Afro-Latin American Landscapes

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Afro-Latin American Landscapes" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This session will explore Afro-Latin American landscapes of varying scales and meanings. Ways of place making were contingent and strategic and emphasized to different degrees sharp distinctions, ambiguity, or seamless inclusion. Archaeological understanding of these endeavors elucidates a spectrum of social, political, and economic dynamics during the colonial period that formed the foundation for defining fledgling Latin American nation-states and continue to inform current struggles for land rights. Case studies demonstrate that Afrodescendants have made an enduring contribution to the formation and maintenance of Latin America and the Caribbean. Archaeological examples show numerous ways that Afro-Latin Americans came to “belong” to a place. For example, some Afro-Latin American religious beliefs and practices recognized the innate power of certain kinds of landscapes. The co-creation and shaping of landscapes by both Indigenous and Afrodescendant actors shows up in alterations of terrain, new ecologies, and distinctive spatial and material environments. The papers in this session will offer diverse perspectives of how Afro-Latin Americans have and continue to make a place for themselves.