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Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: September 30, 2020 at 5:44:25 PM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-AmIndian]: Blanton on Cobb, 'The Archaeology of > Southeastern Native American Landscapes of the Colonial Era' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Charles R. Cobb. The Archaeology of Southeastern Native American > Landscapes of the Colonial Era. Gainesville University Press of > Florida, 2019. 286 pp. $90.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8130-6619-6. > > Reviewed by Dennis B. Blanton (James Madison University) > Published on H-AmIndian (September, 2020) > Commissioned by F. Evan Nooe > > Blanton on Cobb, The Archaeology of Southeastern Native American > Landscapes of the Colonial Era > > The title of this book undersells the contents. Charles Cobb delivers > the promised examination of southeastern Indigenous landscapes, to be > sure, but he does so with an arresting authority derived from depth > of research, ambitious scope, wide relevance, and erudition. > Anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians with any measure of > interest in Native North America will do themselves--and the topic--a > disservice if they do not read and reflect upon what he has to say. > If it achieves nothing else, the book provides context essential for > understanding the contemporary Native American condition. > > Chronologically speaking, this work is focused on the interval > between the beginning of the sixteenth century and the close of the > nineteenth century. Theoretically, the point of departure for Cobb's > treatment of landscape is what he describes as neohistorical > anthropology. Over the course of seven chapters, he revels in the > complexity of the topic and gives explicit emphasis to historical > heterogeneity and cultural plurality. The merit of the perspective is > demonstrated by presentation of a series of what he refers to as > microhistories that concern groups like the Cherokee, Chickasaw, > Seminole, and Yamasee. The point is to demonstrate the essential > place of cultural relativism in any full and meaningful accounting of > Indigenous history. The author maintains success may be attained only > by deconstructing the interbraided range of contingent experiences. > > In these respects Cobb's is a distinctly bottom-up approach. Matters > of power, authority, and sovereignty emerge as basic and enduring > factors, but historically and geographically they tend to be > expressed in unique and divergent ways. Thus, what we are implored to > recognize and appreciate is the inherent diversity of Native > experience. Still, the facts of myriad experiences also telegraph the > persistent, unifying themes of innovation and creativity that account > for adaptive successes and historical continuities. > > Four "eventful dates" establish useful chronological guideposts in > the analysis, beginning with the establishment of St. Augustine in > 1565 and ending with events that followed the 1783 Treaty of Paris. > Then, toward the end, the author reflects on the effects of four > "pivot points." They represent bundles of related actions, driven by > occurrences like epidemic disease and the deerskin trade, that > explain fundamental changes, albeit unevenly. > > Central to Cobb's analysis is the fact of population movement through > the southeastern landscape. He reminds us that such events were not > only common--and for a long time--but most importantly, that they > were as intentional as they were forced. In this regard I found his > discussion of _emplacement_, the social production of spaces and > places, and _coalescence_, the successful and willful blending of > disparate groups, especially enlightening. > > What readers will not find in Cobb's book are easy answers. Very > intentionally, he steers clear of positions that might be construed > as "reductionist." Instead, he succeeds in the express goal of > illuminating, via the lens of landscape, a history marked by healthy > doses of both fluidity and persistence. The story is complicated and > difficult, but it is also one of resilience and survival. > > Citation: Dennis B. Blanton. Review of Cobb, Charles R., _The > Archaeology of Southeastern Native American Landscapes of the > Colonial Era_. H-AmIndian, H-Net Reviews. September, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55367 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#2114): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/2114 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/77227953/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
