These stones will destroy us

Summary

This poster presents a critical reflection on the dialectical and power-imbued relationships of archaeologists and stakeholder communities, focusing on the ongoing Stélida Naxos Archaeological Project in the Cycladic islands, Greece. While much has been written about archaeologists’ interaction with neighboring populations, Stélida provides a complex case due to the transitory and heterogeneous nature of what constitutes its "local" community. Residence is both seasonal (summer) and fluid in nature, the population a mix of well-heeled native Naxians (including hoteliers and their resident tourists), holiday home-owners from mainland Greece, plus a handful of long-term foreign seasonal occupants.

This poster charts the negotiations of these relationships in the broader context of debates on ‘community engagement’ (e.g. Ian Hodder’s work at Çatalhöyük), where the ‘local’ voices are often those of economically and/or culturally powerful characters who have divergent interests in the future of Stélida and by extent their relationship with archaeologists ("these stones will destroy us!" proclaimed an angry hotelier). Various forms of outreach and engagement are detailed, together with the challenges for developing such relationships in the context of our responsibility to the desires of the state’s Ministry of Culture and Naxian cultural and political figures.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage