After the Flood Waters Recede: Memory, Abandonment, and Heritage on the Northeast Coast of Honduras

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The increasing effects of global warming have dire consequences on countries like Honduras where climatic events such as super hurricanes are rapidly displacing people while simultaneously intensifying poverty and food insecurity in one of the poorest and most violent nations in the western hemisphere. In recent years, this has led to a rise in people making the brutal journey north to escape climate disasters and seek asylum in the United States. Those fleeing their communities because of floods, mudslides, and rising sea levels often leave behind abandoned settlements that materially represent rich histories. Based on preliminary archaeological and ethnographic fieldwork conducted on the Northeast coast of Honduras, I explore the ways natural disasters have affected the landscapes of a diverse set of communities in the region, with special attention paid to how race and class differentially impact who becomes displaced and how heritage is preserved and/or remembered.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• 2023 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow