The Role of Women Following a Community Archaeology Project in Agua Blanca, Ecuador (1979-2018)

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.

The Agua Blanca community has participated in one of the most successful and sustainable community archaeology projects in Ecuador. Since the start of excavations in the Manabí region in 1979, archaeologist Collin McEwan and Maria-Isabel Silva have worked collaboratively with community members to excavate, interpret, and present findings about the Manteño culture of coastal Ecuador. When McEwan and Silva left Agua Blanca in 1995, the community assumed full agency over these projects in a sustainable community tourism practice. Much has changed in Agua Blanca since the project’s inception in 1979, including gender relations and women’s involvement in the project. My paper discusses how a shift in the women's participation has shaped the successful development of the community archaeology project, and why its important for archaeologists to engage with such issues in future community collaborative research over time. Further, I seek to understand how the women perceive themselves as contributors to

the project through craft production, decision making, and engagement in cultural activities.

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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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25385