In the last two decades, the mobilities turn in anthropology and archaeology has resulted in a widened scope for mobility studies. This includes a renewed interest in ontological questioning of the human condition, new methods for mapping humans and nonhumans (things, materials and ancestral beings) alike, and a wider range of scalar levels of analysis. Somewhat paradoxically, however, given this widened scope, during the same period African archaeology has undergone a main crisis, characterised by inter- and intra-disciplinary siloing and seclusion from stakeholders and policymakers. Geospatial technologies have a vast potential in contributing to solve this crisis. However, after more than a decade of promising geoarchaeological approaches seeking to harness universalist geospatial technologies into localised, context-sensitive insights, the potential remains unfulfilled, as geospatial archaeology is largely detached from other ways of doing archaeology. In this article, we evaluate the status thereof more than 10 years after a major call for alternatives and identify a continued epistemic standstill as a main cause for the siloing of geospatial archaeology from other research fields that may offer the necessary empirical, methodological and theoretical grounding. We explore ways to generate digital archives that enable not only the incorporation of existing archives from various disciplines but also critical, decolonialising evaluation of such archives, thereby offering new platforms on which to engage in mutually informing collaboration across disciplinary divides and with the wider public. Anchored in a prism case in southern Africa, we offer a set of waypoints for a theoretically grounded geospatial archaeology that promotes analysis of richly textured past movement on African soils instead of universalist and sterile still-images from above.
In this article I introduce the concept of an "archaeology of refugee lifeworlds," an approach that draws on Critical Refugee Studies to reframe refugeehood as an enduring, lived condition rather than a discrete moment of crisis, and do so by examining how displaced communities sustain memory, identity, and meaning through ongoing relationships with material culture. I argue that such a framework is necessary to move beyond state-centered definitions of "refugee" and to foreground refugee agency in shaping their own histories. The argument unfolds through a discussion of the collaborative digitization work with the Viet Museum in San Jose, which inspired the methodological and theoretical framework behind the Refugee Material Culture Initiative (RMCI) and its partnership with the Vietnamese Heritage Museum in Garden Grove, California. Ultimately, the article argues for a shift toward collaborative, care-centered practices that support refugee communities in preserving and defining their own lifeworlds.
In 1933, monuments from the Classic Maya site of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, were loaned to the Penn Museum for a temporary period. Twelve years later, the agreement was revisited at the request of the Guatemalan government, which sought to incorporate the monuments into its National Museum. In order for the Penn Museum to retain two monuments for longer, the two parties agreed upon a deal: a longer loan extension for two Piedras Negras monuments in exchange for a disparate assemblage of Central and South American gold pieces from the Penn Museum's storage collections. I argue that in facilitating this agreement, archaeologists, government officials, and museum professionals layered monetary value onto disparate archaeological cultures. In trying to create a fair exchange, this valuation process also involved a balancing act, in which objects of Maya heritage were weighed against objects united only by their material: gold. I refer to this skewing of objects from Panam & aacute;, Colombia, Per & uacute;, and Ecuador as a single culture group as a constructed "cultural alloy" in which their materiality of gold afforded archaeologists the ability to gloss them into a new cultural whole that, while fictive, was perceived as greater than the sum of its parts.
For centuries, dogs have played an integral role in human lives, serving as companions, protectors, food sources, and many other roles. However, their ultimate perception was highly predicated on the social, ideological, and environmental circumstances of the cultures they lived in. Through analyzing canid faunal remains, ethnographies, and ethnohistoric depictions of dogs this paper aims to compare dogs' roles within Northern Mexico and the North American Arctic, two regions with vastly different environments. By utilizing a cross-cultural approach and examining the similarities and differences in dogs' treatment within the study regions, we argue that environmental factors cannot be discounted when analyzing the development of human-dog relations.
