Memory as Archaeology

An Experience of Public Archaeology in the Atacama Desert

Bibliographic Data

ID12674149
AuthorsFernanda Kalazich (0000-0002-5758-7848, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume14
Issue1
Pages44-65
Publication date2015-01-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-5187 • E-ISSN: 1753-5530
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1179/1465518715z.00000000086
OpenAlexW2291645217
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited21

Conducting archaeological projects in areas inhabited by Indigenous Communities who dislike both excavations and archaeologists leads to an ethical conundrum, one requiring a reconsideration of the research methodologies utilized in these settings, and a turn toward Public Archaeology as a means to find alternative pathways. This article describes a research project conducted in the Indigenous Atacameño Community of Peine, in the Atacama Desert, Chile, where, through a principal methodology of Participatory Action Research, it became possible to explore the past of this community in ways that were both meaningful and valid for its members. The results drawn from this experience differ markedly from traditional archaeological approaches (i.e. excavations, analysis of material culture), both in terms of the nature of the knowledge recovered and the temporal depth achieved. In this particular instance, collective remembrance and embodied memory featured prominently in accounting for the past of Peine

Archaeology · Citizen journalism · Conflict archaeology · Desert (philosophy · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Excavation · Historical archaeology · Indigenous · Participatory action research · Political science · Prehistoric archaeology · Principal (computer security · Sociology · Anthropology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Indigenous Cultures and History · Law · Ecology

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