Rethinking Colonialism: Comparative Archaeological Approaches

Historical archaeology studies once relied upon a binary view of colonialism: colonizers and colonized, the colonial period and the postcolonial period. The international contributors to this volume scrutinize imperialism and expansionism through an alternative lens that looks beyond simple dualities to explore the variously gendered, racialized, and occupied peoples of a multitude of faiths, desires, associations, and constraints. Colonialism is not a phase in the chronology of a people but a continuous phenomenon that spans the Old and New Worlds. Most importantly, the contributors argue that its impacts—and, in some instances, even the same processes set in place by the likes of Columbus—are ongoing.

Inciting a critical study of the lasting impacts of ancient and modern colonialism on descendant communities, this wide-ranging volume includes essays on Roman Britain, slavery in Brazil, and contemporary Native Americans. In its efforts to define the scope and comparability of colonialism, this collection challenges the field to go beyond familiar geographical and historical boundaries and draws attention to unfolding colonial futures.