It's what you do with it that counts - Performed identities in the East African coastal landscape

Stephanie Wynne-Jones

doi:10.1177/1469605307081392

It's what you do with it that counts - Performed identities in the East African coastal landscape

Stephanie Wynne-Jones

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Archaeologies of the East African coast have often referred to identity, cast in terms of ethnicity or class. This article argues that these categories, created by a particular approach to the data, are not sufficient to an understanding of the multiple processes of identification among coastal residents. It is argued that by focusing on human interaction with material culture, rather than assessing object distributions, we can move closer to such an understanding and can begin to go beyond the apparent restrictions of our data sets. This article focuses on analytical possibilities, asking questions as much as providing answers. By way of illustration a case study is discussed, based on the archaeology of Kilwa region in southern Tanzania.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	325-345
Number of pages	21
Journal	JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Volume	7
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1469605307081392
Publication status	Published - Oct 2007

Keywords

East Africa
identity
materiality
Swahili coast
HISTORY
STYLE

Access to Document

10.1177/1469605307081392

Cite this

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abstract = "Archaeologies of the East African coast have often referred to identity, cast in terms of ethnicity or class. This article argues that these categories, created by a particular approach to the data, are not sufficient to an understanding of the multiple processes of identification among coastal residents. It is argued that by focusing on human interaction with material culture, rather than assessing object distributions, we can move closer to such an understanding and can begin to go beyond the apparent restrictions of our data sets. This article focuses on analytical possibilities, asking questions as much as providing answers. By way of illustration a case study is discussed, based on the archaeology of Kilwa region in southern Tanzania.",

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