Reinventing the Tradition: Archaeological Heritage and Contemporary Local Counternarratives in Huaca Fortaleza de Campoy (Lima, Peru)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Throughout Peru's consolidation as a modern nation-state, the role of ancient monuments of the prehispanic past has been intertwined with politics, grounded in narratives of glory and grandeur while mostly stressed in nation-building contexts and the pursuits of nation-ness and national identity. This paper develops a critical and reflexive approach to the dominant discourse and praxis in archaeological heritage, framed in terms of hierarchy and scientific knowledge. Moreover, this presentation offers a reflection on contemporary counternarratives emerging from local communities in marginalized areas. Based on interviews and archival research, this study describes the case of Huaca Fortaleza de Campoy, an archaeological site located in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho, in the inner peripheries of the city of Lima. For over 10 years, local communities have engaged with the prehispanic material culture and participated in creating values and meanings through the celebration of “Inti Raymi.” Contesting archaeological sites' governmental management approaches, these groups attempt to reactivate the heritage site's role in their lives and raise awareness of its significance. This paper ultimately argues for greater attention to the bottom-up processes of heritage-making and the recognition and empowerment of local communities as stewards of archaeological heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33399