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a completely agnostic approach, according to He shed a new light on subjective criteria (ethnic
which ethnicity in the past is beyond the reach boundaries) around which the feeling of ethnic
of archaeology, because the meaning initially identity of the member of the group is framed
attached to material culture symbols used for (Barth 1969). He also emphasized the transac-
building ethnic boundaries will forever remain tional nature of ethnicity, for in the practical
unknown (Brather 2004). Archaeologists should accomplishment of identity, two mutually
refrain from doing any research on ethnicity, and interdependent social processes are normally at
in the meantime focus on what they can really do, work – internal and external definition (the latter
namely, study economic and social structures, also known as categorization). Barth’s approach
social rank, religious behavior, and the like. At embraced a predominantly social interactionist
the root of this skepticism verging on nihilism perspective derived from the work of the
seems to be a theoretical malaise and a profound American social psychologist Erving Goffman.
misunderstanding of what ethnic identity is and Objective cultural difference was thus viewed as
how it works. epiphenomenal, subordinate to, and largely to be
explained with reference to, social interaction.
Studies of ethnic identity inspired by Barth thus
Definition suggest that an ethnic group is more an idea than
a thing. It is not as much the group that endures as
In the early twenty-first century, ethnicity has the idea of the group. It has been noted that
become the politicization of culture, a decision cultural traits by which an ethnic group defines
people take to depict themselves or others itself never comprise the totality of the observ-
symbolically as bearers of a certain cultural iden- able culture, but are only a combination of some
tity. In the 1960s and 1970s, the debate characteristics that the actors ascribe to
was between those who argued that ethnicity themselves and consider relevant. People identi-
was a matter of primordial attachments fying themselves as an ethnic group may in fact
(primordialists) and those who regarded it as identify their group in a primarily prototypic
a means of political mobilization (instrumental- manner, with some recognizable members shar-
ists). Today, very few would disagree with Max ing some but not all the traits, and different traits
Weber’s definition of ethnic groups as “human being weighted differently in people’s minds.
groups that entertain a subjective belief in their How is this specific configuration structured and
common descent because of similarities of what mechanisms are responsible for its
physical type or of customs or of both, or because reproduction?
of memories of colonization and migration; Attempts to answer this question resurrected
conversely, it does not matter whether or not an the idea that ethnic groups are bounded social
objective blood relationship exists” (Weber entities internally generated with reference more
1922: 219). Ethnicity is not innate, but individ- to commonality than to difference. Such an
uals are born with it; it is not biologically approach draws heavily from the French sociol-
reproduced, but individuals are linked to it ogist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus,
through cultural constructions of biology; it is a system of durable, transposable dispositions,
certainly not just cultural difference, but no “structured structures predisposed to function as
ethnic identity can be sustained without reference structuring structures” (Bourdieu 1990: 53).
to an inventory of cultural traits. As the Norwe- According to Bourdieu, those durable disposi-
gian anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen tions are inculcated into an individual’s sense of
put it, ethnicity must be regarded as the “collec- self at an early age and can be transposed from
tive enaction of socially differentiating signs” one context to another. Ethnic identity is there-
(Eriksen 1991: 141). Such an approach is largely fore the result of the intersection of one’s habitual
due to the extraordinary influence of another dispositions and the social conditions in existence
Norwegian anthropologist – Fredrik Barth. within a particular historical context. That is why,
Ethnic Identity and Archaeology 2509 E
once in action, an ethnic group operates as a type one of its elements, Kossinna’s idea was to bring
of status group, the existence of which is to light one of those elements – the material
represented through primordial attachments. In culture – bearing the “imprint” of the ethnic
practice, ethnicity results from multiple transient group responsible for its production. Like many
realizations of ethnic difference in particular others in the early twentieth century, he defined
contexts of production and consumption of dis- (material) culture in monothetic terms on the
tinctive styles of material culture. Ethnic identity basis of the presence or absence of a list of traits
cannot be conceived without the manipulation of or types, which he had previously and intuitively
material culture. Ethnicity can be, and truly is, considered as the most appropriate attributes for
represented by such things as dress elements, the definition of the culture. He stressed the use of
E
speech forms, lifestyles, food ways, and the like. maps for distinguishing between trait distribution
However, the ethnic group is not made up of the patterns, which he typically viewed as highly
symbols used to mark it as distinct from others. homogeneous and sharply bounded cultural
Selecting symbols to mark ethnic boundaries is provinces. He then equated those cultural
a political strategy in the same way that choosing provinces with ethnic groups known from histor-
a certain dress style may be for the construction ical sources. Kossinna and his followers regarded
of social status. Material culture with symbolic archaeological cultures as actors on the historical
meaning is therefore an integral part of power stage, playing the role for prehistory which
relations, as symbols of ethnic identity appear known individuals or group have in documentary
primarily in contexts of collective rituals and history. Archaeological cultures were thus
