Turnaround Archaeology: Reorienting Archaeology So Its Main Purpose Is the Pursuit of Social Good

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Congress: Multivocal Conversations Furthering the World Archaeological Congress Agenda" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This conversation is between archaeologists (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) and Aboriginal people from the Barunga region of the Northern Territory Australia. We present our emerging vision for reorienting archaeology so its primary purpose is as a tool for social good. We discuss current research, including community-initiated and implemented repatriation, led by Anita Painter, how a community in a remote area can instigate and progress the repatriation of knowledge, photos, and objects, and Indigenist archaeology, led by Kellie Pollard, archaeology that is shaped by Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and aetiologies. Grounded in three decades of co-designed collaborative research and teaching with Elders from the Barunga, Beswick, and Manyallaluk Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, we develop Martin Nakata’s notion of a third cultural space where innovation arises from the confluence of Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews. Our approach leads to broader questions: How can archaeology be used to address intractable social and economic challenges, such as poverty, racism, and entrenched inequality? What would happen if archaeology was used primarily as a tool to further the aspirations of communities? What would this kind of archaeology look like?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeological Congress: Multivocal Conversations Furthering the World Archaeological Congress Agenda   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35978.0