Abstract
The concept of modernity has played an essential role in the development of anthropological archaeology. Providing the philosophical foundation upon which both culture historical and processual archaeologies were constructed, the application of theories based in modernism has led to the persistence of essentialist notions concerning the archaeological records of both Western and non-Western peoples. Examining archaeological materials from the Muskogee Creek peoples of interior Southeastern North America, I contend that previous conceptualizations of modernity lack sufficient nuance to adequately address the diversity of cultural practices among the post-contact Creeks (circa A.D. 1550–1830). Rather than the dichotomous perspective of Western moderns and indigenous primitives that predominates, recent archaeological research in Southeastern North America reveals a cultural milieu in which dynamic, contested modernities were created by both the colonizers and the colonized.
Resumen
El concepto de modernidad ha jugado un papel esencial en el desarrollo de la arqueología antropológica. La aplicación de teorías basadas en el modernismo proveyó las bases filosóficas sobre las cuales se construyeron las arqueologías histórico-culturales y procesuales y condujo a la persistencia de nociones esencialistas sobre el registro arqueológico de pueblos occidentales y no occidentales. El análisis de materiales arqueológicos de poblaciones Muskogee Creek del interior del sureste de Norte América me permite afirmar que las conceptualizaciones previas de la modernidad carecen de suficientes matices para tratar, adecuadamente, con la diversidad de prácticas culturales entre los Creeks post-contacto (circa 1550-1830 AD). Más que la perspectiva dicotómica predominante entre occidentales modernos e indígenas primitivos las investigaciones arqueológicas recientes en el sureste de Norte América revelan un medio cultural de modernidades dinámicas contestadas, creadas por los colonizadores y por los colonizados.
Résumé
Le concept de modernité a joué un rôle essentiel dans le développement de l’archéologie anthropologique. En donnant les fondations philosophiques sur lesquelles l’histoire culturelle et l’archéologie processuelles se sont construites, l’application de théories basées sur le modernisme, a mené à la persistance des notions essentialistes concernant les données archéologiques des occidentaux et des non-occidentaux. En examinant le matériel archéologique des gens Muskogee Creek de l’intérieur du Sud-ouest nord-américain, j’ai constaté que les nuances des conceptualisations de la modernité sont insuffisantes pour pouvoir adéquatement rendre compte de la diversité des pratiques culturelles parmi les Creeks du postcontact (circa A.D. 1550-1830). Plutôt que d’aboutir à la perspective prédominante de la dichotomie entre les modernités occidentales et les autochtones primitifs, dans le Sud-est nord-américain, les recherches archéologiques récentes montrent plutôt un milieu culturel dans lequel la dynamique des contestations de la modernité a été créée à la fois par les colonisateurs et les colonisés.
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Wesson, C.B. Mixed Metaphors: Dynamic Modernities in Southeastern North America. Arch 4, 67–86 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-008-9054-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-008-9054-z