THE ARCHAEOREADER
WHERE A LOVE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND READING MEET
WHERE A LOVE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND READING MEET
"...what we think of when we envision the human past is partly a myth that tells more about where we think we're going wrong with our own lives today than anything that happened thousands and thousands of years ago...But what we're interested in here isn't just a takedown of some ridiculous celebrity-fueled diet or fashion trend [i.e. the paleodiet]. What we want to know is: what happened to Spear Guy and Raquel? Why did they decide to give up the big savanna and start spending their time over at the river's edge, swapping a never-ending horizon for the manageable commute associated with settled life? And what did that decision do to his leg muscles or her baby-juggling skills. Because we can look at the couple eating fast food in their car in a nameless city, success stories and paragons of human achievement in terms of the race to urban living that has characterized the last 15,000 or so years of human history, and we can look at the legions and legions of our ancestors who died along the way to that fast food parking lot, and see, locked away in the cells and structures of bones and teeth and hair and skin, that we haven't just built cities. Cities have built us."---Brenna Hassett If you read the (admittedly, excessively long BUT totally necessary!) quote above and, like me, it left you wanting more, then Research Associate and bioarchaeologist Dr. Brenna Hassett's Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death is for you! The 2nd read off TheArchaeoReader TBR, is one helluva nonfiction, popular science, book on the development of cities and how, not only have we shaped them but how cities have shaped us. I absolutely loved the way Hassett balanced a dense topic with wit and humor. From her catchy, oft musically-theme titled, chapters like 'Papa Was A Rolling Stone' (Chapter 1), 'What's New Pussycat?' (Chapter 3), and 'Under Pressure' (Chapter 9)--incidentally publisher, Bloomsbury has actually made a Spotify playlist, and though it hasn't included any of the songs the chapter names are taken from, I may or may not be listening to it while I work on this post--to her jocular voice (many of her footnotes are hilarious), Hassett certainly keeps your interest peaked. Within two pages I could tell this was going to be a great archaeology read. Right out the gate, Built on Bones takes on our 'paleo-fantasies' of humankind's first family and the popular lifestyle trend that gives every archaeologist and anthropologist heartburn: the Paleo Diet. I'll spare you my own rant on how absurd the Paleo Diet is, as any kind of representation of what our pre-agricultural ancestors were eating, in lieu of Dr. Christina Warriner's well-known 2012 TED talk. Which is far more eloquent than I could be on the subject. Personally, if I had to promote a diet that considered our early hominid ancestors it would be Michael Pollen's Cooked. Have you seen the Netflix special?! So good. But I digress and as Hassett says above, her book isn't just about debunking myths. Bone by bone, tooth, and even historical documents, a fascinating discussion on the Neolithic Revolution, human migration and plant and animal domestication, what bioarchaeology, genetics, and Ancient DNA (aka aDNA) can tell us about violence and inequality, and our responses to infectious disease, all unfolds to answer her questions: why cities have been built the way they have, and what this has done to human populations.
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Digging Deeper: How Long 'til Black Future Month?, Homegoing, and African Diaspora Archaeology2/14/2019 "We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.” ― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing I've been reading N. K. Jemisin's recently published short story collection How Long 'til Black Future Month? lately and one particular story, 'Red Dirt Witch,' blew me away for flipping the script on stories of the past. In this deeply affecting magical tale, where a mother and daughter living in 1950s Alabama dream prophecies and battle (of the wits variety) with a fey 'White Lady' for the fate of all African Americans, Jemisin shows history as future. It conveys all at once, power and hope in the very face of an oppressive history enduring the generational impact of slavery and institutional racism. And it got me thinking about Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing again--a compelling, epic family saga unfurling two different branches of a family tree beginning with half sisters, Effia and Esi, in mid-18th century Gold Coast Africa and ending with Marjorie and Marcus, their sixth generation descendants, in present-day America. Gyasi skillfully tells a story of family, heritage, and destiny through vignettes; propelling the reader through time and unforgettable historical narratives. Uncovering hidden stories of the past are an important part of archaeology if not THE most important part (bones, stones, and fill in the blank with your favorite human made object are cool and all but how it all can tell us more about who we are is cooler!). To speak to Yaa Gyasi's quote above, a lot of historical archaeologists (myself included) like doing archaeology because it’s an opportunity to explore the lives of “those of little note.” As an example, some historical archaeologists study underrepresented populations including the African Diaspora or Hispanic and Asian communities (check out the archaeology of Japanese internment camps in another post on here); tying together the intersection between gender, biological sex, sexual orientation, race, and class. And as its