Material ontological approaches have the potential to expand the understanding of precolonial stone monuments. Grooved boulders (known locally as piedras rayadas) seem to be a monumental form unique to El Tigre Island, Honduras. This article focuses on the 30 piedras rayadas documented at the archaeological site of La Tig & uuml;ilotada in the context of lithic ontologies. By examining their spatial relationships and their material biographies, we shed light on the various social engagements of the boulders and their participation in other-than-human assemblages through cycles of renewed material engagements. From this analysis emerges a dynamic picture of the boulders' role in emplacement processes through time, highlighting their participation in the local ritual landscape, in celebrations, and in marking the passage of time.
This article challenges the long-standing assumption that female infanticide was a widespread and socially accepted practice in the Viking Age. While previous scholarship has often interpreted written and archaeological evidence as proof of habitual female infanticide, such claims rest on selective readings, methodological flaws, and androcentric biases. While debates on the written record have already demonstrated the lack of credible evidence for female infanticide, this article extends the critique to (bio)archaeological data. It shows how excavation practices, age-estimation methods, issues of representativity, and modern gender stereotypes shape interpretations of the burial record and demonstrates that (bio)archaeological evidence likewise offers no support for claims of female infanticide. By foregrounding feminist perspectives, this article argues that narratives of female infanticide reflect modern scholarly imaginaries more than Viking Age practices.
Cyprus remains one of the most enduringly divided countries in the world, its landscapes, histories, and cultural heritage fractured by conflict and divided by a UN-enforced buffer zone since 1974. Two archaeological projects and their engagement with communities from the Republic of Cyprus are explored here through a posthumanist lens. Posthumanism can function as an analytical mechanism through which archaeologists and community practitioners can move away from definitions of community archaeology that require hierarchical metrics of more/less, while also blurring disciplinary lines. Cyprus's rich history and complex contemporary contexts provide a testing ground for these theoretical re-framings and their practical applications.
Various factors have contributed to conceptualizing the altiplano as an "extreme" and hostile upland environment, where niche lifeways such as camelid herding are part of the limited human presence. Consequently, Andean herders are often portrayed as merely exploiting the ostensibly self-sustaining altiplano pastures and peatlands. This viewpoint is reinforced by the low visibility of material culture associated with and derived from pastoralist lifeways. To revisit this essentialist and ecologically inclined perspective, we argue that pastoral practices in Andean bofedales (high Andean peatlands) involve active and significant water and vegetation management interventions. These interventions, driven by collective labor, not only enhance but also expand peatland resources for livestock. To support this argument, we present findings from Surire, Mulluri, and Parcohaylla (Chile), where ethnographic research was integrated with archaeological surveys and geospatial methods. These approaches allowed us to characterize active and abandoned hydraulic installations and evaluate their role in shaping pastoral landscapes. We offer a reimagined perspective on bofedales, framing them as cultural landscapes shaped by collective pastoral labor through hydraulic management practices. These landscapes sustain livelihoods, promote social cohesion, and are deeply embedded with Aymara cosmopraxis, reflecting the relational dynamics of humans, animals, and the environment in co-nurturing practices.
This study examines the production of miniature pottery vessels in pre-Roman northern Apulia, with a focus on the acquisition of skills in pottery craft. Analyzing 21 vessels from the site of Ascoli Satriano, we assess manufacturing techniques and classify skill levels by employing an eight-attribute scoring methodology that evaluates skills in forming, firing, and decorating pottery. Three levels of skill among producers-ranging from low to high capacity-are revealed by key attributes, including forming technique, vessel symmetry, rim evenness, and the ability to reproduce established vessel forms, which reflect the training, professional identity, and possibly age of the producers. The entanglement of miniatures and their makers not only highlights technological knowledge, learning environments, and the gradual acquisition of skills but also highlights the social embeddedness of pottery production within local communities.
This article critically examines the historical role of economically vulnerable populations in Dutch archaeological fieldwork from the 19th century to the present. It argues that the professionalization and expansion of archaeology in the Netherlands was fundamentally reliant on various forms of precarious labor, from informal 'treasure digging' driven by hunger to institutionalized state-sponsored work relief schemes and, more recently, the competitive commercial sector. This research uncovers a persistent pattern of power imbalances and overlooked human costs. While the Malta Treaty fundamentally altered the field's structure, it has not eradicated this legacy; in many ways, it has simply reconfigured it.
