Heritage Making with a Side of Archaeology: A Community-Led Project and Practice in Tihosuco, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Democratizing Heritage Creation: How-To and When" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The process of heritage preservation and the production of knowledge in indigenous communities regularly seem at odds in terms of their overarching goals and outcomes. Relationships to the study and use of heritage are often fraught, and can become political quickly. This paper outlines the practical and methodological aspects of conducting a community-led heritage preservation and development project. It addresses some of the pitfalls and processes that have been used as a part of the Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Development Project, located in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Additionally, it will focus on the paradox that seems inherent in heritage preservation practice today, that of the focus on materiality versus the focus on the people and the narrative about heritage. I argue for an updated version of community-led heritage making practice that moves beyond the focus on the past to instead center the present and future of heritage assets and heritage narratives for use by local communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Democratizing Heritage Creation: How-To and When   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40143.0