Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation

Charles E. Orser, Jr. (Author)

9780812237504

Hardback, published 26 November 2003

320 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.664 kg

"An extraordinarily stimulating and provocative book, rich in ides and suggested new directions for archaeology." (Choice) "Charles Orser outlines a research strategy for studying poverty and racism that is worthy of historical archaeology. . . . Much of this book is devoted to dealing with how people come to be worthy of being despised, usually by being seen as belonging to biologically inferior groups." (Journal of Anthropological Research)

Scholars who investigate race-a label based upon real or perceived physical differences-realize that they face a formidable task. The concept has been contested and condoned, debated and denied throughout modern history. Presented with the full understanding of the complexity of the issue, Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation concentrates on the archaeological analysis of race and how race is determined in the archaeological record.
Most archaeologists, even those dealing with recent history, have usually avoided the subject of race, yet Charles E. Orser, Jr., contends that its study and its implications are extremely important for the science of archaeology. Drawing upon his considerable experience as an archaeologist, and using a combination of practice theory as interpreted by Pierre Bourdieu and spatial theory as presented by Henri Lefebvre, Orser argues for an explicit archaeology of race and its interpretation.
The author reviews past archaeological usages of race, including a case study from early nineteenth-century Ireland, and explores the way race was used to form ideas about the Mound Builders, the Celts, and Atlantis. He concludes with a proposal that historical archaeology-cast as modern-world archaeology-should take the lead in the archaeological analysis of race because its purview is the recent past, that period during which our conceptions of race developed.

List of Illustrations
Preface
1. Problematizing Race in Archaeology
2. The Prehistory of Race and Archaeological Interpretation, Part I: Inventing Race for Archaeology
3. The Prehistory of Race and Archaeological Interpretation, Part II: Ethnicity over Race
4. Archaeological Interpretation and the Practice of Race
5. Materiality in the Practice of Race
6. A Case Study of Archaeology and the Practice of Race from Early Nineteenth-Century Ireland
7. Race, Practice, and Archaeology
References Cited
Index