Lewis Borck
University of Oklahoma, Native American Studies, Faculty Member
- Settler Colonial Studies, Cultural power and resistance, Native American Studies, Indigenous Research Methodologies, Resistance (Social), Southwestern Archaeology, and 17 moreSocial Movements, Ancestral Pueblo (Archaeology), Social movements and revolution, North American Southwest, Material Culture Studies, Anarchist Archaeology, Anarchism, Indigenous Peoples, Collaborative Archaeology, Direct Action, Anarcho-Indigenism, Heritage Conservation, History, Gallina Anasazi, Anthropology, Archaeology, and Indigenous Studiesedit
- Lewis is a neurodiverse author and academic. He is an assistant professor and the Horizon Chair of Native American Hi... moreLewis is a neurodiverse author and academic. He is an assistant professor and the Horizon Chair of Native American History and Culture in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Methodologically, Lewis uses quantitative spatial and network approaches to analyze data from the material histories of past peoples. He then places these results within, and interprets them through, descendant histories and philosophies. His research examines both how rebellion, revolutions, and social movements are often missed or erased by archaeologists even as they transformed societies and how modern politics and ideologies shape how we write history. In addition to his peer reviewed works, he has written for periodicals like the Huffington Post, Yes! Magazine, Sapiens, Culturico, and The Conversation and regularly appears on public lecture series and podcasts.edit
Research Interests: History, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, and 14 moreOrganizational Change, Equality Studies, Anarchism, Indigenous Politics, Oral history, Anarchist Studies, Resistance (Social), Indigenous Knowledge, Equality, Social History, Social movements and revolution, Southwestern Archaeology, Settler Colonial Studies, and Anarchist Archaeology
One of the great tragedies of global archaeology is that the discipline was started by Europeans entrenched in the ideological detritus of attempts to author legitimacy for their expanding empires through their assumed cultural... more
One of the great tragedies of global archaeology is that the discipline was started by Europeans entrenched in the ideological detritus of attempts to author legitimacy for their expanding empires through their assumed cultural connections with the so-called Classical societies in and around the Mediterranean. Because of this, we continue to explain movements away from centralization and aggregation of power as anomalies, or collapses, or natural reactions to environmental change. Using social movement theories within a framework of contentious politics, we start to answer one of archaeology's big what-ifs: What if "collapses" were the result of widespread, intentional actions to create change? To do so, we investigate how local communities reacted to the spread of a new ideology that archaeologists call the Salado Phenomenon. We address how tensions stretching across political, social, and religious spheres created a pattern observed in the archaeological record that has previously been interpreted as a religious cult. We discuss how this pattern relates to acts of resistance and why these acts demonstrate that the Salado Phenomenon represents the remains of a spatially and culturally dispersed religious social movement that burst across the southern Southwest, aimed at contesting the centralization of power by regional elites and councils during the Hohokam Classic period (AD 1100/1200-1450). Using fissures in the ideo-political landscape of the Greater Southwest to contextualize this movement, we argue this religious social movement formed, and was successful, because it contested and eventually dispersed, in the mid 14th to mid 15th centuries, the centralization of power that happened during previous ideo-political developments in the southern Southwest. Collapses, we argue, should always be investigated first from a position that assumes that communities rejected power aggregation.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, History, Social Movements, Historical Geography, Archaeology, and 15 morePrehistoric Archaeology, Indigenous Studies, Historical Archaeology, Social Networks, Medieval Studies, Indigenous Archaeololgy, Anarchism, Anarchist Studies, Resistance (Social), Modeling and Simulation, Southwestern Archaeology, Subaltern Studies, Contentious Politics, Anarchy, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
A common problem when classifying archaeological objects is a potential cultural bias of the person deciding on the classification system. These are existing concerns within archaeology and anthropology and have previously been discussed... more
A common problem when classifying archaeological objects is a potential cultural bias of the person deciding on the classification system. These are existing concerns within archaeology and anthropology and have previously been discussed as an emic/etic divide, “folk” classifications, or objective versus subjective approaches. But who gets to decide what is objective is often a subjective endeavour. To examine if and how cultural perceptions bias classification systems, we use methods from the field of cultural domain analysis to quantify differences in perception of ceramic sherds between different groups of people, specifically archaeologists and Indigenous and non-Indigenous potters. For this study, we asked participants to arrange a set of 30 archaeological sherds on a canvas, then interviewed them following each sorting exercise. A geosocial analysis of the arrangements in this pilot study suggests that there are substantial differences in the criteria by which the sherds are sorted between the groups. In particular, the arrangements by the Indigenous potters showed a greater diversity in the selection of underlying attributes. Understanding our different perceptions towards the material we use to construct history is the first step towards approaching what feminists have called a strong objectivity and thus a less fraught and more culturally inclusive discipline.
Research Interests: History, Cultural Studies, Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Archaeology, and 15 moreExperimental Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Feminist Theory, Ethnoarchaeology, Ethnography, Material Culture Studies, Typology, Anarchism, Clustering and Classification Methods, Anarchist Studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), and Classification
Archaeology is a process for, at minimum, constructing history from the material record. The decisions about what to use to create that history is unavoidably political. This political act primarily serves to construct and enforce the... more
Archaeology is a process for, at minimum, constructing history from the material record. The decisions about what to use to create that history is unavoidably political. This political act primarily serves to construct and enforce the power of the state, although it can be used to contest it. Prefiguration, emerging from anarchist theory and parallel social movements, can be understood not simply as a radical practice, but also as an understanding of how history is created. Thus, it can be used to explain how history is constructed from past and contemporary archaeological decisions, as well as what sociopolitical organizations that future history will naturalize.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Organizational Behavior, History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology, and 15 morePrehistoric Archaeology, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, Education, Organizational Change, Cultural Heritage, Postcolonial Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Anarchism, Heritage Conservation, Unesco, Anarchist Studies, Cultural Heritage Management, Decolonial Thought, and Anarchist Archaeology
Research Interests: Historical Geography, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Archaeology, and 15 moreCultural Heritage, Anarchism, Identity politics, Anarchist Studies, Cultural Heritage Management, Intersectionality and Social Inequality, Anarcho-autonomism and political transformation, Intersectionality, Social Inequality, Decolonization, Consensus Decision-Making, Anarquismo, Majority rule, UNESCO world heritage, and Prefiguration
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune (Trice 2014), while discussing how modern Native Americans have become culturally invisible in the United States, indigenous rapper Frank Waln stated “we’re a people with a past, not of the... more
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune (Trice 2014), while discussing how modern Native Americans have become culturally invisible in the United States, indigenous rapper Frank Waln stated “we’re a people with a past, not of the past.” This is a process he calls “symbolic annihilation.” In many ways, the Gallina invert Waln’s sentence. They were a people of the past but without a past. By purposely removing objects that referenced their place-based past, they removed their recent history to focus more fully on the period of the distant past (Basketmaker II) that was their atavistic ideal. They simultaneously removed themselves from history while wrapping themselves in their own version of the past. For this chapter, then, to reverse the standard archaeological gaze and view the Gallina as active producers and not just recipients of history, I used geosocial networks and architectural patterning to explore potential patterns in the archaeological record through the lens of social movements. The case study was conducted at the community level. The community data were synthesized in a bottom-up, diachronic, and cross-regional inquiry into the use of space and use of markers of place within and between Gallina communities. Thus, the Gallina are viewed as part of a historical continuum instead of merely within a spatially restricted culture area. From this perspective, they become much more than a culturally impoverished group that was pushed into poor resource areas at the margins of more demographically dense, culturally rich groups. Instead, when the non-local ceramics found in some Gallina households are interpreted as remnants of largely forgotten inscribed memory, they become a people with varied histories who chose to reject the northern Southwest’s changing social landscape by systematically removing their place-based connections to that history and then reworking their political and ideological world.
