Modeling a Collaborative Archaeological Synthesis of Human Migration for a Long-Term, Global Perspective

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Seeing Migrant and Diaspora Communities Archaeologically: Beyond the Cultural Fixity/Fluidity Binary" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since September 2019, members of the Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis have sought to model a collaborative synthesis of human migration for a long-term, global perspective, from the earliest hominid movements to contemporary forced displacement in Europe. In March 2022, the group was hosted by the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in which participants compared case studies drawn from around the world and through time with regional studies from West Africa to develop a methodological framework that connects examples from the past with contemporary migrations. The broader goal was to provide insight that can help West African nations face the impending dramatic increase in regional population movements due to shifts in climatic, environmental, and social conditions. The workshop participants included representatives from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and the Côte d’Ivoire Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The attendees agreed to endorse the following four recommendations: (1) migration policies should prioritize cultural diversity, (2) policies should consider migration as a multigenerational process, (3) economic development plans should be designed to slow migration to concentrated urban areas, and (4) policies need to recognize the role of education as a key driver of migration.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Seeing Migrant and Diaspora Communities Archaeologically: Beyond the Cultural Fixity/Fluidity Binary   •
• Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis (CfAS)   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35747.0