Race and racism in archaeology: introduction

Abstract

Race and racism have been subjects of much discussion throughout the humanities and social sciences, but archaeology has not participated in these discussions as fully as it might. This volume aims to aid as a spur to further discussion. Considerable debate revolves around whether racism is a modern phenomenon or is found more generally in human history. There seems little doubt that the systematic nature of racism as a key element of state power took on a new virulent form in the twentieth century, but rather more doubts are expressed about the longer history of racism. Race as a biological category is also in debate, with some biological anthropologists feeling that this is a useful term for describing geographically localized aspects of human variability. A range of views is represented in this volume. In this introduction I discuss the issue of race and racism more broadly, including how other cognate subjects have dealt with these issues.

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