EAZ 59 (3): New publication announcement

Archaeology as Grounding: Decentring, Detaching and Decolonizing in the Service of Communities

by Bill Angelbeck and David M. Schaepe

DOI: 10.54799/NJRO5759

Highlights:

“Indigenous peoples ground themselves through deepening attachment to the materials of their ancestors, asserting what rightfully belongs to them; archaeologists ground themselves in contemporary local realities and community relations, distancing themselves from colonial claims and detaching from what does not belong to them.”

“Where conventional archaeology has treated the ‘artefact’ and ‘site’ as bounded objects – pockets of a past disconnected from the present – grounded normativity recognizes these as belongings and places embedded in ongoing networks of reciprocal obligation between the living and their ancestors.”

“Together, these complementary processes of grounding point toward a decolonized archaeology – one that serves rather than claims, that supports rather than displaces, that recognizes Indigenous and/or descendant sovereignty over their heritage as the foundation of all archaeological work.”

 

 

This contribution is part of the special issue "Working, Living and Learning Well Together? Global Perspectives, Approaches and Challenges in Indigenous Archaeology and Beyond" edited by Sonja B. Grimm, Annemieke Milks, Henny Piezonka, Martin Porr and Nupur Tiwari.