Drawing from a collaborative teaching and design partnership, the authors present Knowing the Past, a four-course online specialization on the Coursera platform designed to introduce archaeology through an antiracist lens. By integrating decolonial content and antiracist teaching practices in an online open global learning environment, the case study offers a model for how universities can take concrete, reparative steps through what and how they teach. The example also integrates antiracist theory into course design, through carefully chosen content and structured activities. This teaching approach illustrates how instructional design can extend STEM educational reckoning into global learning spaces when approached as a form of ethical praxis.
The ongoing internal conflict in Sudan, which began in 2023, has led to the destruction of health facilities, schools, and housing, displacing over 15 million people and leaving around 30 million in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Historical sites, libraries, academic institutions, and museums across the country have also been severely damaged and looted. This paper highlights how increasing public engagement and heritage resilience by local communities—supported by national and international institutions—have proven to be a vital means for Sudanese people to safeguard their collective memory and cultural heritage, even in the face of widespread violence, massacres, and senseless destruction.
With digitalization and globalization, all life practices around the world are changing rapidly. Consequently, there are fundamental changes in the preservation, transmission, and experience of intangible cultural heritage, which centers on art and humanity. Analyzing these fundamental changes and addressing academic and social trends related to the subject plays a key role in achieving a sustainable world. The aim of this study is to analyze academic trends, technologies used, and interdisciplinary studies conducted from the perspective of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Digitalization. The Web of Science database was used to collect research data. The data were examined using bibliometric analysis, a quantitative research method. The research found that there have been major changes in the interaction between digitalization and intangible cultural heritage over the years. It revealed that in recent years, the digitalization process has transformed intangible cultural heritage beyond a “technical recording process” into a new ecosystem, experience, and production.
Chief Mkwawa’s skull, housed at the Kalenga Museum located in the Kalenga administrative ward, approximately 15 km from Iringa town along the highway to Ruaha National Park in Tanzania, symbolises anti-colonial resistance in Tanzania. This article examines the legal and ethical dimensions of the heritage ownership dispute between the Tanzanian government, which claims rights under the Antiquities Act, and the Mkwawa family and Hehe community, who seek custodial rights based on cultural traditions. It analyses the interplay between ritual practices and cultural tourism, emphasising tensions arising from existing heritage legislation and museum operations. The article proposes a multi-stakeholder heritage management model to reconcile competing interests, promote sustainable cultural tourism, and ensure effective heritage preservation.
This article presents a critical approach to and from collaborative archaeology using the case of the Cerro de Oro Archaeological Project (PACO) in San Luis de Cañete, Peru. In contexts marked by informality, infrastructural exclusion, and legal ambiguity, archaeological sites often coexist with marginalized populations whose daily struggles challenge conventional heritage management frameworks. This article evaluates PACO’s ten-year transition from traditional research to a new approach to collaborative archaeology that puts the communities' needs at the center. The conclusions highlight the importance of sustained relationships, shared agendas, and a commitment to addressing community-defined priorities as key components of ethical and impactful archaeological practice.
Muslim reformer and scholar Sir Syed Ahmed Khan is credited with the establishment of Mohammedan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College at Aligarh in 1875. Jama Masjid was one of the oldest structures established on the campus. The construction of the mosque was started in 1879 and completed in 1915. The Muslim population was opposed to the ideas of modern education after the violent British retaliation to the 1857 revolt in India. The orthodox sections of Muslims were dubious about Sir Syed’s establishment of a college. Sir Syed countered all criticism and skepticism surrounding his mission for education. As a part of MAO College, the Jama Masjid was built, becoming the only mosque in India that was intended for both Sunni and Shia Muslims. Despite its continual usage and enormous significance, the architectural marvel of the mosque slipped into oblivion due to a lack of maintenance and insensitive interventions. It was only in the year 2016 that restoration efforts for the mosque started after initiation from the university administration. This study outlines the procedure for reclaiming and reinterpreting Aligarh Muslim University’s spiritual legacy. This study also investigates the challenges in heritage conservation and possible threats to the built heritage of a historical university. The outcomes of this research can help in developing and interpreting cultural values of built heritage as an essential part of the re-heritagization of existing structures.
This article aims to put considerations of threats of damage and destruction to cultural heritage in periods of conflict into a wider context, looking at the nature of war itself as a cultural form. Taking a long-term perspective derived from other work on conflict archaeology, it will start from the premise that a concern for the fate of ‘things’ (however ancient) is a particular pathology of modernity and it is this pathology that creates the conditions under which objects of cultural value are chosen for attention by aggressors and for particular protection by defenders. We shall address war as a realm where violent destruction—of people and places—is the paramount aim, and thereby the equation of people with objects representative of those people becomes an essential part of the discourse of war-making: this in part explains how cultural objects become targets. There is more to war than destruction however: it is an aspect frequently overlooked that wars also create new things—among them new classes of people, new artefacts, new landscapes and new forms of cultural expression. The aftermath of wars also allows things that were destroyed to be remade and re-modelled. As a cultural activity, war is both destructive and creative. Taking this deliberately provocative approach raises important issues about contemporary attitudes to the destruction of heritage and its protection in wartime.
There have been calls for the expansion of community-engaged approaches within the archaeology of Pleistocene Africa. Such programs face challenges trying to connect deep histories with present communities that do not consider these pasts ancestral. This article reviews previously published community-engaged projects within the archaeology of Africa and brings to bear knowledge of such work in North America to help investigators understand how best to embed Stone Age research programs within the communities that host them. It specifically identifies realms of practice that have been shown to be successful with engagement over the long term.
While scholars like Gregory Schopen and Ananda Coomaraswamy have addressed the emergence of image cults in Buddhist art, the role of bhikkhunīs (Buddhist nuns) has remained largely understudied. This study recovers their agency by analysing inscriptions from key sites, including Sārnāth, Kauśāmbī, and Mathurā, that document their patronage of Buddha and Bodhisattva images. Figures like Buddhamitrā, Buddhadāsī, and Dhanavatī emerge as central contributors to early Buddhist visual culture. These inscriptions reveal that bhikkhunīs exercised economic, doctrinal, and social authority, actively shaping early Buddhist devotional traditions. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining epigraphy, art history, and gender studies, this study challenges the conventional male-centric narratives of Buddhist history. It highlights the pivotal role of bhikkhunīs in institutionalising image worship during the Kuṣāṇa period.
Pottery, the most common archaeological artifact, offers insight into raw materials, technology, and cultures. This study examines three Black-Slipped Ware shreds- two black, one red- collected from cultivated fields, mud paths, and irrigation canals at Early Historic site of Tekttha, Naogaon, Bangladesh. Through physical, chemical, and ethnographic analyses; manufacturing techniques, raw material provenance, and firing treatments were constructed. