Pre-columbian warfare and indecorous images in Southeastern North America

Abstract

Visual representations of the bodily consequences of conflict in southeastern North America have been critical for archaeological research on warfare. Yet Susan Sontag's notion of an ethics of seeing warfare underscores concerns over the use of images of conflict. We contrast anxieties surrounding the modern recording of violent encounters in the past, notably, induced trauma on human skeletal remains and the portrayal of victims of violence through indigenous iconography. In contrast to the idea that images, particularly photographic ones, objectify and anesthetize, we suggest that they open new avenues for understanding both the social context of warfare in the past and its structural consequences.