The Future is Now: Archaeology and the Eradication of Anti-Blackness
Open accessAbstract
Building a new anti-racist archaeology will require an unprecedented level of structural changes in the practices, demographics, and power relations of archaeology. This article considers why this iteration of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement is proving to be unique in terms of its potential to transform the field. We discuss how anti-racist archaeologists arrived at this juncture prepared to meet the challenges now before us, and how members of the Society of Black Archaeologists are collaborating with others to enact change. We acknowledge the significant social justice efforts of others and suggest how archaeologists can get involved to keep this critical momentum going.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
A History of Archaeological Thought. By Bruce G. Trigger.
Small, D. B. (1992) · American Journal of Archaeology · doi:10.2307/505763 · Cited by 1,296 · see citing works
Archaeology and the Study of Gender
CONKEY, M. W., & SPECTOR, J. D. (1984) · Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-003107-8.50006-2 · Cited by 628 · see citing works
Indigenous Archaeology as Decolonizing Practice
Atalay, S. (2006) · The American Indian Quarterly · doi:10.1353/aiq.2006.0015 · Cited by 568 · see citing works
Community-based archaeology: research with, by, and for indigenous and local communities
(2013) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.50-4516 · Cited by 464 · see citing works
Collaboration in archaeological practice: engaging descendant communities
(2008) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-0377 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
A World History of Nineteenth-Century Archaeology
Díaz‐Andreu, M. (2007) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780199217175.001.0001 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Atalay, S. (2019) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/9780520953468 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement
(2007) · doi:10.5040/9798216418498 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Seizing intellectual power: The dialogue at the New York African Burial Ground
LaRoche, C. J., & Blakey, M. L. (1997) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03374233 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Why civil resistance works the strategic logic of nonviolent conflict
Chenoweth, E., & Stephan, M. J. (2011) · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory
(1984) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/c2009-0-21872-1 · Cited by 253 · see citing works
Indigenous archaeology: American Indian values and scientific practice
(2001) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.38-5651 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Race and affluence: an archaeology of African America and consumer culture
Mullins, P. R., & Samford, P. M. (2000) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.37-3418 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Indigenous Archaeology: American Indian Values and Scientific Practice
Milo, R. G., & Watkins, J. E. (2002) · The South African Archaeological Bulletin · doi:10.2307/3889110 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
The Premise and Promise of Indigenous Archaeology
Colwell-Chanthaphonh, C., Ferguson, T. J., Lippert, D., McGuire, R. H., Nicholas, G. P., Watkins, J. E., & Zimmerman, L. J. (2010) · American Antiquity · doi:10.7183/0002-7316.75.2.228 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Battle‐Baptiste, W. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315096254 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
A Black feminist-inspired archaeology?
Franklin, M. (2001) · Journal of Social Archaeology · doi:10.1177/146960530100100108 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Self-citationThe archaeology of collective action
(2008) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.45-5179 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Why queer archaeology? An introduction
Dowson, T. A. (2000) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438240050131144 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
García, J. M. V. (2016) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315434216 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
The Politics of Archaeology in Africa
Shepherd, N. (2002) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.31.040402.085424 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Sexuality Studies in Archaeology
Voss, B. L. (2008) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085238 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Wilkie, L. A. (2003) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203821176 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Public Memory and the Search for Power in American Historical Archaeology
Shackel, P. A. (2001) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2001.103.3.655 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BLACK AMERICANS IN RECENT TIMES
Leone, M. P., LaRoche, C. J., & Babiarz, J. J. (2005) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120417 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Feminisms, queer theories, and the archaeological study of past sexualities
Voss, B. L. (2000) · World Archaeology · doi:10.1080/00438240050131171 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Who Writes about Archaeology? An Intersectional Study of Authorship in Archaeological Journals
Heath-Stout, L. E. (2020) · American Antiquity · doi:10.1017/aaq.2020.28 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Archaeologists as Activists: Can Archaeologists Change the World?
Stottman, M. J., Barnes, J. A., Chidester, R. C., et al. (2010) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 81 · see citing works
How to Queer the Past Without Sex: Queer Theory, Feminisms and the Archaeology of Identity
Blackmore, C. (2011) · Archaeologies · doi:10.1007/s11759-011-9157-9 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Excavation of a slave cabin: Georgia, U.S.A.