Black History Month, I want to highlight some of the amazing archaeological research that has amplified what would otherwise be missing voices among the African Diaspora in America. African Diaspora ArchaeologyA considerable body of archaeological research into African Diaspora communities, especially in the U.S., is devoted to plantation life. These studies explore a wide-range of evidence for instance: the spatial distribution of artifacts in order to better understand plantation functionality (pre-and post-emancipation) as a whole or singularly as with the case of excavations at slave cabins, yard areas, and even surveillance spaces that comprise plantation sites. The (archaeo)reader might be gratified to learn historic plantations like Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and James Madison's Montpelier have dedicated archaeology programs focused on their roles as sites of slavery. Monticello hosts the Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery (DAACS), where anyone interested in learning about excavations and architectural and material remains recovered from Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia sites can. Teachers of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders looking to incorporate plantation archaeology into their history classes might check out Project Archaeology and their curriculum guide, Investigating a Tabby Slave Cabin. Its an incredible resource (meeting Common Core Standards) for engaging young students in this important aspect of American history. For those who'd like to consider a critical look at how American heritage has been constructed at Antebellum era plantations including Friendfield (where Michelle Obama's enslaved ancestors have been traced), Antoinette T. Jackson's Speaking for the Enslaved: Heritage Tourism and Community is a must read. For a sample of archaeological scholarship, the Society for Historical Archaeology compiled 20 articles in their Perspectives series, The Archaeology of Plantation Life while archaeologist and professor, Theresa Singleton has put together The Archaeology of Slavery and Plantation Life. A Future after FreedomAs I think about Jemisin's commentary on Black history and a Black future, what her stories say about history as a future, (side note, Jemisin is without a doubt my favorite Science Fiction author and if you haven't read the 3-time Hugo award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy, stop what your're doing and go get The Fifth Season!) and the historical narratives in Homegoing I'm once more struck by archaeology's role in storytelling. Inspired by the findings from a cultural resource management transportation project, Professor Lu Ann De Cunzo published the journal article 'A Future after Freedom' (De Cunzo 2008)-- which can be found in the Society for Historical Archaeology's compiled Perspectives in African Diaspora Archaeology. In it she sheds the typical journal article format for fictional short stories about material representations of spirituality and celebration with two turn-of-the 20th century Delaware African American families, the Stumps and Walmsleys. De Cunzo points out in her abstract, "The Stumps and Walmseys drew on their pasts and looked to the future as they created a distinctive cultural style framed by racism and constrained opportunities." In her story of the Stumps we learn about Rachel's belief in the spiritual protection of iron or how wearing her best summer cotton dress at the Big Quarterly was a way to remember the suffering of her enslaved ancestors who had worked the fields. The story of David Walmsey is a rumination of African beliefs and American consumerism over the shattered fragments of a glass vase. More research into U.S. African Diaspora archaeology is considering places representing Black heritage from post-Civil War, on up through the mid-20th century. In the last few years historical archaeologist William White has examined a multi-racial urban neighborhood on River Street in Boise, Idaho and in my own state (Washington), a survey of historic African American sites is currently underway in the City of Pasco. Extensive investigations at Illinois' New Philadelphia, a community of previously enslaved and free-born African Americans living alongside European Americans, reveal lifeways of a town founded decades before the Civil War (in 1838). History in the Making- African American Burial Ground ProtectionJust yesterday (2/13/2019), it was announced that the Adams-McEachin African American Burial Grounds Network Act was introduced to Congress. This crucial piece of legislation would establish federal support, through the National Park Service, to help document and protect African American grave sites. Head over to this blog post at Succinct Research to learn more about why African American Burial Grounds needs protection and please write to your State Representatives to show your support of the bill. Learn MoreI have hyper-linked to sources where appropriate/available. All links and sources were electronically accessed between February 7 and February 14, 2019. I've barely scratched the surface on this subject. An incredible wealth of information can be found at: African Burial Ground National Monument The African Diaspora Archaeology Network The African Diaspora Archaeology Newsletter Society of Black Archaeologists The National Museum of African American History and Culture *If you like any of the information in this post please consider donating to any of the organizations mentioned. * References CitedDe Cunzo, Lu Ann
2008 [1998] A Future after Freedom. In Perspectives from Historical Archaeology: African Diaspora Archaeology. The Society for Historical Archaeology. |
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