Exploring the Perils and Promise of Community Engaged Archaeology at Xaltocan, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Oral History, Coloniality, and Community Collaboration in Latin America" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the small central Mexican town of Xaltocan, a complex web of written and oral histories, material culture, and modern political and social movements have shaped a local heritage that celebrates the town’s long history. Archaeological research, which has intensified at Xaltocan over the past 30 years, has also shaped modern perceptions of the town’s history, with particular emphasis on Xaltocan’s prehispanic past. Although archaeological research at Xaltocan has generally been conducted in collaboration with members of the local community, lead archaeologists have predominately been from the United States, undoubtedly shaping lines of inquiry and modes of dissemination of knowledge. This paper explores the ways that archaeological research has and has not impacted local perceptions of heritage at Xaltocan and considers why some local narratives of the past persist, even in the face of inconsistent or contradictory archaeological evidence.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Oral History, Coloniality, and Community Collaboration in Latin America   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology