Archaeology and slave resistance and rebellion Charles E. Orser, Jr. and Pedro P. A. Funari Abstract The archaeology of New World slavery has exponentially expanded during the past two decades to become perhaps the most inuential area within today’s historical archaeology. As part of this research endeavour, archaeologists have examined many kinds of sites and have made diverse and important contributions to the literature. Sites associated with fugitive slaves have been studied, but not as frequently. We argue that the archaeology of slave resistance and rebellion should be a key element of New World slave archaeology, and we promote the excavation of runaway polities, or maroons, as excellent arenas for such a study. We present an example from Palmares in north- eastern Brazil as part of this exploration. Keywords New World; slavery; resistance; rebellion; Palmares; Brazil. Introduction The investigation of slavery has matured within recent years into a staple of research in New World historical archaeology (Orser 1990, 1998; Singleton 1995, 1999). Archaeolo- gists have examined such topics as the material culture of slavery, slave diet and subsist- ence, and the development and maintenance of slave craft industries. Many archaeologists have also begun to consider the archaeological dimensions of slave religions, myths and eschatological symbolism. Some of today’s most theoretically robust investigations involve examinations of the material expressions of slave ethnicity and perceived racial categorization. Archaeologists exploring these broad topics have some- times embedded issues of slave resistance within their research, making it a small but important segment of this burgeoning area of archaeological specialization. In this paper we explore the archaeological nature of slave resistance and propose that the archae- ology of slave resistance and rebellion should be an overt cornerstone of the archaeology of New World slavery. We include an example from Palmares, Brazil, to reinforce our argument. World Archaeology Vol. 33(1): 61–72 The Archaeology of Slavery © 2001 Taylor & Francis Ltd ISSN 0043-8243 print/1470-1375 online DOI: 10.1080/0043824012004763 6