago that is today a Russian military outpost. In the fragmentary comments accompanying my artwork, I propose an archaeological engagement with the hauntings of this Arctic landscape that does not only expose how imperial encounters are embedded within capitalist exploits but inspire us to imagine a radically different political past and future. PubDate: 2023-01-17
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Abstract: Abstract To develop a historical archaeology of hope, post-medieval European archaeology should shift the focus beyond dark heritage to sites and events opposed to daily destruction and alienation. This case study of an antinuclear protest camp in 1980s Germany shows that cracks in capitalism formed when people protested for something; as they experimented with alternative lifeways and envisioned an alternative future. Archaeological intervention can help to reveal these fault lines in capitalism as we remember these heritage sites of hope, but intervention also reveals a cautionary tale of how these blurry pictures of an alternative future can so easily be concealed. PubDate: 2023-01-13
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Abstract: Abstract The CONIAE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) continuously critiques the global capitalist neoliberal structure. Similarly, this Indigenous critique is embodied in the projects studying the past in the Ecuadorian territory, particularly in the research of the gendered/sexual relations of the Enchaquirados during the pre-Hispanic period. This article builds upon this ethnohistorical research to show how these noncapitalist forms of economic, political, and gendered/sexual relationships continued to develop and evolve alternative forms of agency, livelihood and resistance. In Engabao (one of Ecuador’s many rural coastal communities), like in the CONAIE’S discourse, these cultural alternatives to the capitalist system tie this historical past to an agent-filled resistant Indigenous political present. PubDate: 2023-01-13
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Abstract: Abstract Advances in text mining and natural language processing methodologies have the potential to productively inform historical archaeology and oral history research. However, text mining methods are largely developed in the context of contemporary big data and publicly available texts, limiting the applicability of these tools in the context of historical and archaeological interpretation. Given the ability of text analysis to efficiently process and analyze large volumes of data, the potential for such tools to meaningfully inform historical archaeological research is significant, particularly for working with digitized data repositories or lengthy texts. Using oral histories recorded about a half-century ago from the anthracite coal mining region of Pennsylvania, USA, we discuss recent methodological developments in text analysis methodologies. We suggest future pathways to bridge the gap between generalized text mining methods and the particular needs of working with historical and place-based texts. PubDate: 2023-01-13
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Abstract: Abstract When thinking about ways to explore the American past with the goal of developing radical progressive modes of moving forward into our own histories, the specific perspectives we use and the people we study matter. In my interrogations of the lives of Maroons and Indigenous Americans of the Great Dismal Swamp (VA and NC), and transient hobos in Delta, PA, I have explored social worlds created by people who acted through a living critique of the wider capitalistic world. A central part of that critique was recognizing the parts of the American geographic landscape that we would later call “underdeveloped” or “undeveloped” areas effectively, “cracks” in the spatial world of capital. Using examples from my work, I discuss why these people do matter to our contemporary discussions on fomenting radical social transformations today. PubDate: 2023-01-10
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Abstract: Much of the archaeology and history of labor is based on organized labor, unions, and strikes, and the common rhetoric emphasizes the success or failure of union strike activities. This frames labor activism with clear winners and losers and inadvertently adopts the vantage point of capital. Given the modern world where union membership is plummeting, “success” seems even more unlikely. In this paper, I use the case of the Coalwood lumber camp to argue that labor’s “success” was much more complicated than simply winning strikes. Recognizing the difference between concrete and abstract labor provides a way to think about worker’s decisions to structure their lives based more on concrete than alienated labor that gives them more autonomy over their lives. PubDate: 2023-01-07
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Abstract: Using the example of an industrial site in Edmonton, Alberta, this paper argues that industrial ruins represent instantiations of abstract abandonment, a kind of real abstraction that directly articulates to the logic of capital. Drawing from excavations of the industrial ruins of Mill Creek Ravine, one of the first industrial areas in Edmonton, this paper reveals how sites of abstract abandonment congeal critical histories of both abandonment and its afterlives. The history of these ruins, and the communities that emerged after they were abandoned materialize the failures of capitalist fantasies, as well as the sprouts that grow in its cracks. PubDate: 2023-01-04
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Abstract: Abstract This paper discusses the Australian boab tree and its potential for research as living historical archaeology. Boab trees play an important role in the economy, culture, and cosmology of Indigenous people in northwest Australia and continue to hold a powerful presence in the Kimberley region today. Working with Nyikina and Mangala Traditional Owners we have undertaken to document examples of this iconic tree and its cultural and historical associations, particularly in the form of carvings and inscriptions embedded in the bark. Focusing on four individual trees located in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia, we propose that the modification of boab trees, as a practice undertaken by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, offers important insights into the everyday lives and historic events that shaped this cultural landscape. PubDate: 2022-12-07
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Abstract: Abstract Knowledge of the terrain and its use are essential for successful combat. This paper highlights the importance of these facts through the deeds of general Miklós VII Zrínyi (1620—64). His efforts to strengthen the defense of Međimurje resulted in a complex defense system that actively used the terrain to its advantage, established primarily for the protection of the Kakonya Crossing. The selection of the location of Novi Zrin, its strengthening, and the construction of the Zrínyi Ditch all prove that he was thinking of a complex system, and actively used the terrain to his advantage. PubDate: 2022-12-05