By taking a diachronic and network perspective, the Gallina become a people who chose their way in their world. Specifically, they decided to step out of a cultural and ideological trajectory diametrically opposed to their ideas on how life should be organized. Once socially and historically situated, the Gallina highlands look more like a place of refuge for people who were rebelling against political and religious changes in the northern Southwest than an area populated by simple folk unable to keep pace with their rapidly changing neighbors. The Gallina region suddenly becomes a much more complicated place—a diverse collection of people dedicated to creating a new community at the edges of their previous world, one with clear material connections to antecedent regional groups (see Simpson 2016) but with new architectural and artifactual forms (i.e., tri-notched axes and pointed-bottom vessels). However, they are not a hybrid group like the colonial resistors Homi K. Bhabha (1994) was describing when he redefined hybridity. Instead, as a product of their atavistic movement, they become hybrids through time. By appropriating the past for their own intentions, they become rebels in their present—pioneers of a future history.
By taking a diachronic and network perspective, the Gallina become a people who chose their way in their world. Specifically, they decided to step out of a cultural and ideological trajectory diametrically opposed to their ideas on how life should be organized. Once socially and historically situated, the Gallina highlands look more like a place of refuge for people who were rebelling against political and religious changes in the northern Southwest than an area populated by simple folk unable to keep pace with their rapidly changing neighbors. The Gallina region suddenly becomes a much more complicated place—a diverse collection of people dedicated to creating a new community at the edges of their previous world, one with clear material connections to antecedent regional groups (see Simpson 2016) but with new architectural and artifactual forms (i.e., tri-notched axes and pointed-bottom vessels). However, they are not a hybrid group like the colonial resistors Homi K. Bhabha (1994) was describing when he redefined hybridity. Instead, as a product of their atavistic movement, they become hybrids through time. By appropriating the past for their own intentions, they become rebels in their present—pioneers of a future history.
Research Interests: History, Social Movements, Geography, Native American Studies, Archaeology, and 15 moreAnthropology, Cultural Heritage, Material Culture Studies, History and Memory, Anarchism, Anarchist Studies, Egalitarianism, Resistance (Social), Social movements and revolution, Southwestern Archaeology, Contentious Politics, Decolonization, Anarchy, Gallina Anasazi, and Anarchist Archaeology
Research Interests: History, Geography, Social Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, and 14 moreSocial Sciences, Violence, Material Culture Studies, Landscape Archaeology, Migration, Neolithic Archaeology, Conflict Archaeology, Migration Studies, Southwestern Archaeology, Migrations (Archaeology), Ancestral Pueblo (Archaeology), Least Cost Path Analysis, Gallina Anasazi, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
"To play with a tired phrase, pots are not people, but they are choices." Borck and Mills 2017:30 In Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption in American Archaeology, edited by Craig N. Cipolla, pp. 29–43. University of Arizona... more
"To play with a tired phrase, pots are not people, but they are choices." Borck and Mills 2017:30
In Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption in American Archaeology, edited by Craig N. Cipolla, pp. 29–43. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
In Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption in American Archaeology, edited by Craig N. Cipolla, pp. 29–43. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Archaeology, Southwestern United States (Archaeology in North America), and 12 moreArchaeological Method & Theory, Network Analysis, Archaeological GIS, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Anthropology Of Consumption, Archaeological Theory, Southwestern Archaeology, Consumption and Material Culture, Social Network Analysis (Social Sciences), GeoSocial Analysis, Anthropological Theory, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Archaeological research on the Gallina (AD 1100–1300) inhabitants of the region west of the Rio Chama and centered on the Llaves valley has focused on constructing a culture history and examining functional characteristics of artifacts... more
Archaeological research on the Gallina (AD 1100–1300) inhabitants of the region west of the Rio Chama and centered on the Llaves valley has focused on constructing a culture history and examining functional characteristics of artifacts and architecture. Limited research has attempted to understand who the residents of the Gallina heartland were. In this article, using new findings and historical contexts, we argue that the Gallina people had a complicated identity forged around resistance and a deep connection to their past. To better understand them we need to move past previous binary categories used to describe them and perceive them not as isolated or connected, aggressors or victims, traditionalists or innovators, but as an intersectional mix of these axes of identity. Moreover, the process-oriented discussion of ethnogenesis can be problematic. Instead it might be best to think of Gallina social identity as one of being, instead of becoming, because for them identity was not a process, it was a position, although one variably shifting along intersecting axes of identity—it was not static. Just as critically, becoming is a category of hierarchical power in some Indigenous communities in the Southwest.
Research Interests: History, Social Movements, Geography, Native American Studies, Archaeology, and 15 moreAnthropology, Cultural Heritage, Material Culture Studies, History and Memory, Anarchism, Anarchist Studies, Egalitarianism, Resistance (Social), Social movements and revolution, Southwestern Archaeology, Contentious Politics, Decolonization, Anarchy, Gallina Anasazi, and Anarchist Archaeology
Research Interests: Social Theory, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Political Philosophy, and 13 moreIndigenous Studies, Cultural Heritage, Material Culture Studies, Sociology of Knowledge, Anarchism, Anarchism (Literature), Archaeological Method & Theory, Heritage Conservation, Anarchist Studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Archaeological Theory, Decolonial Thought, and Decolonization
The theory of anarchism primarily concerns the organization of society in a way that fosters egal- itarian or equitable forms of association and coop- eration and resists all forms of domination. An anarchist perspective involves an... more
The theory of anarchism primarily concerns the
organization of society in a way that fosters egal-
itarian or equitable forms of association and coop-
eration and resists all forms of domination. An
anarchist perspective involves an awareness of,
and critique of, how power is implemented
through social relations, whether positively as in
collaborative acts of mutual aid to common goals
or negatively as in assertions of authoritarian
power contrary to the interests of the community
as a whole. As a theory concerning power and
social relations, archaeologists apply anarchism
for analyses of past societies, to interpret and
evaluate forms of egalitarian or hierarchical rela-
tions, modes of domination or resistance, and
expressions of control or autonomy. Moreover, it
is not just for considering the past, but the theory
can be applied to contemporary social arrange-
ments concerning archaeology in multiple ways:
how archaeologists organize themselves for
research teams and field crews, involve local or
descendant communities, or relate to the various
publics concerning heritage. Anarchism has had
an increasing influence upon archaeology in
recent years, just as the theory has influenced
other disciplines throughout the social sciences
and humanities.