other social activities aimed at group mobiliza- equated to ethnic groups, for they were viewed
tion. Paul Brass even defined ethnic identities as as legitimizing claims of modern groups to terri-
“creations of elites who draw upon, distort, and tory and influence. Because culture was regarded
sometimes fabricate materials from the cultures as a homogeneous, bounded whole, a direct con-
of the groups they wish to represent, in order to sequence of the culture-historical approach to
protect their well being or existence, or to gain ethnic identity was the idea that “diagnostic”
political and economic advantage for their groups types were in fact ethnic badges. Ethnic groups
and for themselves” (Brass 1993: 111). Material could be recognized in the archaeological record
culture is therefore not a passive reflection of by their specific Volksgeist, particles of which
ethnic identity, but an active element in its had been turned into particular types of pottery,
negotiation. tools, brooches, or houses. Searching for ethnic
groups was thus reduced to typology, under the
assumption that the classifications introduced by
Historical Background and Key Issues archaeologists approximated the categories pro-
ducers and consumers in the past had in their
This idea is in fact in direct contradiction with the minds. Because culture was understood as nor-
basic tenets of the culture-historical approach. mative, wherever they would go, bearers of
Leaving aside the primordialist understanding of a certain (archaeological) culture will almost
the ethnic group (to which Kossinna and his unknowingly reveal their ethnic identity to others
followers constantly referred as Volk), much (as well as to the archaeologist discovering their
more problematic from a strictly archaeological remains) by means of using specific brooches,
point of view is the understanding of material axes, or types of pottery. Ethnicity, in other
culture. To be sure, attempts to identify ethnic words, was all about culture, and culture operated
groups in material culture date back to early from “behind the backs” of the people in the past
nineteenth-century Romanticist obsessions with (Veit 1989).
finding primordial languages and homelands. The first critique of the idea that archaeologi-
Because of the Romantic concept of culture as cal cultures represent ethnic groups came from
reflecting the national soul (Volksgeist) in every within the framework of culture-history, and
E 2510 Ethnic Identity and Archaeology
archaeological sites and the repatriation of ances- rather with a mental template of the past, which
tral remains. The debates in the United States is largely shaped by mediating influences. Very
surrounding the Native American Graves Protec- little is known about the contribution of
tion and Repatriation Act and its application in archaeology to those mediating influences.
the case of the Kennewick Man have shed a new After dwelling for years upon the mistakes of
light on issues of legitimacy associated with sci- the past, especially the tendency in mortuary
entific research. Yannis Hamilakis and Eleana archaeology to “read” in ethnic terms what could
Yalouri have applied Bourdieu’s concept of otherwise be interpreted as symbols of gender
“symbolic capital” to the treatment of antiquities identity, scholars are now beginning to realize
in modern Greece (Hamilakis & Yalouri 1996). that just as in the modern world, women in the
Maintaining that the acquisition of undocu- past often symbolized ethnic collectives and were
mented antiquities by museums encourages the regularly regarded as biological reproducers of
looting of archaeological sites, countries such as ethnic groups, since the ethnic group’s culture is
Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Peru, and China commonly structured around gendered institutions
have claimed ancient artifacts as state (or even such as marriage, family, and sexuality. As ethnic
national) property, while calling for their return identity remains a topic associated more often with
from museums all around the globe. Meanwhile, research on cemetery, not settlement sites, new
the deliberate destruction of historical monu- studies have pointed out that emblemic styles
ments and archaeological sites during the appear more often with the funerary dress of
military conflicts in former Yugoslavia or under women of marriageable age. This has recently
the fundamentalist regime of the Taliban in prompted a shift in research emphasis to burial
Afghanistan has brought the issue of cultural assemblages which stand out from their local and
heritage to the center of the archaeological regional context by cultural elements – pottery or
debates surrounding ethnicity. In such cases, it dress accessories – apparently signaling a different
is not only a question of global cultural heritage, ethnic background. In principle, if emblemic styles
but also a matter of the meaning of “other” may be identified on the basis of their repetitive
attached to those monuments and sites by the nature at the level of the site, then anomalies may
perpetrators of destruction, who perceive them equally be interpreted as stylistic variation in sharp
as different in ethnic terms without or with very contrast to the uniform background of the
little consideration for the distance in time majority. Finally, it has become clear that the
separating them from past populations on that most appropriate perspective for understanding
same territory (Stone 2011). Conversely, there how ethnicity worked in the past is the (micro-)
is so far very little research on the relatively region (Hakenbeck 2011). By working at a local
widespread phenomenon of inventing archaeo- level, and with complex tools for teasing out dis-
logical cultures to serve the nationalist propa- crete differences in material culture items which
ganda, although several cases have been now may signal emblemic styles and ethnic boundaries,
recorded in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and and for mapping distribution patterns within and
Latin America. The transfer of ethnic meaning between sites, archaeologists have begun to iden-
from artifacts in a (national) museum to architec- tify the contexts of social action in which ethnic
tural monuments and archaeological sites raises identities in the past may have been created
the equally unexplored issue of how ethnicity through everyday practices.
