Archaeology and post-colonialism in South Africa : the theory, practice and politics of archaeology after apartheid

Shepherd, Nick

Archaeology and post-colonialism in South Africa : the theory, practice and politics of archaeology after apartheid

Doctoral Thesis

1998

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Archaeology

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

I take my lead from a paper by Bruce Trigger (1984) in which he divides the disciplinary field into three modes or forms of archaeology: a colonialist archaeology, a nationalist archaeology and an imperialist archaeology. He goes on to suggest (1990) that South African archaeology is the most colonialist archaeology of all. Trigger was writing at a point before the current political transformation in South Africa had emerged over the horizon of visibility. Writing somewhat later, and from the point of view of a Third World archaeologist, I ask: What would a post-colonial archaeology look like? In particular, what would it look like from the point of view of South Africa in the late 1990s?

Description

Includes bibliographical references

Keywords

Archaeology

Reference:

Collections

PhD / Doctoral

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