organization of society in a way that fosters egal-
itarian or equitable forms of association and coop-
eration and resists all forms of domination. An
anarchist perspective involves an awareness of,
and critique of, how power is implemented
through social relations, whether positively as in
collaborative acts of mutual aid to common goals
or negatively as in assertions of authoritarian
power contrary to the interests of the community
as a whole. As a theory concerning power and
social relations, archaeologists apply anarchism
for analyses of past societies, to interpret and
evaluate forms of egalitarian or hierarchical rela-
tions, modes of domination or resistance, and
expressions of control or autonomy. Moreover, it
is not just for considering the past, but the theory
can be applied to contemporary social arrange-
ments concerning archaeology in multiple ways:
how archaeologists organize themselves for
research teams and field crews, involve local or
descendant communities, or relate to the various
publics concerning heritage. Anarchism has had
an increasing influence upon archaeology in
recent years, just as the theory has influenced
other disciplines throughout the social sciences
and humanities.
Research Interests:
This dissertation uses a relational approach and a contentious politics framework to examine the archaeological record. Methodologically, it merges spatial and social network analyses to promote a geosocial archaeology. The articles... more
This dissertation uses a relational approach and a contentious politics framework to examine the archaeological record. Methodologically, it merges spatial and social network analyses to promote a geosocial archaeology. The articles create a counter-narrative to environmentally and economically focused investigations that can fail to explain how and why societies in the Southwest often reorganize horizontally. The first article uses geosocial networks, which I argue represent memory maps, to reveal that people in the Gallina region during A.D. 1100 ̶ 1300 employed the socially important, and sophisticated, act of forgetting. A community level, settlement pattern analysis demonstrates similarities between the arrangement of Gallina and Basketmaker-era settlements. These historically situated settlement structures, combined with acts of forgetting, were used by Gallina region residents to institute and maintain a horizontally organized social movement that was likely aimed at rejecting the hierarchical social changes in the Four Corners region. The second article proposes that as ideologically charged material goods are consumed, fissures within past ideological landscapes are exposed and that these fissures can reveal acts of resistance in the archaeological past. It also contends that social and environmental variables need to be combined for these acts of resistance to be correctly interpreted. The third article applies many of the ideas outlined in the second article to a case study in the Greater Southwest during A.D. 1200–1450. Fractures in the ideological landscape demonstrate that the Salado Phenomenon was a religious social movement formed around, and successful because of, its populist nature. Based on variations in how the Salado ideology interacted with contemporaneous hierarchical and non-hierarchical religious and political organizations it is probable that the Salado social movement formed around desires for the open access to religious knowledge.
Research Interests: Sociology, Social Movements, Geography, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, and 23 moreReligion and Politics, Space and Place, History and Memory, Anarchism, Anarchist Studies, Resistance (Social), Memory Studies, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Social movements and revolution, Cultural power and resistance, Ancestral Pueblo (Archaeology), Historical Network Research, Geosocial networks, Contentious Politics, Historical network analysis, Hohokam Archaeology, Gallina Anasazi, Anarchist Archaeology, GeoSocial Analytics, Rio Chama archaeology, Architecture and Public Spaces, Archaeological Network Analysis, and Salado Archaeology
Archaeologists have regarded social networks as both the links through which people transmitted information and goods as well as a form of social storage creating relationships that could be drawn upon in times of subsistence shortfalls... more
Archaeologists have regarded social networks as both the links through which people transmitted information and goods as well as a form of social storage creating relationships that could be drawn upon in times of subsistence shortfalls or other deleterious environmental conditions. In this article, formal social network analytical (SNA) methods are applied to archaeological data from the late pre-Hispanic North American Southwest to look at what kinds of social networks characterized those regions that were the most enduring versus those that were depopulated over a 250-year period (A.D. 1200–1450). In that time, large areas of the Southwest were no longer used for residential purposes, some of which corresponds with well-documented region-wide drought. Past research has demonstrated that some population levels could have been maintained in these regions, yet regional scale depopulation occurred. We look at the degree to which the network level property of embeddedness, along with population size, can help to explain why some regions were depopulated and others were not. SNA can help archaeologists examine why emigration occurred in some areas following an environmental crisis while other areas continued to be inhabited and even received migrants. Moreover, we modify SNA techniques to take full advantage of the time depth and spatial and demographic variability of our archaeological data set. The results of this study should be of interest to those who seek to understand human responses to past, present, and future worldwide catastrophes since it is now widely recognized that responses to major human disasters, such as hurricanes, were “likely to be shaped by pre-existing or new social networks” (as reported by Suter et al. (Research and Policy Review 28:1–10, 2009)).
Research Interests: Ancient History, Demography, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, and 27 moreSocial Networks, Social Sciences, Material Culture Studies, Disaster risk management, Migration, Crisis Management, Ancient Networks, North American Southwest, Social Archaeology, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Migration Studies, Disaster Management, Sociology of Migration, Migration (Anthropology), Southwestern Archaeology, Ceramics (Archaeology), Material Culture, Computer Applications & Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA), Historical Network Research, Historical network analysis, Risk and crisis management, Archaeological Interaction and Networks, Kayenta Archaeology, Archaeological Network Analysis, Salado Archaeology, Hopi Archaeology, and Zuni Archaeology
Many of these frontier and borderland zones in the Greater American Southwest—these non-places—are often non-hierarchical, or at least less hierarchical than many areas in the Chacoan World. Some of these non-places even prefer a more... more
Many of these frontier and borderland zones in the Greater American Southwest—these non-places—are often non-hierarchical, or at least less hierarchical than many areas in the Chacoan World. Some of these non-places even prefer a more traditional style of architecture. Places like the crater houses around Chimney Rock (Chuipka 2011), the Gallina, the Valdez Phase near Taos (Boyer 1997; Fowles 2010), and Homol’ovi Pueblo III pithouse communities (Barker and Young 2017) often get labeled as “Out-of-Phase,” as though they failed to predict the eventual rise of the Pecos Classification System or the Northern Rio Grande Sequence. This highlights one of the major underlying processes for the construction of “sexy,” the construction of archaeological popularity, in archaeology. Things that look more like us, get more attention. And in the US Southwest at least, hierarchy is sexy (Borck under review).
