Identity Studies in Archaeology

This Element explores the origins, current state, and future of the archaeological study of identity. Through European case studies from prehistory to the present, it charts identity's evolving place in anthropological archaeology.

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This Element explores the origins, current state, and future of the archaeological study of identity. A floruit of scholarship in the late 20th century introduced identity as a driving force in society, and archaeologists sought expressions of gender, status, ethnicity, and more in the material remains of the past. A robust consensus emerged about identity and its characteristics: dynamic; contested; context driven; performative; polyvalent; intersectional. From the early 2000s identity studies were challenged by new theories of materiality and ontology on the one hand, and by an influx of new data from bioarchaeology on the other. Yet identity studies have proven remarkably enduring. Through European case studies from prehistory to the present, this Element charts identity's evolving place in anthropological archaeology.