The Power of Reuse and Removal: A Case Study of the Indonesian Megaliths of Iowa City, Iowa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Reinvent, Reclaim, Redefine: Considerations of "Reuse" in Archaeological Contexts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The co-opting of cultural heritage is one of the ways that archaeological materials are “reused.” This process references and reinforces power structures related to cultural identity through the control of archaeological material, narratives, and meanings. In some situations, the process includes the physical movement of cultural material. In this vein, I consider the case study of fifty megaliths at Harvest Preserve, a private sculpture garden and nature preserve in Iowa City, Iowa. Around 3000 BCE, these megaliths were erected on the island of Flores, Indonesia, where they remained for several millennia. In the early 2000s, the owner of Harvest Preserve purchased these pieces through a Chicago-based art and antiquities broker and each of the megaliths was moved by boat and train from Flores to Iowa City. Through petrographic analysis of the stones, semi-structured interviews with the reserve’s owner, and archival analysis I examine the itineraries of these megaliths. Specifically, I discuss the ways that their removal, installation, and ongoing use demonstrate the ways that “reuse” of material changes with new spaces and actors, while still referencing earlier aspects of the object’s itineraries.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Reinvent, Reclaim, Redefine: Considerations of "Reuse" in Archaeological Contexts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39472.0