Research Interests: History, Ancient History, Cultural History, Geography, Human Geography, and 26 moreArchaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Philosophy of Science, Southwestern United States (Archaeology in North America), History of Science, Anarchism, Archaeological Method & Theory, Anarchist Studies, Archaeological Theory, Southwestern Archaeology, Frontier Studies, Ancestral Pueblo (Archaeology), Prehistory, Non-Places, Borders and Frontiers, Anthropology of Place, Anarchy, Anarquismo, Gallina Anasazi, Places, Rio Chama archaeology, Anarquismo Epistemológico, Nationalism and Decolonization, Archaeological epistemology, and Gallina Archaeology
Research Interests:
In the Gallina district, it is still unclear whether the violence originated with domestic (i.e. local) or foreign agents. This analysis will begin with a brief review of the relevant archaeology of the Gallina area. Following this, I set... more
In the Gallina district, it is still unclear whether the violence originated with domestic (i.e. local) or foreign agents. This analysis will begin with a brief review of the relevant archaeology of the Gallina area. Following this, I set out to understand who the aggressors might be in this region by employing macroregional spatial analyses in two different case studies. Spatial analysis is ideal for understanding the source of violence in a region. For one, it is applicable at various scales. This is especially important in determining violence between local groups versus violence across a regional landscape. It is only by understanding the spatial patterns of violence that researchers can comprehensively demonstrate the difference between local versus regional, internal versus external patterns.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The Caribbean Sea was a conduit for human mobility and the exchange of goods and ideas during the whole of its pre-colonial history. The period cal. AD 1000-1800, covering the Late Ceramic Age and early colonial era, represents an... more
The Caribbean Sea was a conduit for human mobility and the exchange of goods and ideas during the whole of its pre-colonial history. The period cal. AD 1000-1800, covering the Late Ceramic Age and early colonial era, represents an archaeologically understudied time during which the Lesser Antilles came under increasing influence from the Greater Antilles and coastal South America and participated in the last phase of indigenous resistance to colonial powers. This article summarizes the results of the Island Network project, supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in which a multi-disciplinary set of archaeological, archaeometric, geochemical, GIS, and network science methods and
techniques have been employed to disentangle this turbulent era in regional and global history. These diverse approaches reveal and then explore multi-layered networks of objects and people and uncover how Lesser Antillean communities were created and transformed
through teaching, trade, migration, movement, and exchange of goods and knowledge.
techniques have been employed to disentangle this turbulent era in regional and global history. These diverse approaches reveal and then explore multi-layered networks of objects and people and uncover how Lesser Antillean communities were created and transformed
through teaching, trade, migration, movement, and exchange of goods and knowledge.
Research Interests: History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, and 15 moreSocial Networks, Stable Isotope Analysis, Migration, History of Slavery, Colonialism, Caribbean History, Caribbean Studies, Resistance (Social), Coastal and Island Archaeology, Object Relations, Caribbean Archaeology, Cultural power and resistance, Least Cost Path Analysis, Biography of Objects, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Based on areas where Salado religion flourished (areas in which nearly every household within a settlement had Salado pottery) and areas where people rejected it, Salado appears to have been a political movement as well as a religious... more
Based on areas where Salado religion flourished (areas in which nearly every household within a settlement had Salado pottery) and areas where people rejected it, Salado appears to have been a political movement as well as a religious movement. This movement formed in the most intense areas of immigrant and local interaction. And its message, aimed at marginalized groups regardless of ethnic background, contested elites’ control of ideology associated with platform mounds. Salado was most successful in areas where social inequality was relatively high, because it replaced unequal access to religious and political power with a more equitable distribution, one that harkened back to earlier times in Hohokam history, such as the ballcourt era.
Research Interests: History, Ancient History, Social Movements, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, and 15 moreLandscape Archaeology, Cultural Theory, Anarchism, Critical Social Theory, Anarchist Studies, Resistance (Social), North American archaeology, Social History, Southwestern Archaeology, Post-Anarchism, Movimientos sociales, Hohokam Archaeology, Anarchist Archaeology, Resistencia Social, and Salado Archaeology
Archaeologists reconstruct the activities and interactions of individuals using the accumulated material culture of the past, yet detecting these interactions can be difficult using traditional archaeological analytical tools. The... more
Archaeologists reconstruct the activities and
interactions of individuals using the accumulated
material culture of the past, yet detecting these
interactions can be difficult using traditional
archaeological analytical tools. The development
of a methodological framework emerging from
graph theory, coupled with the growth of computational
power and a growing multidisciplinary
theoretical framework aimed at interpreting these
analyses, have eased the difficulties of uncovering,
analyzing, and interpreting networks in the
past. From examining physical locations of sites
and how they interact together (Peregrine 1991) to
examining trade routes and migration pathways
(Hofman et al. 2018), and the exchange of
ideas across time and space (Mills et al. 2013),
network approaches have infiltrated archaeology
and grown exponentially in published studies
(Brughmans 2013; Mills 2017).
interactions of individuals using the accumulated
material culture of the past, yet detecting these
interactions can be difficult using traditional
archaeological analytical tools. The development
of a methodological framework emerging from
graph theory, coupled with the growth of computational
power and a growing multidisciplinary
theoretical framework aimed at interpreting these
analyses, have eased the difficulties of uncovering,
analyzing, and interpreting networks in the
past. From examining physical locations of sites
and how they interact together (Peregrine 1991) to
examining trade routes and migration pathways
(Hofman et al. 2018), and the exchange of
ideas across time and space (Mills et al. 2013),
network approaches have infiltrated archaeology
and grown exponentially in published studies
(Brughmans 2013; Mills 2017).
Research Interests: Landscape Ecology, Sociology, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, and 15 moreComplex Systems Science, Historical Archaeology, Digital Humanities, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Social Networks, Social Sciences, Material Culture Studies, Graph Theory, Landscape Archaeology, Complexity Theory, Digital Archaeology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Complex Adaptive Systems, and Prehistory
Book edited by: Corinne L. Hofman and Andrzej Antczak
This book and chapter are available to read open access at: https://www.sidestone.com/
books/early-settlers-of-the-insular-caribbean
This book and chapter are available to read open access at: https://www.sidestone.com/
books/early-settlers-of-the-insular-caribbean
Research Interests:
Overview of past and current archaeological research on the Ancestral Pueblo Gallina phase of the U.S. Southwest.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Public Archaeology, Violence, Material Culture Studies, and 12 moreSouthwestern United States (Archaeology in North America), North American archaeology, Prehistoric Settlement, Prehistoric Technology, Southwestern Archaeology, Preservation - conservation (Archaeology), Material Culture, Prehistoric Archeology, Gallina Anasazi, Rio Chama archaeology, Gallina, and Archaeology Public Outreach
Research Interests:
Analyzing historical trajectories of social interactions at varying scales can lead to complementary interpretations of relationships among archaeological settlements. We use social network analysis combined with geographic information... more
Analyzing historical trajectories of social interactions at varying scales can lead to complementary interpretations of relationships among archaeological settlements. We use social network analysis combined with geographic information systems at three spatial scales over time in the western U.S. Southwest to show how the same social processes affected network dynamics at each scale. The period we address, A.D. 1200–1450, was characterized by migration and demographic upheaval. The tumultuous late thirteenth-century interval was followed by population coalescence and the development of widespread religious movements in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the southern Southwest these processes resulted in a highly connected network that drew in members of different settlements within and between different valleys that had previously been distinct. In the northern Southwest networks were initially highly connected followed by a more fragmented social landscape. We examine how different network textures emerged at each scale through 50-year snapshots. The results demonstrate the usefulness of applying a multiscalar approach to complex historical trajectories and the potential for social network analysis as applied to archaeological data.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Special issue of Archaeology Southwest Magazine focused on the Southwest Social Networks Project. This project explores the changing nature and scale of social networks in the late precontact period in the western U.S. Southwest.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Ceramic jar sherds recovered from the trash mounds directly south of Pueblo Bonito were examined for insight into patterns of food consumption at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon by utilizing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS)... more
Ceramic jar sherds recovered from the trash mounds directly south of Pueblo Bonito were examined for insight into patterns of food consumption at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon by utilizing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Fatty acids are less likely to degrade over time than other organic materials; therefore, fatty acids that absorbed into prehistoric pottery walls, and that adhered to the interior surface of the vessel, can be analyzed. Their analyses results in a GC/MS signature for the type of food that left behind these fatty acids. Grayware and whiteware pottery sherds reveal varying presences of fatty acids. Experimental processing and cooking of both plants and animals from the American Southwest, in contemporary ceramic pots obtained from the University of New Mexico’s art department, was also conducted to provide a reference collection of fatty acid signatures for comparison against the fatty acid signatures of the pre-hispanic sherds.
