Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique represents a synthesis of postcolonial archaeological studies from the Old and New Worlds. This volume addresses the processes of postcolonialism in light of new paradigms in contemporary academia that affect the practice of archaeology.

In recent years, postcolonial theories have emerged as one of the significant paradigms of contemporary academia, affecting disciplines throughout the humanities and social sciences. These theories address the complex processes if colonialism on culture and society—with repect to both the colonizers and the colonized—to help us understand the colonial experience in its entirety. The contributors to Archaeology and the Postcolonial Critique present critical syntheses of archaeological and postcolonial studies by examining both Old and New World case studies, and they ask what the ultimate effect of postcolonial theorizing will be on the practice of archaeology in the twenty-first century.

Chapter 1. Introduction: The Intersections of Archaeology and Postcolonial Studies
Chapter 2. A Brief History of Postcolonial Theory and Implications for Archaeology
Chapter 3. Heterogeneous Encounters: Colonial Histories and Archaeological Experiences
Chapter 4. Towards the Liberation of Archaeological Praxis in a "Postcolonial Colony:" The Case of Puerto Rico
Chapter 5. Postcolonial Cultural Affiliation: Essentialism, Hybridity, and NAGPRA
Chapter 6. Notions of Cultural Continuity and Disjunction in Maya Social Movements and Maya Archaeology
Chapter 7. Decolonizing Methodologies as Strategies of Practice: Operationalizing the Postcolonial Critique in the Archaeology of Rajasthan
Chapter 8. Indigenous and Postcolonial Archaeologies
Chapter 9. Archaeology, the World Bank, and Postcolonial Politics
Chapter 10. Disinheriting Heritage: Explorations in the Contentious History of Archaeology in the Middle East
Chapter 11. Situating World Heritage Sites in a Multicultural Society: The Ideology of Presentation at the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
Chapter 12. Conclusion: Archaeological Futures and the Postcolonial Critique