Archaeogaming and Shell Mounds

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeogaming is a new found topic in archaeological trends. The publication of the homonymous title by Andrew Reinhart, in 2019, seems to have swung ajar a door that lots of us have been carefully creeping into: the prospect of uniting archaeological theory, methods, and practice with the enjoyment of possible worlds. From that standpoint, we present some notes from an archaeological gameplay experience. This experience was part of a research project that aimed at gameplay as a form of scientific dissemination for the general public, and a pedagogical tool for archaeology classes. The game chosen was “Sambaquis,” released in 2019 by ARISE, a Brazilian study group on archaeology and electronic media. The participants were Bruno S. R. da Silva, project coordinator, Beatriz Trindade, associated student, and Daniela M. Klökler, archaeological specialist in Brazilian shell mounds. Our goal was to test the waters of such an encounter, as a means of expanding our abilities to communicate with the general public, and to contribute with the knowledge we so passionately work to create. The results were fruitful and showed us that archaeological gameplay can be a symmetrical locus of experience, demanding the expertise of a professional in both fields—archaeology and entertainment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37686.0