Active Archaeology in the Middle East

Whether because of the lack of funds or personnel, or the flooding, or intensifying hostilities that ultimately resulted in the deaths of several site workers, William Kennett Loftus’s excavations at Susa during the 1850s were far from an absolute success. This is not to say that the undertaking was an utter failure either; Loftus, after all, produced a detailed plan of the site and oversaw the uncovering of the Apadana – the audience hall of the Palace of Darius (Loftus 1857; Curtis 1993). He is also credited with identifying the site as the biblical Shushan. But after Loftus finished digging at Susa, British researcher and diplomat Henry Rawlinson stated that Loftus “had turned the mound of Susa topsy-turvey without finding much” (Curtis 1993: 15). Rawlinson was not the only one to feel this way. When the Dieulafoys arrived at Susa in the 1880s, Jane Dieulafoy politely described Loftus’s work as a series of “awkward attempts to secure an inscription” (J. Dieulafoy 1890: 42). In contrast to this, the Dieulafoys prioritized planning their expedition to be accurate, systematic, and thorough. In Jane’s own words: “it does not enter into my husband’s views to dig any holes whatever and to search, in the dark, for ‘museum-objects;’ excavations executed with method alone can give scientific results” (J. Dieulafoy 1890: 89)

Looking for Pumpkin Pie’s Analogs in the Indian Ocean Trading System: Applying the Creolization Model to the Swahili Coast

In discussing the origins of civilization on the Swahili Coast, scholars have historically attributed achievements in this area to the colonizing interests of Arab settlers. More recently, research has revealed much more ancient origins for the Swahili cities. Similarly, historical archaeologists studying the colonial Chesapeake once ignored contributions by forced African emigrants and Native Americans to the developing culture in the area. This view has largely been rejected in favor of “creolization” theory, whereby interacting cultures contribute practices and ideas which reformulate to produce an integrated mix entirely different from either antecedent. In my research, I apply creolization theory to an archaeological study of the Swahili Coast and the Indian Ocean trading system in which it was involved, examining the archaeological record of the area for evidence of creolization as it manifests itself in the New World. I cite examples in many areas, specifically in ceramics, metallurgy, religious practice, costume and cosmetics, and architecture. I argue that these crosscultural similarities allow us to analyze the Swahili Coast and the broader Indian Ocean trading system using creolization theory as a tool in the same way that historical archaeologists of the Chesapeake have applied the theory

Läuterung in Praxis & Dialog

Across contexts as disparate as the United States, Australia, China, Japan, India, Russia, Spain and Europe more broadly, concepts of national identity are deeply intertwined with racial “purity” (Segal 1991; Weiner 1995; Dikötter 1997; Ang and Stratton 1998; Collins 1998; Tolz 2007; Goode 2009; Ghoshal 2021). Scientific rhetoric and technologies, from phrenology to genetics, have often been co-opted into shoring up myths about homogeneity and purity, and archaeology is no exception (Díaz-Andreu 1995; Epperson 1997; Arnold 2006; Challis 2013; Hakenbeck 2019; Pai 2020). What Rafi Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis add to this discussion with their book Archaeology, Nation, and Race (2022) is a deep consideration of the myriad ways in which the metaphor of purification shows up throughout archaeological practice. Their discussion invites a consideration of what it is about archaeology in particular that lends it to arguments about the salience of nationalist racial categories and homogeneity

Viewing Archaeology from a Kenyan Mountainside

This past summer, I participated in an archaeological field school in Western Kenya in order to understand the archaeological research process. However, I soon realized that that task was nearly impossible; our data collection was inextricably tied up with our daily lives, and distinguishing "research" from "non-research" was hopeless. Once I viewed the entire experience as a narrative, with definitive plot points and characters, I was able to understand our process in an entirely new way. I saw numerous connections between our narrative and that of the people we were studying, and I attempt to explore potential reasons for the multitude of similarities.College of William and Mary, Roy C. Charles Center, Sharpe Community Scholars Progra

Why those who shovel are silent: a history of local archaeological knowledge and labor

Includes bibliographical references and index.Years of ethnographic work with current and former workers at two Middle Eastern archaeological sites combined with archival research. Describes the knowledge that locally-hired laborers possess about artifacts, excavation methods, and interpretation, showing that archaeological workers are experts-and are paid by archaeologists to pretend to be less knowledgeable.--Provided by publisher.Local communities, labor, and laboratories -- Site workers as specialists, site workers as supporters -- Access to interpretation -- Lucrative non-knowledge -- Lucrative identities in global archaeological labor -- Inclusive recording

Archaeologists as Authors and the Stories of Sites: A Defense of Fiction in Archaeological Site Reporting

Within the context of a continued pursuit within archaeological literature for diverse methods of producing archaeological understandings, I argue that fictional narrative as a writing technique has been grossly underutilized, and that its potential has not been realized. Although there has been some previous experimentation with writing fictional narrative in archaeology, the focus has generally been on creating historical fiction with invented past actors. Using the term 'fiction' both in its etymological sense of 'something fashioned or constructed,' and in its more vernacular sense of 'something creative and invented,' I maintain that archaeological literature would benefit from a greater engagement with fictional narrative in the realm of site reporting. By fictionalizing ourselves in our accounts of archaeological research, archaeologists stand to create more creative, responsible, multivocalic, and accessible products of the archaeological epistemological process. In order to demonstrate this assertion, I not only conduct a survey of the literature on archaeological theory, writing, and the precedents for fiction's appearance in site reporting, but also perform my own case study: a fictionalized account of the 2010 season's excavations at Bir Madhkur, a caravan station along the ancient Spice Route between Petra and Gaza. In this way, I illustrate by example how fiction is an effective way to explore the intertwined nature of knowledge and its creation

Revisiting reflexive archaeology at Çatalhöyük: integrating digital and 3D technologies at the trowel’s edge

Excavations atC¸ atalh¨oy¨uk have been ongoingfor over 20 years and have involvedmulti-national teams, a diverse range ofarchaeological specialists and a vast archiveof records. The task of marshalling this dataso that it can be useful not only at thepost-excavation stage, but also while makingdecisions in the field, is challenging. Here,members of the team reflect on the useof digital technology on-site to promote areflexive engagement with the archaeology.They explore how digital data in a fieldworkcontext can break down communicationbarriers between specialists, foster an inclusiveapproach to the excavation process andfacilitate reflexive engagement with recording and interpretation