Archaeologies of Cultural Contact : At the Interface

Archaeologies of Cultural Contact undertakes an exploration of cultural transfer, with a particular focus on the combination and modification of both material and behavioural attributes under conditions of contact. From globalization and displacement to cultural legitimization and identity politics, the modern world is characterised by, and articulated through, dynamics of contact and transfer. This book recognises that creolization, ethnogenesis, hybridity, and syncretism are analytical concepts and social processes, relevant not only to the postcolonial contexts of the twentieth century but also to wide-ranging instances where contact is made between cultural groups. Indeed, in representing the re-working of pre-existing cultural elements, they were crucial and ever-present features of the human past.

Ranging in their analytical frame, scale, and geographical and temporal location, the chapters in this volume demonstrate the diverse understandings that can be gained from explorations into the material remains of past contact, exposing and overcoming various limitations of competing models of cultural change. They permit insights into not only cultural change and difference but also the processes of appropriation, resistance, redefinition, and incorporation. Together, the contributions articulate the perspectives that concern practices in relations to people, places, and things, and note how power dynamics mediate social interactions and sustain and constrain forms of cultural contact. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in archaeology as well those from cognate disciplines, particularly anthropology and history.

Timothy Clack, Chingiz Gutseriev Fellow in Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Oxford,Marcus Brittain, Senior Project Officer, Cambridge Archaeological Unit

Timothy Clack is Chingiz Gutseriev Fellow in Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Oxford, UK. In addition to cultural contact, his current research concerns heritage and armed conflict, environmental change as a driver of violence, and landscapes and identities. He is Senior Editor Cultural Heritage of the journal Cogent - Arts & Humanities.


Marcus Brittain is a Senior Project Officer at Cambridge Archaeological Unit and Member of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK. His research interests include pioneer communities of the later prehistoric and later historical periods, the social value of archaeology, and archaeological methods and theory, primarily related to the UK, its overseas territories, and various parts of Africa.