Evaluating Changing Governmental/State Support for US-Based Archaeological Research: Cases from Guatemala

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The establishment of archaeological projects in the 20th and 21st centuries were often shaped, consciously or unconsciously, by the political motivations of involved parties. I evaluate this premise through the examination of archival records and interviews pertaining to two archaeological projects, each established in Guatemala but in distinct periods and political contexts. My goal is to examine how governmental motivations for funding and supporting archaeological projects have changed over time. I consider the history of excavations of the Tikal Project (1956-1970) and the Proyecto Arqueológico Waka’ (2003-present). Understanding the motivations and changes in governmental/state support for archaeological projects allows the archaeological community to better evaluate the ethics and unintentional/intentional biases of past and current research while supporting a cross-disciplinary method of examining archaeological practices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52297