Friday, May 25th, 3:30 pm in HSSB 2001a:
Prof. J. Cameron Monroe, Department of Anthropology, UCSC.
Elephants for Want of Towns?  Cities and the State in Precolonial Dahomey
Co-Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology
Reception following

Western conceptions of the city have a long and storied history, one that until recently largely dismissed pre-colonial African urbanisms as no more than a passive response to cultural stimulus from outside the continent. This has been particularly true for West African cities that emerged in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. However, recent archaeology is enriching our understanding of how urban centers were organized on the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Era, providing a sharper picture of indigenous trade, the values of the elite classes and power relationships across the region. This work is demonstrating the active role played by such communities in shaping the contours of Atlantic commerce in this period. This presentation will focus on one such urban tradition, located on the Abomey Plateau in the Republic of Bénin, exploring the dynamic ways that local political factors shaped and were shaped by global economic forces.

J. Cameron Monroe is an historical archaeologist in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Monroe’s research examines political, economic and cultural transformations in West Africa and the African Diaspora in the era of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. He has studied African-American ethnic identity and household-level craft production in early colonial Virginia, and currently he directs the Abomey Plateau Archaeological Project in the Republic of Bénin, West Africa. Integrating documentary, oral and archaeological data, the project focuses on the political economy of landscape and the built environment, and the nature of urban transformation in contact-period West Africa.. 

Other Archaeological Events

The Kawaiisu Project: Never Will We Forget Our Ancestors
An illustrated lecture and book signing by Alan P. Garfinkel, Ph.D., Cultural Heritage Planning and Management, AECOM.
MONDAY, May 7, 2012
7:30 PM, FARRAND HALL
The demise of the Kawaiisu – indigenous people of the southern Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountains - was reported prematurely. Dr. Garfinkel estimates that more than 1200 Kawaiisu and related Kern River tribal members reside in the area today and are close to gaining federal recognition. Dr. Garfinkel has spent more than four decades researching information from native peoples. His new book is a comprehensive overview of the richness and complexity of Kawaiisu culture, much of it told by the people themselves. His lecture will highlight their basketry, rock art, rain shamanism, language, and other aspects of these intriguing people and their history. Dr. Garfinkel’s research was funded by a grant from California Department of Parks and Recreation and recently received the California Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation. Please join us for this presentation, followed by a book signing of the new Handbook of the Kawaiisu.

Statement of Purpose

The Interdisciplinary Archaeology Research Focus Group draws together faculty and graduate students across eight departments in the Divisions of Social Sciences and Humanities within the College of Letters and Sciences.  Lectures and discussions address current approaches to archaeological method, theory, and material analysis. Our multi-disciplinary focus includes divergent temporal and cultural areas of research, including regional and global perspectives, Old and New World, pre-historic and historic, environmental studies, the history of archaeology and collections, and the study of various material culture categories and technologies. This group provides a forum for integrating new archaeological research with key related fields, including anthropology, classics, history, art history, ethnic and area studies, religious studies, cultural resource management, museum studies, tourism, heritage preservation, visual and material culture studies. 

Past Events 

	              

Conveners and List of Participants:

Stuart Tyson Smith (Professor, Anthropology), stsmith@anth.ucsb.edu
Brice Erikson (Associate Professor, Classics), berickson@classics.ucsb.edu

 

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