Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
An engaged bioarchaeological project includes Indigenous or descendant communities from the start of the project, centering their questions and bringing forward their knowledge of the past with that of the anthropologists. This model creates deeper, more nuanced conversations about their ancestors. The engaged bioarchaeological projects presented here all center Indigenous and descendant questions in different contexts (landscapes, geographies, cultures), intertwining their voices and stories with the gathering of information from ancestral and cultural remains resulting in broader understandings of the past. Each paper offers a glimpse into the different ways descendant communities can and do engage with bioarchaeological research projects. In some cases, the research is initiated by the community, and in others the bioarchaeologists seek out the descendant community for their input and questions, to guide the research. No matter the origin of the initiation, what is revealed here is the ways in which we can reframe our work to be inclusive of the knowledge of the descendant community. Further, many of these projects also reveal how community engaged bioarchaeological projects are decolonizing practices and working toward restorative justice by recalibrating how knowledge is produced and who benefits from the work.
Other Keywords
Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis •
Historic •
Slavery •
Public and Community Archaeology •
Ethics •
arctic •
Indigenous
Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) •
United States of America (Country) •
Canada (Country) •
North America •
United Mexican States (Country) •
Department of Martinique (Country) •
Republic of El Salvador (Country) •
Department of Guadeloupe (Country) •
Cayman Islands (Country) •
Antigua and Barbuda (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)
- Documents (6)
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Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Decolonizing Research (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bioarchaeology as a field of inquiry aims to bring forward the life histories of individuals through the analysis of skeletal markers of disease, trauma, and activities, at the individual and population level to better understand the experiences and identities of people that came before. A recent and important shift in the...
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Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendant Voices in the Excavations of a Historic Mission Church in Belen, New Mexico (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. An engaged bioarchaeological project includes the Indigenous or descendant community from the beginning of the project, centers their questions, and brings forward their knowledge of the past to create more nuanced conversations about their ancestors. Shifting the focus from solely the goals of the anthropologist to a shared vision...
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Lift Every Voice: Ethical Imperatives in Community-Led Bioarchaeology (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation focuses on redefining ethical frameworks in bioarchaeology and anthropological genetics, particularly when working with African American communities. Utilizing a “shared authority” approach, the talk argues for the community’s role as not merely subjects but active collaborators and decision-makers. Case studies...
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Owned in Life, No Longer Owned in Death: Remembering the Ancestors at the Pine Street African Burial Ground (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Established in 1750 on the outskirts of Kingston, NY, the Pine Street African Burial Ground was consumed in the process of urban expansion by the mid-1850s and now sits in the backyard of a residential neighborhood. Despite the importance of Kingston in the history of New York, relatively little is known about the African American...
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Past Transgressions, Future Reconciliations: Ethical Engagement with Legacy Collections (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation examines the history and creation of legacy collections, with a specific focus on the Hamann-Todd, Terry, and Cobb anatomical collections. These anatomical series, like many around the world, were amassed due to anatomical legislation that targeted marginalized communities. To better understand how to ethically...
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Shifting Bioarchaeological Perspectives in Alaska: Community-Centered Projects with Indigenous Partners and Project Participants from Descendant Communities (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Community Engaged Bioarchaeology: Centering Descendants" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation is focused on highlighting the value of conducting bioarchaeological research that not only works with descendant communities, but is driven by the questions they want answered and adheres to their goals and management expectations surrounding their ancestors. Bioarchaeological projects that partner with Alaska...