The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and the Present.

Matthews, Keith

SIAN JONES. xiv+180 pages, 6 figures. 1997. London & New York (NY): Routledge; 1-86814-257-5 hardback [pounds]45 & $65; 0-415-14158-3 paperback [pounds]13.99 & $18.95.

Ethnicity is one of those surprising words which turns out to be only half-a-century old, yet its use is widespread, at least among middle-class liberals. It underpins many of our notions of self-identity, group identity and national identity. It is clearly a concept of value to the archaeologist, but for some time the profession has been very wary of using it, perhaps because it is felt to be too closely linked with extreme right-wing views and the discredited 'settlement archaeology' of Kossinna and others which was put to overtly racist use.

In this timely book, Sian Jones tries to open up debate on the subject. She begins with an historical overview of both archaeological approaches to interpretation in general and to the interpretation of ethnicity specifically. This is largely uncontroversial stuff and many of the examples she cites will be familiar, I suspect, to most graduate readers.

It is, however, the central three chapters (4 to 6) which contain her detailed analysis of ethnicity. She takes a broad overview of recent social theory here, surveying the legacy of 19th-century classificatory anthropology through to the development of ethnicity as a major area of study in the 1960s. Again, this historical approach treads safe enough ground.

Chapter 4, entitled 'Ethnicity: the conceptual terrain', is perhaps the most important part of the book. Here, the author examines the two major theoretical paradigms underpinning modern concepts of ethnicity: primordialism and instrumentalism. These are effectively the same as essentialism and social constructionism, and share similar problems. The primordial approach is similar in many ways to the older anthropological concept of 'race' in that it stresses the genetic component of ethnicity, sometimes even descending to referring to it as 'ties of blood'. instrumentalism, on the other hand, sees the roots of ethnicity in social practice, a perspective that will be familiar to most archaeologists.

Sian Jones finds both paradigms wanting. She criticizes the first for failing to address the dynamic and fluid nature of ethnicity in varied social and historical contexts (p. 72). The second tends to be reductionist and fails to explain the generation of ethnic groups (p. 79). Here, she has captured the current zeitgeist of dissatisfaction with social constructionism and its near domination of theory. Neither paradigm explains the relationship between culture (including material culture) and ethnicity.

Chapter 5 explores a contextual analytical framework for ethnicity. Taking the cue from Bourdieu, the author outlines a practice theory of ethnicity based around the multi-dimensional habitus in which the individual's self-identification with an ethnic group becomes situational. Furthermore, it is suggested that ethnicity is wholly embedded within economic relations through which it is reproduced and transformed. This is social constructionism at its most thorough-going, with its Marxist-Maoist roots showing. Nevertheless, this aspect of contextual ethnicity is left unexplored and the author ends the chapter by emphasizing the historical contingency of ethnic identity.

Chapter 6, the last of these explorations of ethnicity, brings us back to material culture. This will no doubt come as a relief to many archaeologists who may have developed the impression by this point that they are reading a book about the anthropology of ethnicity. Once again, the difficult relationship between traditional archaeological cultures and ethnicity is raised and the author concludes that the various critiques of the relationship 'have only been accommodated in a piecemeal fashion' and often as an unintended consequence of other developments in archaeological theory and practice (p. 110).

In the remainder of the chapter, Sian Jones summarizes recent ethnoarchaeological work on the relationship between style and group identity. She shows how work by Polly Wiessner and Ian Hodder has contributed to an understanding of the active role material culture has to play in creating, maintaining and reproducing group identity. At the same time, she highlights the fact that the ways in which material culture styles become attached to ethnic identification have not been questioned.

This is where an archaeological approach to ethnicity fails unless, as Sian Jones points out, it retains historical perspective. The meanings attached to material culture are not fixed but fluid. They change, through time and without a clear understanding of context, the symbolic elements that contribute to ethnic identity are lost. She rightly concludes that 'it cannot be assumed a priori that similarity in material culture reflects the presence of a particular group of people in the past, an index of social interaction, or a shared normative framework' (p. 126).

Her conclusions briefly examine the problematical concept of Romanization. She argues that the variations seen in material culture, not simply between separate social groups but also within them, is evidence for a lack of boundedness in those groups.

The overall impression is that this is not a book about archaeology: it is primarily about ethnicity and its social interpretation. It is heavily influenced by Marxist-Maoist thought, primarily in the form of Bourdieu's theory of practice. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, there is little criticism of the perspective. In particular, much of the material used by Sian Jones in her modifications to Bourdieu comes from other social constructionists.

In approaching ethnicity, the author has emphasized the fluid and unbounded nature of group identity and self-identity. She does not seem to have considered the positions of the marginal subgroups which, it can be argued, are central to the production of identity at both personal and group levels. The contribution of subcultures, for instance, to culture change and to the mediation of ethnicity between different groups is an important feature not just of contemporary societies but also of the past.

Specific complaints about the book are few. Some of the figures appear gratuitous rather than illustrative of the text (for instance figure 2.6, a location map showing Hertfordshire and Essex in the late Iron Age, which also contains some strange spellings (such as Braucher for Braughing)) and there is a distinct impression that they were an afterthought. The ultimate reliance on social constructionist thought is (personally) irritating, but not insuperable.

Overall, this is e useful introduction to current social theories of ethnicity and a concise summary of archaeological approaches to it. It deserves to be widely read and ought to form a springboard for further exploration. As the author would no doubt agree, it is a starting-point, not a final statement.

KEITH MATTHEWS Chester Archaeology K.Matthews@chestercc.gov.uk