Histarchers,
I am very glad to see that the topic of our session has created a stimulating and provocative discussion about the potential of archaeology to speak to issues related to disease, medical practices, and public health. Part of our aim when putting together this panel (as I am sure is also the case with other sessions) was to open a space for dialogue amongst archaeologists with diverse methodological, thematic, and regional expertise. It is our firm belief that bringing together people with such a wide variety of perspectives and opinions can enrich archaeological discourse, regardless of the particular theme or topic. By collaborating , debating , and learning from one another, we believe that we we will be better able to develop novel solutions to archaeological questions, and inspire new avenues for research.
All of this is to say that there is no single model for archaeological investigations of medicine and disease. As the original email stated, our interests include not only biological and ecological perspectives, but also social and political ones. For example, one of my colleagues will be attending medical school, and is interested in using osteoarchaeology to develop a more historically-situated understandings of disease and medical treatment practices; another is excavating a plantation infirmary to address questions of the social politics of medical treatment in colonial slaveholding contexts; and another is using their biology and genetics background to look at quarantine contexts. Meanwhile, in my own research I am investigating how economic interests on the one hand, and Christian ethics on the other, shaped particular attitudes toward/valuations of enslaved African laborers on religious estates in colonial Peru. In particular, these logics were both grounded in a discourse about the body, and how it should be treated within an organized system of labor. Therefore, I am interested in examining how Catholic slaveholders negotiated these two interests in their everyday treatment of enslaved persons on their estates, and how the resulting system of practices affected the physical health and well-being of the laborers themselves.
What brings these diverse projects together is the shared conviction that historicizing our knowledge of medical treatment practices, patterns in the proliferation and treatment of disease, etc, will enable us to better understand contemporary situations, and in doing so, perhaps help us develop more informed strategies for confronting issues in the future.
Once again, thank you all for the comments. As young professionals, we really value the support, suggestions, and critiques of other researchers in our field. This is a learning experience for us, and so all feedback--positive and negative--is valuable as we continue to shape our own projects. And so, we look forward to continuing the discussions this spring!
Very best,
Claire Maass
________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Elizabeth Terese Newman <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, September 3, 2016 8:40:44 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: SAA Call for Papers: Archaeological Perspectives towards Medicine and Global Health
Unfortunately, I didn’t read the original full email as I can’t attend the SAA’s this year, so I’m just going on this exchange and the subject line, but I don’t understand how it can’t be archaeological. My understanding of “global health” is that it deals primarily though not exclusively with the spread of disease on a global scale. Though some might argue that the first global health crisis dates to the 14th century Black Plague spread through Europe, I, with my New World bias, would go with the spread of disease globally as Europeans circumnavigated the globe. Seems to me archaeology has lots to say about this in many ways. No “big data” needed. Almost all of us working in historical archaeology, in the New World anyway, have to confront the question of how, exactly, that spread of disease has impacted the population we are studying.
More specifically, though, one of my roommates from grad school got her PhD in medical anthropology and has worked in Global Health for both the WHO and the NIH. Her expertise is in decision-making and health, especially when indigenous and “Western” medicines come into conflict. I could certainly bring this into a discussion about my own work. In the context of the 19th century workers quarters at a central Mexican Hacienda, I found, in the same domestic area, 1. patent medicine bottles (I suppose what would be understood as modern Western medicine…), 2. faunal remains belonging to a species of animal that a local cultural anthropologist/shaman told me was used by the local indigenous group in healing ceremonies, and 3. a charm (a figa or higa) who’s style and meaning has its origins in Medieval Spain and Italy—most interestingly of this last, an identical charm (like could have come from the very same mold identical) was found in an undated context in St. Augustine, FL.
If I were attending the SAA’s this spring and if I weren’t embroiled in four other projects with promises to myself not to start on something new just yet, I could easily see putting together a paper that was both archaeological and related to global health as I understand it.
But thanks to the session organizers for prompting this discussion and an opportunity to think about it! You might have just given me an idea for a new and cool paper!
Best,
Elizabeth
PS Incidentally, if anybody is interested in the figa/higa thing—Deagan’s find is pictured in Fig. 5.16 in her second volume on artifacts of the Spanish Colonies… (page 103) and mine is pictured in Fig.8.7 on page 192 of my book.
Elizabeth Terese Newman, PhD
Associate Professor of History, Stony Brook University
www.elizabethnewman.org<http://www.elizabethnewman.org>
Check out my book, Biography of a Hacienda <http://www.elizabethnewman.org/book.html>(University of Arizona Press 2014).
> On Sep 3, 2016, at 11:53 AM, geoff carver <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Could be; I just don't see how we could use archaeology to investigate
> "global health."
> What exactly would we be excavating? For what period could we get a "global"
> dataset large enough that we could say anything meaningful?
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Then it would be worth attending the session in April to see what these
> researchers are doing!
>
> --Barb
> [log in to unmask]
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> I really fail to see how this could be archaeological...
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> We invite your comments and feedback, and look forward to having the
> opportunity to collaborate with you all in Vancouver this coming spring!
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