The largest mound in Scandinavia is the 6th-century Raknehaugen, present-day Norway. Although usually associated with power and hierarchy, an alternative interpretation relates Raknehaugen to climatic crisis and widespread crop failure. This paper explores the latter hypothesis with reference to recent work on joint ritual action, solidarity and group identity, and the archaeology of emotions. I introduce the archaeology of emotions to long-standing debates on the turmoil of 6th-century Scandinavia, and explore the bodily aspects of monument construction as a way to approach the social and political dimensions of group emotions.
The Overland Telegraph system linked Australia to nascent global information and communication networks. Its arrival marked a key milestone in what we call Australia's 'telegraph time'-a fifty-year period from 1854-1904 when telegraphic systems were a significant driver of changes in economic, political and cultural activities. This British colonial infrastructure also marked the beginnings of the displacement of First Nations people along the route. In this paper, we explore how a multi-method and cybernetic, or complex systems, approach to the study of large-scale systems like telegraphy can make these histories and heritage more legible and meaningful today. We combine industrial, historical and indigenous archaeologies, systems engineering, cultural anthropology, photography, and critical theory to research the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) and, in so doing, better reveal the socio-technical scale and impact of the OTL as a circulatory infrastructure. Our multi-disciplinary study of the 'flows' of the OTL-the material, the archival, the decommissioning, the repurposing, and the corridors of connection that remain-make visible its workings and highlight its enduring impacts. This multi-methods approach case study provides a model for archaeology generally, but especially the archaeology of linear features, such as pathways, journeyscapes, Songlines and linear infrastructure.
Studies of human-animal interaction in zooarchaeology have historically emphasized a disjuncture between “wild” and “domestic.” This emphasis reflects an ingrained nature-culture dualism which has been increasingly critiqued by BIPOC scholars and archaeologists situated within posthumanist and object-oriented approaches. In this article, we bridge social zooarchaeology’s move away from Western ontology-epistemology with efforts in Indigenous archaeology to engage with the traditional knowledge and worldviews of Indigenous communities. Drawing on oral histories and personal narratives shared by Picuris Pueblo tribal members we develop a “gifting” approach to human-avian relationships grounded in the principles of care, reciprocity, and respect. We use this gifting framework to interpret avian faunal materials from the pueblo dating between 1300 and 1800 CE. These oral historical and material sources indicate that over time ancestral Picuris people co-created an intensive agricultural landscape through care-based interactions with plant and animal species, particularly turkeys.
The narrative that attributes the Inca road system solely to state administrative purposes is simplistic. This paper challenges that perspective, emphasizing the significant role of local populations in shaping these networks. By introducing the concepts of “trace” and “route,” it reveals how roads reflect both short-term adjustments and the long-term construction of territorial dynamics. The analysis argues against viewing road networks as solely driven by centralized state policies, urging a more nuanced understanding of the complex and ongoing negotiations involving various actors. The paper contends that the oversimplification of road networks as products of centralized decisions neglects the dynamic role of local communities in their establishment, maintenance, and use. The paper concludes by advocating for a systemic approach to studying road networks, acknowledging the multifaceted factors influencing their development and emphasizing the role of local communities in constructing the cultural landscape and territory over time.
Relationships between landscape and motifs have featured in ‘rock art’ research worldwide. Yet there has been comparatively little exploration of rock art’s significance in constructing maritime lifeways. This paper uses a dataset of 3183 images from 65 island and coastal rock art sites in Yanyuwa Sea Country in northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria to investigate how marine-centric concepts linked to rock art are applied to inscribe a seascape. To do this, we integrate a formal, style-based spatial analysis with knowledge shared by the Yanyuwa community over a 45+ year period. Yanyuwa understandings demonstrate how maritime imagery is implicated in a web of connections involving kinship, ceremony, spiritual beings, and the ancestral realm. Integrating western scientific and Indigenous approaches to rock art interpretation highlights how characterizing maritime-themed motifs goes beyond a consideration of iconographic content. This archaeological engagement with Yanyuwa rock art provides a framework for how deeper interpretations of Indigenous seascapes can be realised.
