Objects and Voices: Conversations about artifacts, memory, and meaning with the former residents of Timbuctoo, NJ

Summary

Today’s historical archaeology places significant emphasis on the value and necessity of working with communities to create knowledge, and making that knowledge both useful and accessible to the public.  Oral history has risen as a forefront method for this co-production of knowledge, allowing for voices beyond those of academics to be heard in the telling (and re-telling) of history.  As historical archaeologists, we are just beginning to explore novel ways of incorporating oral history and the voices of descendent communities into the various stages of archaeological practice.  Engaging in these dialogues has the potential to create a multivocal and relevant archaeology not just in the field, but in the collaborative analysis and dissemination of our research.  This paper explores the use of oral history in the interpretation and curation of artifacts from three field seasons at Timbuctoo, NJ, in an ongoing collaboration between archaeologists and the former residents of Timbuctoo.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Boundaries, Barriers, and Beliefs: Racism and Communities in African Diaspora Archaeology

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 527