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Agency, practical politics and the archaeology of culture contact

Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, stephen.silliman{at}umb.edu

I use this paper to intersect the trajectory of the agency concept in archaeology. On a theoretical front, I summarize briefly the state of ‘agency’ in archaeology and its deployment in theories of practice. This opens a space to introduce the concepts of practical politics and doxa, and I illustrate their effectiveness in addressing issues of social relations, power, identity and daily practice. I then pinpoint their particular applicability to colonial and culture-contact studies. On an empirical front, I turn the lenses of doxa and practical politics to a case study in nineteenth-century northern California. My focus is on Native American involvement in the Rancho Petaluma and the continuity of lithic practices in this secular colonial setting. I conclude that although lithic practices display a material continuity in technology, they are in fact part of a social change surrounding the politics of practice.

Key Words: agency • California • colonialism • culture contact • doxa • lithics • practice theory • Rancho Petaluma • ranchos

Journal of Social Archaeology, Vol. 1, No. 2, 190-209 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/146960530100100203


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