Research Interests:
Selected Publications:
I am an archaeologist with interests that cut across the subfields of anthropology. My specific projects are:
The Sinop Region Archaeological Project (SRAP): I currently co-direct an integrated regional archaeological project in the Black Sea coastal region of Sinop, Turkey, with Dr. Owen Doonan of California State University-Northridge. This project combines archaeological, ethnohistorical, and geophysical research into the Neolithic-Ottoman period landscapes and seascapes of the Sinop region and seeks to address questions regarding how long-term structures of interaction along and across the Black Sea have both developed and persisted there over time.
Semiotic Archaeology: I have been trying to develop an approach to archaeological interpretation that builds on the semiotic writings of Charles Sanders Peirce. My hope here is that Peirce's model might help archaeologists better deal with issues such as the variability or "ambiguity" in material culture meaning, the "agency" of objects, and may allow us to integrate process vs. meaning-based perspectives into a more holistic archaeology. More specific for my work on the early Black Sea, I have been trying to develop a new approach to communication in archaeology inspired by Peirce-based models of social relations and discourse.
International Journal of Cultural Property: Since 2005, I have been the Editor of this interdisciplinary journal focused on legal and political disputes over the ownership, use, appropriation, and preservation of cultural objects and practices that invariably arise when the interests of consumers, institutions, nations and indigenous communities come into conflict. My goal in both my this work and my own research on the subject has been to move beyond the polarized positions that often characterize current discussions, and to develop new approaches that are truly interdisciplinary.
The Sinop Region Archaeological Project (SRAP): I currently co-direct an integrated regional archaeological project in the Black Sea coastal region of Sinop, Turkey, with Dr. Owen Doonan of California State University-Northridge. This project combines archaeological, ethnohistorical, and geophysical research into the Neolithic-Ottoman period landscapes and seascapes of the Sinop region and seeks to address questions regarding how long-term structures of interaction along and across the Black Sea have both developed and persisted there over time.
Semiotic Archaeology: I have been trying to develop an approach to archaeological interpretation that builds on the semiotic writings of Charles Sanders Peirce. My hope here is that Peirce's model might help archaeologists better deal with issues such as the variability or "ambiguity" in material culture meaning, the "agency" of objects, and may allow us to integrate process vs. meaning-based perspectives into a more holistic archaeology. More specific for my work on the early Black Sea, I have been trying to develop a new approach to communication in archaeology inspired by Peirce-based models of social relations and discourse.
International Journal of Cultural Property: Since 2005, I have been the Editor of this interdisciplinary journal focused on legal and political disputes over the ownership, use, appropriation, and preservation of cultural objects and practices that invariably arise when the interests of consumers, institutions, nations and indigenous communities come into conflict. My goal in both my this work and my own research on the subject has been to move beyond the polarized positions that often characterize current discussions, and to develop new approaches that are truly interdisciplinary.
A. A. Bauer and A. S. Agbe-Davies, eds. (2010). Social Archaeologies
of Trade and Exchange: Exploring Relationships among People, Places,
and Things. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. [Link]
A. A. Bauer (2008). "New Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property," Fordham International Law Journal 31:690-724. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer, S. Lindsay, and S. K. Urice (2007). "When Theory, Practice and Policy Collide, or Why Do Archaeologists Support Cultural Property Claims?" in Archaeology and Capitalism: From Ethics to Politics, Y. Hamilakis and P. Duke, eds. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2006). "Between the Steppe and the Sown: Prehistoric Sinop and Inter-regional Interaction along the Black Sea Coast," in Beyond the Steppe and the Sown, D. L. Peterson, L. M. Popova, and A.T. Smith, eds., pp. 225-246. Leiden: Brill. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2005). "Definitional Anxieties: International Policymakers' Attempts to Regulate Culture," Anthropology News 46(9): 27. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2002a). "Is What You See All You Get?: Recognizing Meaning in Archaeology," Journal of Social Archaeology 2: 37-52. [Download PDF]
R. W. Preucel and A. A. Bauer (2001). "Archaeological Pragmatics," Norwegian Archaeological Review 34(2): 85-96. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (1998). "Cities of the Sea: Maritime Trade and the Origin of Philistine Settlement in the Early Iron Age Southern Levant," Oxford Journal of Archaeology 17: 149-68. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2008). "New Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property," Fordham International Law Journal 31:690-724. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer, S. Lindsay, and S. K. Urice (2007). "When Theory, Practice and Policy Collide, or Why Do Archaeologists Support Cultural Property Claims?" in Archaeology and Capitalism: From Ethics to Politics, Y. Hamilakis and P. Duke, eds. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2006). "Between the Steppe and the Sown: Prehistoric Sinop and Inter-regional Interaction along the Black Sea Coast," in Beyond the Steppe and the Sown, D. L. Peterson, L. M. Popova, and A.T. Smith, eds., pp. 225-246. Leiden: Brill. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2005). "Definitional Anxieties: International Policymakers' Attempts to Regulate Culture," Anthropology News 46(9): 27. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (2002a). "Is What You See All You Get?: Recognizing Meaning in Archaeology," Journal of Social Archaeology 2: 37-52. [Download PDF]
R. W. Preucel and A. A. Bauer (2001). "Archaeological Pragmatics," Norwegian Archaeological Review 34(2): 85-96. [Download PDF]
A. A. Bauer (1998). "Cities of the Sea: Maritime Trade and the Origin of Philistine Settlement in the Early Iron Age Southern Levant," Oxford Journal of Archaeology 17: 149-68. [Download PDF]