Breaking the Site Museum Mold: Designing the Dos Mangas Community Museum

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Working with the Community in Ecuador" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological investigations began in Dos Mangas in 2006, and continued with excavation of a Valdivia village site, Buen Suceso, in 2009. Those and subsequent excavations carried out by Sarah Rowe have combined archaeological inquiry with community engagement activities such as presentations in the primary school, workshops for community guides, and presentations at community meetings. From early in the project community leaders have expressed an interest in constructing a museum in the village to highlight the archaeological resources that exist on community lands. This paper presents the results of a community-needs assessment conducted in Dos Mangas, Ecuador by Roxanne Recinos in June and July of 2018. A series of interviews with individuals and small groups was conducted to elicit their ideas and interests in relation to this proposed community museum. Themes drawn from these interviews are used to create a museum design that is responsive to community interests and faithful to the archaeological findings. Notably, this design eschews the typical, cultural period-driven presentation of many site museums. Further consultation with community members and leadership will refine this proposal and be used to secure funding and local support for construction in the (hopefully) near future.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Working with the Community in Ecuador   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26055