Ascher, R., & Fairbanks, C. H. (1971) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03374451 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Accomplices in the academy in the age of Black Lives Matter
Powell, J. S., & Kelly, A. (2017) · Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis · doi:10.31274/jctp-180810-73 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Critical Race Theory and the Archaeology of the African Diaspora
Epperson, T. W. (2004) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03376636 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Sidelines and separate spaces: making education anti‐racist for students of color
Blackwell, D. M. (2010) · Race Ethnicity and Education · doi:10.1080/13613324.2010.492135 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Excavating America’s Metaphor: Race, Diaspora, and Vindicationist Archaeologies
Mullins, P. R. (2008) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03377076 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Why are there so few black American archaeologists?
Franklin, M. (1997) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00085732 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citationEarly African America: Archaeological studies of significance and diversity
Fennell, C. C. (2011) · Journal of Archaeological Research · doi:10.1007/s10814-010-9042-x · Cited by 59 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The shift from using “African American” to “African diaspora” archaeology to define this genre underscores its global reach (e.g., Fennell 2010).”
BackgroundAfrican Diaspora Archaeologies: Present Insights and Expanding Discourses
Franklin, M., & McKee, L. (2004) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03376628 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationFree black communities and the Underground Railroad: the geography of resistance
(2014) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.52-0457 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Locating Marginalized Historical Narratives at Kingsley Plantation
Flewellen, A. O. (2017) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-017-0005-7 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationFranklin, M., & Lee, N. (2020) · Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage · doi:10.1080/20518196.2020.1718408 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Self-citationInheriting the past: the making of Arthur C. Parker and indigenous archaeology
(2010) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-5735 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Introduction: New Directions in African Diaspora Archaeology
Lee, N. K., & Scott, J. N. (2019) · Transforming Anthropology · doi:10.1111/traa.12164 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Tobacco, pipes, and race in Colonial Virginia: little tubes of mighty power
(2015) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.190934 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence
Roller, M. P. (2018) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-018-0120-0 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad
LaRoche, C. J. (2013) · University of Illinois Press · doi:10.5406/illinois/9780252038044.001.0001 · Cited by 24 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…alongside present-day community perspectives to consider how descendants’ collective memory and investment in Black heritage (Franklin and Lee 2020; LaRoche 2013; Odewale 2020; Reeves 2018) heightens the historical significance of Black homesteads (Franklin and Lee 2019; LaRoche 2012; Paynter and…”
Warner, M. (2015) · University Press of Florida eBooks · doi:10.5744/florida/9780813061115.001.0001 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Archaeology for the Next Generation
Odewale, A., Dunnavant, J., Flewellen, A., & Jones, A. (2018) · Anthropology News · doi:10.1111/an.729 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationAssessing Heritage Resources in St. Croix Post‐Hurricanes Irma and Maria
Dunnavant, J. P., Flewellen, A. O., Jones, A., Odewale, A., & White, W. A. (2018) · Transforming Anthropology · doi:10.1111/traa.12130 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Anthropology in American Historical Archaeology
Orser, C. E. (2001) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2001.103.3.621 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Morris, A. (2017) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-017-0006-6 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Archaeology and capitalism from ethics to politics
Hamilakis, Y. (2007) · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Talking Loud and Saying Nothing
Desnoyers-Colas, E. F. (2019) · Departures in Critical Qualitative Research · doi:10.1525/dcqr.2019.8.4.100 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Cruise Ships, Community, and Collective Memory at Millars Plantation, Eleuthera, Bahamas
Battle‐Baptiste, W. (2017) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-017-0008-4 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Introduction: Navigating Intersections in African Diaspora Archaeology
Fennell, C. (2017) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-017-0001-y · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Marks from the Past, Signs of the Future—the Dikenga of Historical Archaeology
Joseph, J. W. (2016) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03377331 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Flewellen, A. O. (2019) · Nordisk Tidsskrift for Informationsvidenskab og Kulturformidling · doi:10.7146/ntik.v7i2.118481 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationFranklin, M., & Lee, N. (2019) · Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage · doi:10.1080/21619441.2019.1726613 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Self-citationAsking the “Right” Questions Archaeologists and Descendant Communities
Reeves, M. (2004) · doi:10.4324/9780203506660-8 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence
González‐Tennant, E. (2018) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Pedagogies in the Flesh: Building an Anti-Racist Decolonized Classroom
Hanna (2019) · Frontiers A Journal of Women Studies · doi:10.5250/fronjwomestud.40.1.0229 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Davidson, J. M. (2008) · Journal of Social Archaeology · doi:10.1177/1469605308095008 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
At Freedom’s Borderland: The Black Regulars and Masculinity at Fort Davis, Texas
Wilkie, L. A. (2019) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-019-00161-3 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Lee, N. K. (2020) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-020-00239-3 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Disparate Diasporas and Vindicationist Archaeologies: Some Comments on Excavating America’s Metaphor
Brandon, J. C. (2008) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03377079 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
The Anthropology of Archaeology
LaRoche, C. J. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199237821.013.0033 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Paynter, R., & Baptiste, W. B. (2019) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-019-00191-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Sustaining Visibility? The Quandary of St. Paul and Archaeology in the Long Run
Skipper, J. (2014) · Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage · doi:10.1179/2051819614z.00000000019 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
On the Politics and Possibilities for Operationalizing Vindicationist Historical Archaeologies
Bell, A. (2008) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/bf03377078 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Eating in the Side Room: Food, Archaeology, and African American Identity
Warner, M. (2015) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 13
- Agbe-Davies, A. S. (2002). Black scholars, Black pasts. SAA Archaeological Record 2(4): 24–28.
