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The Archaeology of Xenitia: Greek Immigration and Material Culture Ed. by Kostis Kourelis Athens: Gennadius Library, 2008 ISBN 978-960-86960-6-8, 104 pp.
This is one of the first works in the emerging field of the material culture of immigration, and more specifically the archaeology of immigration; to my knowledge, this is in fact, the first of its kind on Greek immigrants. The volume is comprised by seven chapters all of which are empirically based, and this is its incredible strength, as it allows the reader to look at precisely the nuances of material cultures as they are created by immigrants in the host and home societies. It is a significant volume for both Greek immigrant studies and ethnic studies and the archaeology of immigration.
The first chapter, by Susan Buck Sutton is on the "post-antiquity" rural ruins on the Cycladic island of Kea, the Argolid region of Peloponnesos and the Nemea Valley just south of Corinth. She examines the ruins left, strewn about in the countryside as populations moved in and out of the region, following work and labor flows which were structured by global economic forces, even as early as the mid-19th century. As Prof. Sutton points out, this dynamic is barely noticed in the dominant narrative through which Greek Americans are discussed and their experiences in the host society explained. The archaeology of the ruins left behind by migrants and emigrants enables us to look at another facet of immigration within the context of capitalism going global.
The second chapter, by Timothy E. Gregory...