Why those who shovel are silent : local labor, unrecognized expertise, and knowledge production in archaeological excavation
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation examines the role that locally-hired laborers play in the production of archaeological knowledge through their involvement in excavation. Based on two years of ethnographic and oral history research at Petra in Jordan and at Catalhoyuk in Turkey, I demonstrate the expertise that site workers on these projects have developed from their years of participation in excavation. I use the visualization and statistical capabilities of social network analysis to systematically compare the workers' oral historical record to the site archives from the two sites, illustrating in which ways the two bodies of information overlap, conflict, or complement one another. Despite the evident professional knowledge and skills that locally-hired laborers at Petra and Catalhoyuk possess regarding archaeological finds, methods, and analysis, however, I argue that the economic realities of how archaeological labor is organized make it financially beneficial for local community members to disavow their privileged expertise about archaeological work. They are instead rewarded for pretending to know less, to be-- in their words-- "simple workers." In this dissertation, I contextualize this set of circumstances within the history of archaeology in the Middle East, showing how lasting colonial and Orientalist legacies and the way that they continue to structure archaeological labor relations impact the production of knowledge through archaeological excavation.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Mickel, Allison |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Anthropology. |
| Primary advisor | Hodder, Ian |
| Thesis advisor | Hodder, Ian |
| Thesis advisor | Porter, Benjamin W, 1974- |
| Thesis advisor | Shanks, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Voss, Barbara L, 1967- |
| Advisor | Porter, Benjamin W, 1974- |
| Advisor | Shanks, Michael |
| Advisor | Voss, Barbara L, 1967- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Allison Mickel. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Anthropology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Allison Jane Mickel
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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