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Abstract: Abstract Through the analysis of faunal remains from refuse features associated with the Native Californian living quarters at Mission Santa Clara de Asìs, the article examines Indigenous diet within this colonial mission settlement. In Alta California, Native Californians from differing sociolinguistic groups were relocated to Spanish missions, creating an ever shifting pluralistic society. Within these mission settlements, Native Californians were tasked with maintaining the vast agricultural fields for which they received ingredients for two Spanish-style meals, atole and pozole. This study examines the diet of Native Californian families living within Mission Santa Clara, specifically focusing on the breakage patterns of cattle bones and the communal preparation, cooking, and consumption of these daily meals. These results illustrate change and continuity of foodway practices, expanding our understanding of mission political economies and Native Californian persistence within this colonial system. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-021-00632-5
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Abstract: Abstract Although historic stereotypes depict the South Carolina Sandhills as a backwoods of poor, White families, demographic and archaeological data evidence a diverse community. Small finds from three home sites connected to the Dunlap family challenge poverty and race-based assumptions. The Dunlap family stood out in the Sandhills as Black landowners and leaders in twentieth-century agricultural extension programs. These programs emphasized material consumption as an indication of household progress and stability. Analyzing small finds from the Dunlaps’ homes within the context of the agricultural extension service reveals the impact of segregated federal programs on identity mediation. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-021-00628-1
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Abstract: Abstract Diversification of standards of living in modern societies is one of the main research topics for economists and sociologists. Usually, economic inequalities are considered to be a natural phenomenon which trigger further progress and, in moderate amounts, are socially acceptable. However, deep inequalities are unjust and destructive and lead to conflicts. The research of contemporary inequalities in living standards mainly focuses on defining their source and their social and economic implications. The issue of social inequalities in pre-industrial societies is researched in a similar way, but requires different methods and data sources. The purpose of this paper is to determine the usefulness of archaeology in the research of diversification of living standards in Central-European cities at the end of Middle Ages and in the Early Modern era. As a case study we discuss the consumption strategies of Late Medieval and Early Modern dress accessories from different burgher plots in Prague (modern Czech Republic) and Wrocław (modern Poland) as an introduction for broader research. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-022-00654-7
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Abstract: Abstract In 1923, rural New England mill town Dover, New Hampshire, staged a Tercentenary pageant of extraordinary proportions to celebrate its “first” settlement. This public spectacle memorialized a specific, and deeply exclusionary, narrative of English settler colonialism, shaped by social anxieties of the post-First World War United States. Recent archaeological research has found possible remnants from this spectacle on a seventeenth-century site. In disturbing this site, the Tercentenary pageant appears to have disregarded actual significant material traces from the very era it aimed to memorialize--traces that offer distinct, fuller understandings of deeply nuanced Native-settler interactions in the Piscataqua River region. Dover’s pageant is situated in a regional analysis of Native and Euro-colonial commemorative place-making of the early twentieth century, exploring how different communities pursued multivocal, monovocal, or other approaches in their performative engagements with the seventeenth century. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-021-00635-2
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Abstract: Abstract Estimates suggest that over 15,000 people are buried at East End Cemetery, a historic African American cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, that until recently received no public funding for upkeep. Here, we present a case study analysis and potentially replicable methodology for counting and locating unmarked burial depressions in non-forested areas using a low-cost sUAV (drone) and simple, hydrology-based geographic information systems analyses. Upon visual inspection of 12% of our final 8,000 burial site dataset, we find our dataset is a plausible representation (75% accuracy) of potential grave locations. We hope that the methods presented below can be implemented to assist in reclaiming historically underfunded Black cemeteries across the American South. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-021-00642-3
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Abstract: Abstract From the kind of data used, to the creativity of approaches aimed at exploring social networks in the past, applications of social network analysis (SNA) in archaeology are characterized by exceptional diversity. In recent years, applications of SNA by historians and history-adjacent scholars have also increased dramatically, partly as a product of the growing field of digital humanities. In the North American sense of the term, the utility of social network analysis has yet to be substantively realized by historical archaeologists. In this paper, we use two case studies from the southeastern United States to illustrate the potential that social network analyses could offer historical archaeologists. In particular, we highlight how social network analysis can be employed as a framework for the integrated consideration of both archaeological and documentary evidence to explore the distribution, accumulation, control, and production of social capital in the past. In our first case study we leverage archaeological networks as a proxy for social capital to explore the contradictions and complementarity of archaeological data and the ethnohistorical record on the Indigenous politics of sixteenth-century Southern Appalachia. In our second example we examine networks of tasks and spaces across a nineteenth-century enslaved community on the Georgia Coast to understand how social capital can be differentially accumulated and accessed within particular spaces and practices. Through these examples, we demonstrate the potential for social network analysis to enrich the research programs and support the goals of North American historical archaeologists and to link such research into broader themes across the social and humanistic sciences. PubDate: 2022-12-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10761-021-00638-z
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