Research Interests:
The late pre-Hispanic period in the US Southwest (A.D. 1200–1450) was characterized by large-scale demographic changes, including long-distance migration and population aggregation. To reconstruct how these processes reshaped social... more
The late pre-Hispanic period in the US Southwest (A.D. 1200–1450) was characterized by large-scale demographic changes, including long-distance migration and population aggregation. To reconstruct how these processes reshaped social networks, we compiled a comprehensive artifact database from major sites dating to this interval in the western Southwest. We combine social network analysis with geographic information systems approaches to reconstruct network dynamics over 250 y. We show how social networks were transformed across the region at previously undocumented spatial, temporal, and social scales. Using well-dated decorated ceramics, we track changes in network topology at 50-y intervals to show a dramatic shift in network density and settlement centrality from the northern to the southern Southwest after A.D. 1300. Both obsidian sourcing and ceramic data demonstrate that long-distance network relationships also shifted from north to south after migration. Surprisingly, social distance does not always correlate with spatial distance because of the presence of network relationships spanning long geographic distances. Our research shows how a large network in the southern Southwest grew and then collapsed, whereas networks became more fragmented in the northern Southwest but persisted. The study also illustrates how formal social network analysis may be applied to large-scale databases of material culture to illustrate multigenerational changes in network structure.
Research Interests:
Abstract: Analyzing historical trajectories of social interactions at varying scales can lead to complementary interpretations of relationships among archaeological settlements. We use social network analysis combined with geographic... more
Abstract:
Analyzing historical trajectories of social interactions at varying scales can lead to complementary interpretations of relationships among archaeological settlements. We use social network analysis combined with geographic information systems at three spatial scales over time in the western U.S. Southwest to show how the same social processes affected network dynamics at each scale. The period we address, A.D. 1200–1450, was characterized by migration and demographic upheaval. The tumultuous late thirteenth-century interval was followed by population coalescence and the development of widespread religious movements in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the southern Southwest these processes resulted in a highly connected network that drew in members of different settlements within and between different valleys that had previously been distinct. In the northern Southwest networks were initially highly connected followed by a more fragmented social landscape. We examine how different network textures emerged at each scale through 50-year snapshots. The results demonstrate the usefulness of applying a multiscalar approach to complex historical trajectories and the potential for social network analysis as applied to archaeological data.
Spanish
El análisis multi-escalar de interacciones sociales y sus trayectorias históricas pueden producir interpretaciones complementarias acerca de las relaciones entre asentamientos arqueológicos. Utilizamos el análisis de redes sociales en combinación con sistemas de información geográfica mediante tres escalas espaciales a través del tiempo en el oeste de la región del Suroeste Norteamericano para demonstrar cómo procesos sociales similares afectaron la dinámica de redes en cada escala. El período de interés, A.D. 1200–1450, se caracterizó por la migración y el desorden demográfico. El tumultuoso siglo trece fue seguido por la coalescencia de poblaciones diversas y por el desarrollo de extensos movimientos religiosos en los siglos catorce y quince. En el Suroeste meridional estos procesos resultaron en una red altamente conectada que atrajo miembros de diferentes asentamientos dentro y entre diferentes valles que habían sido previamente diferenciados. En el Suroeste septentrional las redes inicialmente estuvieron muy conectadas pero fueron sucedidas por un paisaje social fragmentario. Finalmente, examinamos cómo diferentes texturas de redes emergieron en cada escala en períodos de 50 años. Los resultados demuestran la utilidad del análisis multi-escalar para investigar trayectorias históricas complejas y el potencial del análisis de redes sociales para el estudio de datos arqueológicos.
Analyzing historical trajectories of social interactions at varying scales can lead to complementary interpretations of relationships among archaeological settlements. We use social network analysis combined with geographic information systems at three spatial scales over time in the western U.S. Southwest to show how the same social processes affected network dynamics at each scale. The period we address, A.D. 1200–1450, was characterized by migration and demographic upheaval. The tumultuous late thirteenth-century interval was followed by population coalescence and the development of widespread religious movements in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the southern Southwest these processes resulted in a highly connected network that drew in members of different settlements within and between different valleys that had previously been distinct. In the northern Southwest networks were initially highly connected followed by a more fragmented social landscape. We examine how different network textures emerged at each scale through 50-year snapshots. The results demonstrate the usefulness of applying a multiscalar approach to complex historical trajectories and the potential for social network analysis as applied to archaeological data.
