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Unravelling identities on archaeological borderlands: Late Woodland Western Basin and Ontario Iroquoian Traditions in the Lower Great Lakes region
Author(s) -
St. John Amy,
Ferris Neal
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the canadian geographer / le géographe canadien
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.35
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1541-0064
pISSN - 0008-3658
DOI - 10.1111/cag.12513
Subject(s) - archaeological record , woodland , archaeology , situated , indigenous , identity (music) , structural basin , social identity theory , geography , ethnic group , history , anthropology , ethnology , sociology , social group , ecology , geology , paleontology , aesthetics , art , social science , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology
Borders, boundaries, frontiers, and borderlands are complex things and processes which have become important foci in social sciences over the last two decades. Using archaeological border theory, grounded in anthropological border theory, which focuses on the cultural dimensions of borders, the nature and function of borders and boundaries in the archaeological record of societies indigenous to the Lower Great Lakes can be explored. An archaeological border theory examines how notions of identity, ethnicity, and material culture interplay with borders, allowing for more complex interpretations of archaeological materials and sites. Applying this theory to archaeological evidence from the interaction zones, or borderlands, between archaeologically defined Late Woodland traditions illustrates how these concepts can lead to more complete understandings of the way people lived in the past. Examining borders in the past allows social scientists to recognize their historically situated, fluid nature and will lead to greater consideration of the socially constructed nature of borders in the present.