Christopher N. Matthews

Christopher N. Matthews is associate professor of anthropology at Hofstra University. He earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1998. He has been associate director of Archaeology in Annapolis, director of the Greater New Orleans Archaeology Program, and laboratory supervisor at the American Museum of Natural History.

His research focuses on American historical archaeology, with a special emphasis on the archaeology of captivity and freedom, the archaeology of capitalism, and the public meanings of archaeology. His book An Archaeology of History and Tradition (Plenum Press, 2002) illustrates that the preservation of the Annapolis landscape has been a key site for the negotiation and reproduction of traditional class- and race-based inequalities since the 18th century. He also has undertaken important research on the role of public outreach and community engagement in producing archaeologies that afford descendent and local communities access to the process of making history.

In line with this research, he has designed and implemented several highly regarded public archaeology programs and co-edited (with Quetzil Castañeda) a volume titled Ethnographic Archaeologies: Reflections on Stakeholders and Archaeological Practice, to be published in 2008 by AltaMira Press.

Hofstra Horizons Articles

• Fall 2007: The Archaeology of Captivity and Freedom in Early New York