Spanish
El análisis multi-escalar de interacciones sociales y sus trayectorias históricas pueden producir interpretaciones complementarias acerca de las relaciones entre asentamientos arqueológicos. Utilizamos el análisis de redes sociales en combinación con sistemas de información geográfica mediante tres escalas espaciales a través del tiempo en el oeste de la región del Suroeste Norteamericano para demonstrar cómo procesos sociales similares afectaron la dinámica de redes en cada escala. El período de interés, A.D. 1200–1450, se caracterizó por la migración y el desorden demográfico. El tumultuoso siglo trece fue seguido por la coalescencia de poblaciones diversas y por el desarrollo de extensos movimientos religiosos en los siglos catorce y quince. En el Suroeste meridional estos procesos resultaron en una red altamente conectada que atrajo miembros de diferentes asentamientos dentro y entre diferentes valles que habían sido previamente diferenciados. En el Suroeste septentrional las redes inicialmente estuvieron muy conectadas pero fueron sucedidas por un paisaje social fragmentario. Finalmente, examinamos cómo diferentes texturas de redes emergieron en cada escala en períodos de 50 años. Los resultados demuestran la utilidad del análisis multi-escalar para investigar trayectorias históricas complejas y el potencial del análisis de redes sociales para el estudio de datos arqueológicos.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Social Networks, Pottery (Archaeology), Social Networking, and 7 moreSocial Network Analysis (SNA), Ceramic Analysis (Archaeology), Southwestern Archaeology, Ceramics (Archaeology), Ancestral Pueblo (Archaeology), Archaeology of the U.S. Southwest, and Hohokam Archaeology
Research Interests:
La Rebelión Pueblo es caracterizada como uno de los más exitosos actos de Resistencia indígena. Sin embargo, tanto como en los registros históricos de los poderes coloniales europeos en el Suroeste de Estados Unidos se ha sesgado el... more
La Rebelión Pueblo es caracterizada como uno de los más exitosos actos de Resistencia indígena. Sin embargo, tanto como en los registros históricos de los poderes coloniales europeos en el Suroeste de Estados Unidos se ha sesgado el entendimiento arqueológico de situaciones de contacto al subestimar la interacción entre grupos indígenas, así también la Rebelión Pueblo ensombreció a esos movimientos culturales que el registro cultural minimizó. Las situaciones de contacto cultural fueron comunes en el Suroeste antes del arribo de los españoles, y los actos de resistencia y movimientos culturales fueron también muy frecuentes. Aquí, utilizando la región Gallina del norte de New Mexico como ejemplo, voy a analizar ciertas evidencias respecto a uno de estos movimientos sociales pasados por alto.
Research Interests:
The headline is the market. If you are going to use a misleading title to purposely draw in readers and educate them, the reality is that you are actually misinforming 60 percent of the people interacting with your story. So right from... more
The headline is the market. If you are going to use a misleading title to purposely draw in readers and educate them, the reality is that you are actually misinforming 60 percent of the people interacting with your story. So right from the start, you’re already doing more miseducation than education. It’s also probably a larger miseducation impact than this as well since the study only accounted for “shares” and not people who saw the post on social media and didn’t share it.
This damage doesn’t stop with miseducation. For example, take headlines relating to archaeology in the Americas. There is a culturally constructed emotional value attached to most words that forms a cognitive shortcut for how we think. For some words, this emotional value is pretty minimal. For others, it draws on powerful cultural constructs to create a strong response. As noted above, mystery is one such word that has this strong emotional response. Others, in the U.S. at least, include travel and exploration and discovery. These myths of discovery and exploration are particularly damaging because they paint a picture where Indigenous groups are not able caretakers of their own histories and landscapes. Headlines that promote this contribute to the erasure of modern Indigenous connections to landscapes by denying what descendant communities and researchers know, as well as what they are capable of knowing. This has huge implications for Indigenous management of their traditional lands. most U.S. citizens learn about modern Indigenous groups through the media and pop culture. So these sensational headlines disconnect Indigenous communities from their history in the public arena. This historical disconnection erases the presence of Indigenous groups from the public consciousness. According to a recent study by Reclaiming Native Truth, potentially 40 percent of the American population think that Native Americans no longer exist. This invisibility means that support for Indigenous struggles faces a steep uphill battle.
This damage doesn’t stop with miseducation. For example, take headlines relating to archaeology in the Americas. There is a culturally constructed emotional value attached to most words that forms a cognitive shortcut for how we think. For some words, this emotional value is pretty minimal. For others, it draws on powerful cultural constructs to create a strong response. As noted above, mystery is one such word that has this strong emotional response. Others, in the U.S. at least, include travel and exploration and discovery. These myths of discovery and exploration are particularly damaging because they paint a picture where Indigenous groups are not able caretakers of their own histories and landscapes. Headlines that promote this contribute to the erasure of modern Indigenous connections to landscapes by denying what descendant communities and researchers know, as well as what they are capable of knowing. This has huge implications for Indigenous management of their traditional lands. most U.S. citizens learn about modern Indigenous groups through the media and pop culture. So these sensational headlines disconnect Indigenous communities from their history in the public arena. This historical disconnection erases the presence of Indigenous groups from the public consciousness. According to a recent study by Reclaiming Native Truth, potentially 40 percent of the American population think that Native Americans no longer exist. This invisibility means that support for Indigenous struggles faces a steep uphill battle.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Sociology, Native American Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, and 15 moreAnthropology, Education, Indigenous Studies, Media Studies, Public Archaeology, Journalism, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Mass Communication, Anarchism, Social Media, Post-Colonialism, Indigenous Communication Theory, Decolonization, and Journalism And Mass communication
El Colectivo Cucharín Negro: Llegamos al anarquismo y la arqueología desde muchos lugares, y por variadas razones. La mayor parte de este documento se origina en una conversación iniciada en la Amerind Foundation en Abril de 2016 (hecho... more
El Colectivo Cucharín Negro: Llegamos al anarquismo y la arqueología desde muchos lugares, y por variadas razones. La mayor parte de este documento se origina en una conversación iniciada en la Amerind Foundation en Abril de 2016 (hecho posible gracias a una colaboración
de la Wenner-Gren Foundation), donde comenzamos a poner los ‘tiestos’ de una arqueología anarquista en un marco coherente. Desde allí, muchos de nosotros continuamos trabajando juntos en éste y otros proyectos relacionados a la arqueología anarquista, mientras nuestro
círculo se fue ampliando tanto como los proyectos involucrados. Te invitamos a unirte, o seguir el trabajo que estamos haciendo en http://www.anarchaeology.org/site-forum/.
de la Wenner-Gren Foundation), donde comenzamos a poner los ‘tiestos’ de una arqueología anarquista en un marco coherente. Desde allí, muchos de nosotros continuamos trabajando juntos en éste y otros proyectos relacionados a la arqueología anarquista, mientras nuestro
círculo se fue ampliando tanto como los proyectos involucrados. Te invitamos a unirte, o seguir el trabajo que estamos haciendo en http://www.anarchaeology.org/site-forum/.
Research Interests:
Many people feel that taking artifacts from archaeological sites, whether public or private, is fine. These views are intertwined with the overwhelming invisibility contemporary Native Americans have within popular and political American... more
Many people feel that taking artifacts from archaeological sites, whether public or private, is fine. These views are intertwined with the overwhelming invisibility contemporary Native Americans have within popular and political American conversations.The editorial is built around a possible instance of cultural theft that occurred on an archaeological site located on private property in New Mexico. The supposed perpetrators were the cast and crew of the 2nd Maze Runner movie as reported during a televised interview with the movie's star, Dylan O'Brien.
