The Importance of Collaboration: Reflections from a World War II Forensic Archaeology Field School

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Fulfilling a Nation’s Promise: The Search, Recovery, and Accounting Efforts of DPAA and Its Partners" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The recovery of past service members from historic military sites is a specialized archaeological niche with substantial forensic influences. It receives distinct notice by governments around the world as they recognize the importance of closure for their nations and families of those Missing in Action. Although this type of archaeology is typically removed from the sociopolitical discussions in precontact North American archaeology, such as decolonization and Indigenous collaboration, the privilege of being part of an academic team from the United States working on foreign soils towards the recovery of American World War II losses offers practitioners a unique place to reflect on these concerns. Notably, we are free to maintain our conflict narratives within our culture but are variably enabled by the communities around the physical recovery sites. The convergence of these perceptions has the potential to generate potent connections even 80 years after the events. When these perspectives are integrated into field school models, students are positioned for powerful multicultural and applied experiences while mastering archaeological field methods. This presentation reflects on the global intersections and narrative constructions inherent in conflict-related archaeology. Two World War II cases from Germany are considered, representing differing levels of community engagement and interest.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Fulfilling a Nation’s Promise: The Search, Recovery, and Accounting Efforts of DPAA and Its Partners

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37776.0