Archaeology and Colonialism
Archaeology and Colonialism
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Archaeology is the only discipline that allows us to take a long-term view across all forms of colonialism, from the Uruk cities of early Mesopotamia, through the empires of the Romans and the Aztecs, to the colonies of modern European states. In this innovative study, Chris Gosden presents a comparative survey of 5000 years of colonialism. Defining colonialism as, crucially, a relationship with material culture, destabilising of older values, changing both incomers and natives, Gosden attempts to understand the history of power, how it is exercised through material culture and how this understanding can generate new notions of interaction and encounter. By defining colonialism through its relationship with material culture, Gosden argues that modern colonialism, giving rise to settler societies, is historically unusual. Synthesising theoretical approaches and evidence from a broad span of colonial regions, this book provides an important new field of enquiry connecting historic and prehistoric archaeology.
- Covers 5000 years of human history
- An ideal introduction to the major theories of colonialism
- First book to present a comparative survey of the colonial systems of Mesopotamia, Rome, the Aztecs and modern European colonies
Reviews & endorsements
'Archaeology and Colonialism is a highly readable reassessment of colonialism … Archaeology and Colonialism is an enjoyable and useful book. Through its concentration on power relations manifest in material culture, it offers a new and stimulating way to approach cultural contact.' Stephanie Wynne-Jones, University of Cambridge
' … a brave and interesting attempt at a new synthesis …' Ancient West & East
Product details
- Published: May 2004
- Format: Paperback
- ISBN: 9780521787956
- Length: 204 pages
- Dimensions: 229 × 152 × 12 mm
- Weight: 0.31kg
- Contains: 22 b/w illus. 5 tables
- Availability: Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Other approaches to colonialism
- 3. A model of colonialism
- 4. Colonialism within a shared cultural milieu
- 5. The middle ground
- 6. Terra nullius
- 7. Power.
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