Research Interests: History, Ancient History, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Archaeology, and 15 morePrehistoric Archaeology, Ethics, Education, Indigenous Studies, Film Studies, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Studies, Indigenous Archaeololgy, Cultural Heritage Conservation, Heritage Conservation, Archaeological Ethics, Archaeological Education, Cultural Heritage Management, American Indian Studies, and Antiquities Looting
"[Creepyting’s] paintings produced an entirely different message than what many of her supporters claimed when they linked her with urban street art. Nocket’s work, and the art of all vandals of national parks and other public spaces who... more
"[Creepyting’s] paintings produced an entirely different message than what many of her supporters claimed when they linked her with urban street art. Nocket’s work, and the art of all vandals of national parks and other public spaces who come from privilege, is art with a message of entitlement—of mine, not yours, of me, not you. If street art is a form of activism against oppression, inverting those messages makes art that is a form of repression. It signals that control of social spaces—that power—belongs only to a select few."
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Art History, and 15 moreArt Theory, Power (social), Contemporary Art, Rock Art (Archaeology), Resistance (Social), Critical Discourse Analysis, Street Art, Graffiti, Prehistoric Art, Visual Arts, Cultural power and resistance, Social Inequality, Rock Art, Power and privilege, and Privilege and Oppression
Abstract: Since the early 20th century when the anarchist geographer Kropotkin used mutual aid and cooperation to challenge the social Darwinist view of community as a staging ground for fierce interpersonal competition, social scientists... more
Abstract: Since the early 20th century when the anarchist geographer Kropotkin used mutual aid and cooperation to challenge the social Darwinist view of community as a staging ground for fierce interpersonal competition, social scientists have approached community as a way to organize groups outside of the restrictions and inequalities that can emerge with the inception of formal laws. This precedes later arguments by researchers such as Tonnies who argued that communities “rest in the consciousness of belonging together and the affirmation of the condition of mutual dependence” (Tonnies 1925:69). Yet while formal community studies have fallen out of favor, the last 20 years have seen a resurgence in research on how social, political, and environmental climates weave individuals together into communities of almost infinite variety. These new studies emphasize the constructed and longitudinal nature of the physical and social worlds within and between communities and push for an improved understanding of how these worlds, and the researchers themselves, create and impact the communities we study. Too often researchers fail to explore the ways in which power is negotiated within this dynamic framework. This failure can reify the divide between egalitarian and hierarchical modes of social organization, while neglecting alternative power structures, the possibility for modes in between, or the flexibility of choices on a continuum between these two extremes. This less dynamic framework is present in the often criticized, but still prominent and persistent evolutionary framework that positions simple communities against more complex social forms. The participants in this roundtable explore how power and relationships are negotiated within communities through anarchist, Indigenous, egalitarian, heterarchical, feminist, and/or queer (among many others) perspectives. These foci do not center inequality or hierarchy as a driving component of community but rather highlight the ways in which community-making can provide creative alternatives to this long-standing dichotomy.
Organized by Sarah Rowe and Lewis Borck
Organized by Sarah Rowe and Lewis Borck
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Human Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Political Economy, and 12 morePolitical Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Public Archaeology, Feminist Theory, Queer Theory, Political Ecology, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Political Science, Anarchism, Egalitarianism, Resistance (Social), and Community Archaeology
Nearly 20 years ago, Bender, Winner and their collaborators rattled landscape studies with their book on Contested Landscapes. This formative volume emphasized the non-static, dialogic nature of landscape within a community and... more
Nearly 20 years ago, Bender, Winner and their collaborators rattled landscape studies with their book on Contested Landscapes. This formative volume emphasized the non-static, dialogic nature of landscape within a community and acknowledged that the ways that different communities construct, view, and use the landscape can lead to tensions, and even violence. It highlighted the relevance of considering movement, borders, exile, and conflict to understand how people create and reshape their own landscapes. During political conflicts, like colonization and war, people are forced to respond to new politics and hierarchies (sometimes even anarchies) as their personal and communal understanding of the world is deeply transformed through struggle; something visible even today as political tensions constantly reshape local and global landscapes. Perhaps more importantly, understanding the creation and contestation of landscapes in the past is essential for understanding political, economic and cultural manifestations in the present to better organize ourselves for a truly just future.
This session brings together researchers whose clear political and theoretical perspectives have led them to explore how conflict laden contexts shape and reshape landscapes during different historical eras around the world.
This session brings together researchers whose clear political and theoretical perspectives have led them to explore how conflict laden contexts shape and reshape landscapes during different historical eras around the world.
Research Interests: Social Movements, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Historical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, and 12 moreIndigenous Archaeololgy, Conflict Archaeology, Archeologia, Arqueología, Decolonial Thought, Postcolonial Archaeology, Decolonization, Marxist Archaeology, Anarchist Archaeology, Political Archaeology, Archaeology of Borders, and Archeology
If you are interested, we’re having a digital “unconference” component to the Anarchy and Archaeology workshop later this week. This draft is the flyer for that workshop. You’ll be able to follow along and participate on twitter with... more
If you are interested, we’re having a digital “unconference” component to the Anarchy and Archaeology workshop later this week. This draft is the flyer for that workshop. You’ll be able to follow along and participate on twitter with #anarchaeology2016. There are activists, geographers, and material culture studies people involved as well, so it should be of interest to more than just archaeologists.
Research Interests:
When faced with uncertain climates, reduction of resources, or natural disasters how do people react? In this session we highlight research from across the anthropological spectrum to explore how humanity has used, and continues to use,... more
When faced with uncertain climates, reduction of resources, or natural disasters how do people react? In this session we highlight research from across the anthropological spectrum to explore how humanity has used, and continues to use, social networks to respond to environmental crises of varying proportions. The papers in this session either explicitly or implicitly focus on network based ideas that range from formal social network analysis and theory to ideas on community, resilience, and survivance. More importantly, they help bridge the gap between the present, the recent past, and the deep pretextual past. They demonstrate how an interdisciplinary approach to human persistence and resilience can help shed light on the human condition and can simultaneously make the strangeness of the past into a familiar entity that can inform on the here and now. This is especially relevant during times when environmental disasters transform the familiar present into a strange place, an immediate post-apocalyptic landscape set adrift from neighboring communities still grounded in the familiar and modern now. The studies presented here can help provide a guiding light for modern policy as we work to confront global disasters that may have far-reaching effects for our species. Moreover these papers show how the four fields in anthropology can be guided by similar principles, and how each of the fields can learn from research completed in the other sub-disciplines.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, and 11 moreHistorical Anthropology, Community Resilience, Resilience, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Human-Environment Relations, Disaster risk management, Crisis Management, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Disaster Management, Natural Disasters, and Risk and crisis management
Archaeological conceptions of power, authority, and inequality have been undergoing significant changes in the last few decades, both in terms of how the discipline conducts itself as well as in how archaeologists interpret their study... more
Archaeological conceptions of power, authority, and inequality have been undergoing significant changes in the last few decades, both in terms of how the discipline conducts itself as well as in how archaeologists interpret their study matter. To the level that researchers strive to create more balanced relationships with collaborators, develop openness to alternative ontologies, and investigate the active nature of egalitarian social systems, many in the discipline are turning towards policies, methods, and interpretations that emphasize decentralized leadership and more balanced social relations. This session questions whether the application of Anarchist Theory, a growing field of inquiry with deep historical roots, can be beneficially applied to both the interpretation of past cultures and how archaeologists apply our research within a wider political world. In the past, archaeologists rarely engaged with Anarchist Theory, although aspects of anarchism, such as the concern over alienation from decision-making and the need to constantly combat incipient power centralization, permeate the archaeological literature. Papers within this session will explore the ways in which a more explicit engagement with Anarchist Theory can open new avenues of research, inform novel interpretations, or affect relations with collaborators and other invested parties.
