Dynamic Worlds, Shifting Paradigms: Relational Ontologies in Archaeology

Relational ontology, as a theoretical movement, is characterized by differing perspectives, applications, and interpretations of archaeological materials, places and persons as they constitute multiple social worlds. A current reading of theoretical archaeological literature reveals diverse relational perspectives applied to varying contexts and materials. This moving definition may seem difficult to nail down, and we ask are differing definitions of relationality problematic, or is the concept – like social relationships themselves – contextually and culturally contingent? In this session we interrogate and discuss the multiple natures of relational ontologies as ever-changing, fluid, and diverse ways of understanding how people, past and present, relate to the world with which they engage. The bulk of the session will focus on discourse rather than presentation. This session examines shifting understandings of relational theory through case studies from North and South America. We will explore cultural relativism, physical and conceptual boundaries of social relationships, humanity and personhood for other-than-human persons, and finally Indigenous thought and theory. As archaeologists who predominately study non-western and pre-industrial peoples, we ask participants to reconsider our role in creating historical narratives, because what is archaeology if not a rigorous means to re-tell the past.