participates in shows of “staged authenticity” –
contrived presentation of sites as if they were
authentic – which are the substance of heritage Cross-References
tourism. It has been noted, for example, that
tourists visiting the Jorvı́k Viking Center in ▶ Agency in Archaeological Theory
York do not contrast the staging of authenticity ▶ Archaeology and Anthropology
against direct experience of the original, but ▶ Authenticity and the Manufacture of Heritage
Ethnic Identity and Archaeology 2513 E
▶ China: Domestic Archaeological Heritage KOSSINNA, G. 1911. Die Herkunft der Germanen. Zur
Management Law Methode der Siedlungsarchäologie. Würzburg:
C. Kabitzsch.
▶ Cultural Heritage Management and Native LARICK, R. 1991. Warriors and blacksmiths: mediating
Americans ethnicity in East African spears. Journal of Anthropo-
▶ Greece: Cultural Heritage Management logical Archaeology 10: 299-331.
▶ Histories of the Archaeological Discipline: SACKETT, J. 1977. The meaning of style in archaeology.
A general model. American Antiquity 42 (3):
Issues to Consider 369-80.
▶ Hodder, Ian (Modern World) STONE, P. (ed.) 2011. Cultural heritage, ethics, and the
▶ Jorvik Viking Centre military. Woodbridge/Rochester: Boydell Press.
▶ Kennewick Man Case: Scientific Studies and VEIT, U. 1989. Ethnic concepts of German prehistory:
a case study on the relationship between E
Legal Issues cultural identity and archaeological objectivity, in
▶ Nationalism and Archaeology S. Shennan (ed.) Archaeological approaches to cul-
▶ Style: Its Role in the Archaeology of Art tural identity: 35-56. London/Boston/Sydney: Unwin
▶ Wobst, H. Martin Hyman.
WAHLE, E. 1941. Zur ethnischen Deutung
frühgeschichtlicher Kulturprovinzen. Grenzen der
frühgeschichtlichen Erkenntnis, Volume 1. Heidel-
berg: C. Winter.
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E 2514 Ethnicity and Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean World
HÄRKE, H. 2007. Ethnicity, “race” and migration in mor- confused. Yet they are distinct from each other,
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MALEŠEVIĆ, S. 2004. The sociology of ethnicity. London:
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in G. Fusek (ed.) Zbornik na počest Dariny Bialekovej: belief in a shared ancestry that is important, rather
223-27. Nitra: Archeologický ústav Slovenskej than the facts of genetic descent. Ethnicity is
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Essentialismus, in W. Essbach (ed.) Wir, ihr, sie. and this distinguishes it from the concept of
Identität und Alterität in Theorie und Methode: race. Distinctions drawn along racial lines are
317-43. Würzburg: Ergon. often made with reference to biological phenom-
PREZELY, I. M. 2000. Re-thinking ethnicity in archaeology,
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in karolinško dobo. Začetki slovenske etnogeneze: skin color, physical build, and structure of facial
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the socially meaningful distinctions between
identity groups. The determining factor is not so
much whether people share a genetic link, but
Ethnicity and Identity in the Ancient rather whether they think of themselves as
Mediterranean World a collective and believe that they have a shared
history. For example, there are relatively few
Naoı́se Mac Sweeney biological distinctions to be made between the
School of Archaeology and Ancient History, various Iban peoples of Borneo. However, groups
University of Leicester, Leicester, UK such as the Undup, the Balau, and the Ulu Ai
consider themselves to be ethnically distinct,
and these separate ethnic identities translate into
Introduction practical and political distinctions within society.
Ethnicity, then, is about the differences between
Ethnicity and identity are important fields of identity groups recognized on a social level,
research within the study of the ancient Medi- rather than the differences that might be detected
terranean world. They are crucial social issues on a biological one. Indeed, people may ascribe
within the modern world, and it seems that they to an ethnic identity (or have it ascribed to them)
were also vital in Classical antiquity. Many without any accurate knowledge about their own
different types of identity are evident in the genetic origins.
ancient Mediterranean world – gender, age, The belief about a common descent is the
religion, rank status, legal status, professional, crucial factor distinguishing ethnicity from other
regional, ethnic and cultural identities being forms of group identity, and it is the essential
perhaps the most notable. This entry will focus criterion that defines an ethnic identity. Other
on the last two forms of identity in this list, forms of group identity can also offer a basis for
ethnic and cultural. Ethnic and cultural identi- collective belonging, such as local village iden-
ties are closely linked, and it is easy to get them tity, professional identity, and identity associated