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I examine the Gallina culture (A.D. 1100 – 1300) of northern New Mexico and, using them as a type study, argue that our inability to fit them nicely into modern archaeological taxonomies is the result of their intentional refusal to... more
I examine the Gallina culture (A.D. 1100 – 1300) of northern New Mexico and, using them as a type study, argue that our inability to fit them nicely into modern archaeological taxonomies is the result of their intentional refusal to conform to the characteristics of much more densely inhabited neighboring regions. Using the Gallina, I define a cultural form, which when present is frequently the product of cultural resistance, called atavism. Atavistic cultures are often less populous than their neighbors and use purposeful isolation, traditional technologies and rituals, and invented traditions to produce a society whose connection with the past, both real and constructed, functionally opposes the trending cultural currents of the day. Modern cultures which display traits of atavism will be discussed and comparisons to the Gallina will be drawn.
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Domesticates are uniquely both biological organisms but also cultural artifacts. As organisms, domesticates are shaped by the natural history of the progenitor and adaptation to diverse environments. As artifacts, domesticates record the... more
Domesticates are uniquely both biological organisms but also cultural artifacts. As organisms, domesticates are shaped by the natural history of the progenitor and adaptation to diverse environments. As artifacts, domesticates record the cultivation practices, migration histories, cultural interactions and values of associated human groups. Using a population of maize landrace hybrids from the Greater Southwest (US and Mexico) that have been phenotyped, we begin to explore the relationship between genetic difference, social distance, and spatial distance using relationship matrices developed from genomic sequence data, spatial and environmental parameters, and strength of social interaction between associated cultural groups.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Social Movements, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Southwestern United States (Archaeology in North America), and 11 moreAnarchism, Anarchist Studies, Egalitarianism, Resistance (Social), North American archaeology, Social movements and revolution, Southwestern Archaeology, Cultural power and resistance, Social Inequality, Contentious Politics, and Big Archaeology
In this paper, we present a model that cross-cuts the “great divide” between precolonial and colonial inquiries. Our study uses data about the prehispanic depopulation of northeastern Arizona and subsequent movement of those groups into... more
In this paper, we present a model that cross-cuts the “great divide” between precolonial and colonial inquiries. Our study uses data about the prehispanic depopulation of northeastern Arizona and subsequent movement of those groups into populated areas in southern Arizona. An emergent socioreligious movement, termed “Salado”, resulted from this culture contact. It incorporated new consumptive practices, including specialized production of polychrome ceramics and large-scale feasting.
The adoption of new consumption practices is an agentive process where simple knowledge of “foreign” objects is not sufficient to explain their adoption. We present a model in which knowledge and attitude interact to determine the integration of these social practices. A negative attitude may result in active resistance to those “foreign” objects and practices.
To recognize resistance without colonial period documents, we integrate inferential tools developed by postcolonial researchers examining historically neglected groups with a formal social network model in which knowledge and adoption of “foreign” objects are considered separate historical events. Attitude, pivotal to the model, is multivocal and governs future interactions. This model demonstrates how and why consumptive practices are affected by culture contact, and demonstrates how archaeological/historical data can be operationalized to approach the adoption of “foreign” objects and practices.
The adoption of new consumption practices is an agentive process where simple knowledge of “foreign” objects is not sufficient to explain their adoption. We present a model in which knowledge and attitude interact to determine the integration of these social practices. A negative attitude may result in active resistance to those “foreign” objects and practices.
To recognize resistance without colonial period documents, we integrate inferential tools developed by postcolonial researchers examining historically neglected groups with a formal social network model in which knowledge and adoption of “foreign” objects are considered separate historical events. Attitude, pivotal to the model, is multivocal and governs future interactions. This model demonstrates how and why consumptive practices are affected by culture contact, and demonstrates how archaeological/historical data can be operationalized to approach the adoption of “foreign” objects and practices.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Social Networks, Social Networking, Diffusion of Innovations, Archaeological GIS, and 8 moreSocial Network Analysis (SNA), Adoption and Diffusion of innovations, Southwestern Archaeology, Social Network Analysis (Social Sciences), Technology Adoption and Diffusion, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Geographic Information Systems GIS), and Social Networks In Archaeology
Archaeologists know that migration happened, but rarely do we know why. When explanations are offered, they are often environmentally deterministic. Social network analysis can facilitate an understanding of causation that reaches beyond... more
Archaeologists know that migration happened, but rarely do we know why. When explanations are offered, they are often environmentally deterministic. Social network analysis can facilitate an understanding of causation that reaches beyond the environment. We analyze diachronic network changes in the Kayenta region, and in relation to neighboring regions, by applying modularity and External-Internal (E-I) indices at regular temporal intervals. These two analyses quantify community structure and the relational structure between communities within social networks. These analyses will help us understand the social changes, if any, that led up to the Kayenta migration.
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This paper will examine least-cost paths from multiple locations in the Ancestral Puebloan world to multiple locations on the Lower Rio Chama and Northern Rio Grande. The least-cost paths will model probable migration routes . Conflict... more
This paper will examine least-cost paths from multiple locations in the Ancestral Puebloan world to multiple locations on the Lower Rio Chama and Northern Rio Grande. The least-cost paths will model probable migration routes . Conflict areas in the Gallina region , as evidenced by informal burials with signs of violent skeletal trauma, will be examined. The location of these sites will then be analyzed to determine whether their location is statistically significant in relation to the probable migration routes.
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Ceramics from the mounds directly south of Pueblo Bonito were submitted for Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry analysis of the fatty acids absorbed within the ceramic matrix. Visible organic residues, removed from the interior face of... more
Ceramics from the mounds directly south of Pueblo Bonito were submitted for Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry analysis of the fatty acids absorbed within the ceramic matrix. Visible organic residues, removed from the interior face of some sherds, were also submitted for analysis. Grayware and whiteware jar sherds revealed a varying presence of fatty acids. Experimental work with plants and animals from the American Southwest was conducted in order to provide a reference collection of fatty acid signatures for interpreting the prehispanic sherds.
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This is a crowdsourced document listing approximately 300 online educational archaeological resources that I am curating and am archiving here to increase its visibility. Content and topics often missed in standard curriculum are needed,... more
This is a crowdsourced document listing approximately 300 online educational archaeological resources that I am curating and am archiving here to increase its visibility. Content and topics often missed in standard curriculum are needed, particularly research by Black, Indigenous, and other researchers from historically excluded communities.