This paper focuses on the contemporary archaeology of a former working-class neighbourhood in Oulu, Finland, and traces the changes that took place in the lifestyle of the community in the 40-year postwar era from 1947 to 1987. We examine specifically how the sometimes-conflicting material processes of the welfare state and capitalism manifest in the materials, and in the lives of working-class Finns at the time. It is important to put class experience as a focal point of contemporary archaeological research, and trace political histories and their concrete influence in peoples’ everyday lives. Archaeology can reveal the disconnect between the everyday and the larger systemic processes.
Cattle were introduced to the Caribbean and subsequently to the mainland during early European colonization, significantly impacting both European settlers and Indigenous communities. This research utilizes zooarchaeological analysis of cattle remains to explore how cattle processing and butchering techniques reflect the rise of extractive economic systems characteristic of early capitalism in the Spanish colonies. This study examines the pivotal role cattle played in the economic and cultural dynamics of the Spanish colonies, particularly in Antigua Guatemala and the Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi, Nogales, Arizona. By using these two distinct colonial sites as illustrations, the study shows how extractive colonialist practices and emergent capitalist values of aggregation and efficiency were incorporated in the bodies of colonial cattle, facilitating the transformation of local economies and social structures.
In the 19th–20th centuries, following Peruvian independence, the postcolonial nation-state saw the formation of the gamonal, a local landlord who exploited indigenous people to perpetuate a servile labor force and appropriate land. While the community of Andagua in the Southern Peruvian Andes was subject to Spanish colonial state violence, residents identify their greatest forms of subjugation as occurring under the Peruvian nation-state. Drawing from ethnographic, archaeological, and historical evidence, this article bridges historical archaeology and archaeologies of the contemporary to write inclusive histories that incorporate residents’ perspectives to frame past experiences. Beyond the history of the gamonal, this article discusses how families organized to rehabilitate pre-Contact agricultural infrastructure from the 1960s to the present. Some people subject to the harsh hand of the gamonal have reclaimed their lands, while for others there is a lingering sense that justice will never be served.
Anthropological and archaeological studies of the North Atlantic increasingly contribute to debates around the formation of the colonial Atlantic World. Despite contemporary myths of Iceland as a remote wilderness, the island society was integrated into interregional economies from its ninth-century settlement onward. Here we focus on mapping 19th-century Icelanders’ navigation of colonial networks as they altered their relative position in the Atlantic’s uneven social geographies and emerged from Danish colonial rule. We leverage diverse archives from our parallel interdisciplinary archaeological research projects in Northern Iceland, where shifting rural politics and Icelandic emigration to the settler colonies of Canada and Brazil engendered material and social transformations. We integrate understandings of Iceland’s modernization and nationalism with their ascendance in new colonial networks via material negotiations and strategic engagements with shifting colonial identities.
Can we use the past to improve the present and plan better futures? What is the purpose of archaeological knowledge? To whom do we feel ourselves accountable? What can we learn from past episodes of archaeologists grappling with these same questions? In light of recent claims regarding the value of archaeology for solving the most pressing problems of our day, it is worth revisiting times in our own history when archaeologists were enlisted in attempts to instrumentalize the past to address contemporary concerns. The case of Robert McCormick Adams and his trailblazing full-coverage survey research in Iraq and Iran between 1956 and 1962 clearly demonstrates the possibilities and pitfalls of such efforts. Adams’s commentaries on this fieldwork—particularly the reflections on the purpose and impact of archaeological research it provoked—have consequential ramifications for our disciplinary practice now and going forward.
