13947
Seminar
Exploring identity in archaeology and archaeological material
Elisa Roßberger Valery Schlegel
Additional information / Pre-requisites
The language of instruction is English. The seminar should be combined with the colloquium of the same title. The module includes a visit from archaeology students of the University of Copenhagen who will work in parallel on the same topic and a return visit by the FU Berlin students to Copenhagen. close
Comments
Identity has become a buzzword in both popular and academic discourse including archaeology and other fields of ancient studies. The discourse revolves around ethnic and racial categories, sex and gender, age, status, religion, and other axes of differentiation. Such categories were relevant for archaeological interpretation since the beginnings of the discipline. More recent approaches stress the multidimensional, situational, and at times contradictory nature of identity constructions that are now studied as a nexus of intersecting identity aspects. But how do reconcile the evidence provided through the archaeological record with such reasoning?
This seminar will explore theoretical frameworks as well as practical implementations. It will start with readings and discussions of the theoretical, methodological and ideological development of the identity-related discourse in archaeology. In the second half of the seminar, the material record and its potential for the reconstruction of individual and social identities in the ancient past will be examined on the base of case studies that students will choose according to their interests. The geographic focus will be western Asia, but additional examples from other regions of the world can be included, depending on student interest. Students from neighboring disciplines are encouraged to join.
Students from the University of Copenhagen will work in parallel on the same topic and visit Berlin in the fall (late November/December) to present their results in a colloquium at Freie Universität Berlin. At the end of the semester (late January/February), the seminar participants will travel to Copenhagen and present their work in a colloquium there. close
Suggested reading
Gardner, A. (2011). ‘Paradox and Praxis in the Archaeology of Identity‘, in Identity Crisis: Archaeological Perspectives on Social Identity, hrsg. von Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, Nicole Engel und Sean Pickering, 11–26.
Hölscher, T. (2024) Identität über alles? Von der Gegenwart zur Antike und zurück.
Insoll, T. (ed.) (2007). The Archaeology of Identities: A Reader.
Meskell, L. (2002). The intersections of identity and politics in archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology 31: 279–301.
Peterson, J. et al. (2022) ‘Connecting linguistics and archaeology in the study of identity: A first exploration’, in J. Müller (ed.) Connectivity Matters! Social, Environmental and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies. https://www.sidestone.com/books/connectivity-matters
Pierce, Elizabeth, Anthony Russell, Adrián Maldonado und Louisa Campbell (eds)(2016). Creating Material Worlds: The Uses of Identity in Archaeology.
Smith, S.T. (2013) ‘Identity’, in A. Gardner, M. Lake, and U. Sommer (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Theory. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199567942.013.025 close
16 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Wed, 2024-10-16 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-10-23 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-10-30 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-11-06 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-11-13 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-11-20 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-11-27 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-12-04 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-12-11 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2024-12-18 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-01-08 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-01-15 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-01-22 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-01-29 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-02-05 12:00 - 14:00
Wed, 2025-02-12 12:00 - 14:00
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