Identity Studies in Archaeology

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 stu...