The Forest for the Sites: Archaeological Heritage and Contestation in Gila National Forest

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Research Hot Off the Trowel in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Areas" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The national forests of the United States represent a highly contested cultural space, where narratives of archaeological heritage, stewardship, wilderness, and more intersect and clash in the present day. For two previous field seasons (2018 and 2019) the Upper Gila Preservation Archaeology (UGPA) field school, run jointly by Archaeology Southwest and the University of Arizona, has conducted archaeological surveys of Lincoln Canyon in Gila National Forest. These surveys have helped to establish the cultural history of the national forest and have greater implications for discussions of contemporary cultural heritage in the region. This poster presents the results of research done using the UGPA survey data, alongside a myriad other methods such as discourse analysis and interviews relating to Gila National Forest in order to examine the complicated relationship between the ongoing narratives. Beyond highlighting the place of national forest archaeology in cultural heritage discourse, this research offers insight into potential dialogic and practical improvements to future heritage work in the forests through the application of emergent frameworks, such as critical heritage theory and archaeological ethnography.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Research Hot Off the Trowel in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Areas

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33084