World Archaeology

The Archaeology of Rebellion

How have people throughout history openly fought oppression and toppled despotic regimes? What have been the social, symbolic and material consequences of insurgence? What would an archaeology of rebellion and revolution look like? These are questions that we intend to address in the present issue.

Social resistance has garnered attention in archaeology since the 1980s, guided by the seminal work of James C. Scott, as well as wider applications of Marxism, anarchism and postcolonial/decolonial theory in archaeological research. In most cases, however, archaeologists have paid attention to passive resistance – often better described as resilience.

This is the case with the archaeology of slavery and colonization, for instance. The material world is particularly suited to analyze subtle and implicit forms of opposition to power that cannot be verbally expressed. An emphasis on these modes of resistance, however, may overlook more overt manifestations of political struggle, including insurrection, revolution and rebellion. We know that these actions existed even in the deep past and were often crucial in changing and shaping regimes and social systems. Some cases of open rebellion, such as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 or maroonage in the Americas, have been studied by archaeologists, who have shown the key and durable role that material culture played in these events.

This themed issue aims to explore the material dimensions of insurrection, from prehistoric revolutions to contemporary political movements – those that succeeded and those that did not. Beyond identifying archaeological signatures, the Special Issue invites contributions that       examine how things are mobilized in contexts of political upheaval and how the material world shapes – and is shaped by – new sociopolitical orders, including those that were imagined and fought for, but failed to be implemented in practice. Potential themes include iconoclasm, places of conflict and battlefields associated with insurrections, landscapes of rebellion, subversive infrastructures and assemblages, and the aftermath of revolution. The latter includes, but is not restricted to, new technologies, material styles and artefacts, social changes visible in the archaeological record (e.g. more egalitarian urban spaces or new burial practices), and material memories of revolution such as monuments, memorials and rituals.

It is expected that this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of periods, from prehistory to the present, and a similarly broad geographic coverage. Papers using multi-period, deep time and broad comparative perspectives are particularly welcome.