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Introduction to the Historical Archaeology of Powered Cultural Landscapes

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Abstract

This article starts by defining the term “powered cultural landscapes” and then provides a brief history of research on this topic in historical archaeology, starting with the settlement pattern paradigm that did not use the word “landscape,” and progressing to the landscape paradigm and the subsequent increasing use of the word “power” in cultural landscape research. Topics of research initially addressed landscape power dynamics between classes, followed by racial, ethnic, and finally gender power dynamics. Frameworks for analyzing power dynamics have progressed from the Marxian domination and resistance framework for class and racial power dynamics, followed by feminist analyses of male domination, to the recent development of a feminist inclusive heterarchical model of power dynamics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Oakland University, Rochester Hills, MI, 48309, USA

    Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood

  2. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood

  3. Department of Landscape Architecture, Cornell University, 440 Kennedy Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Sherene Baugher

  4. Cornell University Archaeology Program, 261 McGraw Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14583, USA

    Sherene Baugher

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  1. Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood
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Correspondence to Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood.

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Spencer-Wood, S.M., Baugher, S. Introduction to the Historical Archaeology of Powered Cultural Landscapes. Int J Histor Archaeol 14, 463–474 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-010-0125-7

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