Colonialism and the European Mesolithic

Abstract

This paper heeds the broader societal calls for decolonisation in Britain and Ireland, and seeks to apply various strands of decolonial practice within the context of Mesolithic archaeology; a subfield which has seen little postcolonial reflection to date. We question the historic interactions between Mesolithic archaeology and colonial hegemony, and argue that Mesolithic research continues to reinforce these hegemonies today. This occurs simultaneously within Europe, and on the inter-continental scale. With this in mind, we explore areas of Mesolithic research practice that hold potential to shift this dynamic, and contribute to the deconstruction of colonially rooted power imbalances. In doing so, our focus falls upon the ethics of ethnographic analogy, and the ontological turn within Mesolithic Studies.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to thank the members of the Mesolithic Archaeology and Hunter-Gatherer Research online discussion group for many enjoyable and thought-provoking conversations on and around this subject. Special thanks also go to the NAR editorial board for the invitation to write this paper, and to the three anonymous referees who provided supportive, critical and helpful feedback.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).