- Barnes, J. A., (ed.) (2011). The Materiality of Freedom: Archaeologies of Post-emancipation Life. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia.
- Franklin, M. and Paynter, R. (2010). Inequality and archaeology. In Ashmore, W., Lippert, D., and Mills, B. (eds.), Voices in American Archaeology: the 75th Anniversary Volume of the Society for American Archaeology. Society for American Archaeology Press, Washington DC, pp. 94–130.
- Ike, N., Miller, G., and Hartemann, G. O. (2020). Anti-racist archaeology: your time is now. SAA Archaeological Record 20(4): 12–16.
- Jones, A. (2011). Archaeology and my mission to empower the youth of my community. SAA Archaeological Record 11(2): 30–31.
- National Summit on Teaching Slavery (2019a). Engaging descendant communities in the interpretation of slavery at museums and historic sites. History News 74(1): 14–21.
- National Summit on Teaching Slavery (2019b). Engaging descendant communities in the interpretation of slavery: a rubric of best practices. History News 74(1): 22–29
- Orser, Jr., C. E. (ed.) (2001b). Race and the Archaeology of Identity. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
- Reeves, M. B., Minkoff, M. F., and Brock, T. (forthcoming). Aiming for anti-racism: policies and practices of a publicly engaged Archaeology Department. In Westmacott, C. V. (ed.), Critical Public Archaeology: Confronting Social Challenges in the 21st Century. Berghahn, New York.
- Rutecki D. M. and Blackmore, C. (2016). Towards an inclusive queer archaeology: an overview and introduction. SAA Archaeological Record 16(1): 9–11.
- Schmidt, R. and Voss, B. L. (eds.) (2000). Archaeologies of Sexuality. Routledge, London.
- Trigger, B. (2006). A History of Archaeological Thought, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Watson, L. (2020). Allyship and accomplice: two sides of the same coin. Equity Dispatch 4(3): 2–8.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Flewellen, A. O., Odewale, A., Dunnavant, J., Jones, A., & White, W. (2022) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00600-z · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationUnearthing Colonial Violence: Griotic Archaeology and Community-Engagement in Guiana
Hartemann, G. O. (2022) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00596-6 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Fryer, T. C. (2023) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1111/aman.13844 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
African American Archaeology, for Now
Agbe-Davies, A. S. (2022) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-041320-022153 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Introduction: Current Directions in Community Archaeology of the African Diaspora
Westmont, V. C., & Clay, E. (2022) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00631-6 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Seeking Justice in Black Spaces: The Geography, Memory, and Legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre
Ike, N. (2024) · Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s41636-024-00517-4 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
“Mo té la”: Building Community-Engaged Plantation Archaeology in Guyane
Clay, E. C. (2022) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00625-4 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Looking at Landscape’s Political-Economic Fissures to Understand Social Radicals
Sayers, D. O. (2024) · International Journal of Historical Archaeology · doi:10.1007/s10761-022-00683-2
- Authors
- Franklin, M., Dunnavant, J. P., Flewellen, A. O., & Odewale, A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of California, Riverside (US)
- University of Tulsa (US)
- Corresponding author
- Franklin, Maria
- ORCID
- Franklin, Maria
- Venue
- International Journal of Historical Archaeology
- Published
- 2020-10-23
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 753-766
- ISSN
- 1092-7697 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7748
- PMC
- PMC7581951
- OpenAlex
- W3093602628
- Cited by
- 140
- References
- 69
- Citations by year
- 2026: 26 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 50.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Historical Archaeology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Theological Perspectives and Practices
- Keywords
- anti-Blackness, Black Lives Matter, academic power, social justice, decolonizing archaeology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review