Navigating the Field: New Perspectives from Women of Color in Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeology as a discipline emerged as an extension of colonialism, and although recent efforts over the last several decades have worked to "decolonize" the field, non-local perspectives continue to be prioritized by Western institutions. This paper seeks to address perpetual inequality within the field of archeology by highlighting normalized practices by researchers within the “culture of archeology.” It is our contention that, as a symptom of the persistent coloniality present within archeology, many archaeologists are trained to view the world as a sort of cultural buffet, in which they are invited to actively participate in the construction of a history they do not belong to. This positionality reinforces non-local worldviews onto non-western contexts. The goal of this paper is to discover viable solutions for creating equity within the field; to discuss, highlight, and validate successful cases despite challenges that minority researchers face. In this way, we seek to humanize our field by reclaiming the joy and responsibility we have as cultural heritage specialists. We discuss our projects and community work across Southeast Asia and Northeast Africa that relate to community engagement, working with marginalized communities, utilizing indigenous perspectives, and combating the colonial nature of archaeological work.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39886.0