Marcus Brittain – författare

Archaeologies of Cultural Contact undertakes an exploration of cultural transfer, with a particular focus on the combination and modification of both material and behavioural attributes under conditions of contact. From globalization and displacement to cultural legitimization and identity politics, the modern world is characterised by, and articulated through, dynamics of contact and transfer. This book recognises that creolization, ethnogenesis, hybridity, and syncretism are analytical concepts and social processes, relevant not only to the postcolonial contexts of the twentieth century but also to wide-ranging instances where contact is made between cultural groups. Indeed, in representing the re-working of pre-existing cultural elements, they were crucial and ever-present features of the human past. Ranging in their analytical frame, scale, and geographical and temporal location, the chapters in this volume demonstrate the diverse understandings that can be gained from explorations into the material remains of past contact, exposing and overcoming various limitations of competing models of cultural change. They permit insights into not only cultural change and difference but also the processes of appropriation, resistance, redefinition, and incorporation. Together, the contributions articulate the perspectives that concern practices in relations to people, places, and things, and note how power dynamics mediate social interactions and sustain and constrain forms of cultural contact. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in archaeology as well those from cognate disciplines, particularly anthropology and history.

Conducted between 2021−2025, the MOWAA Archaeology Project launched the most extensive archaeological investigations in Benin City, Nigeria, since the 1960s. Integrating a framework of pre-construction and research archaeology within the development of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), this book details the results of the project’s systematic surveys and excavations in the heart of the historic palace district − formerly the political and ceremonial centre of the Kingdom of Benin, prior to its destruction by the British military in 1897. Novel in scope, scale and approach, the work revealed stratified deposits spanning at least six centuries, including evidence of pre-colonial architecture, habitation, craft production and ceremonial practices, as well as material charting the transformations associated with the 1897 British attack, the early colonial reconfiguration of the city, and subsequent 20th-century occupation.As the first of two volumes, this book provides a detailed account of the site, field methodologies, survey data and excavated stratigraphy. It situates the new findings within the broader historical development of Benin City, synthesising previous archaeological research with oral and documentary accounts, thus providing a rich new account of Benin City’s history. Broader discussion includes placing the findings in wider West African historical and archaeological context, the role of public engagement, and the emerging landscape of pre-construction archaeology in the region. The volume further highlights the collaborative Nigerian–British research partnership, including contributions from the project’s cohort of early career Nigerian archaeologists and other participants and stakeholders.

The public’s fascination with archaeology has meant that archaeologists have had to deal with media more regularly than other scholarly disciplines. How archaeologists communicate their research to the public through the media and how the media view archaeologists has become an important feature in the contemporary world of academic and professional archaeologists. In this volume, a group of archaeologists, many with media backgrounds, address the wide range of questions in this intersection of fields. An array of media forms are covered including television, film, photography, the popular press, art, video games, radio and digital media with a focus on the overriding question: What are the long-term implications of the increasing exposure through and reliance upon media forms for archaeology in the contemporary world? The volume will be of interest to archaeologists and those teaching public archaeology courses.

The public’s fascination with archaeology has meant that archaeologists have had to deal with media more regularly than other scholarly disciplines. How archaeologists communicate their research to the public through the media and how the media view archaeologists has become an important feature in the contemporary world of academic and professional archaeologists. In this volume, a group of archaeologists, many with media backgrounds, address the wide range of questions in this intersection of fields. An array of media forms are covered including television, film, photography, the popular press, art, video games, radio and digital media with a focus on the overriding question: What are the long-term implications of the increasing exposure through and reliance upon media forms for archaeology in the contemporary world? The volume will be of interest to archaeologists and those teaching public archaeology courses.