2002
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“Transforming Archaeology through Practice: Strategies for Collaborative Archaeology and the Community Archaeology Project at Quseir, Egypt,”
World Archaeology, Vol. 34, No. 2, Community Archaeology (Oct., 2002), pp. 220–248.
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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Strong advocacy is presented for a direct involvement of the stakeholders in the interpretive process of an archaeological site. The dialog with locals should be a true two–way street, that involves serious “consultation with indigenous and descendant communities” (p. 223), evolving into a “democratic sense of archaeological practice” (p. 224). A radical theoretical stance is defended that challenges “the false distinctions between scientific, mythic and historical domains of knowledge” (p. 224): in other words, local oral history and perceptions must be placed on the same level as the archaeological analysis proper.
The Community Archeological Project of Quseir is presented as a case study, with a strategy based on seven components, (1) Communication and collaboration: local people and organizations are systemically and institutionally involved in defining how the information is to be presented. (2) Employment and training: this entails the “sharing [on the part of the foreign experts, of] knowledge and skills associated with archaeology” (p. 233). (3) Public presentation, including exhibitions for which local input is actively sought with regard to themes (a special interest in modern history developed in the process). (4) Interviews and oral history. (5) Educational resources, with emphasis on visit by school–children. (6) Photographic and video archive: people photos that tend to get lost are archived next to the “scientific” photos [quotes in the original, seemingly in deference to the “false distinction” against which the authors spoke earlier. – In Mozan, people photos and videos are carefully archived among incidentals.] (7) Community controlled merchandising.
In the conclusion, some practical results of the Quseir project are mentioned, such as a visit to an active mosque and the sharing of local knowledge about a now disappeared fishing village.
[The “false distinction” decried in the text seems in fact to be upheld – inevitably, in my view, because it is not false. The source of information, employment, training remain clearly one–way approaches, as they well should be. – At Mozan, we have in fact followed the seven components of the strategy, but within a different theoretical framework and a different understanding of “non–colonialism.”]
[G. Buccellati – December 2005]
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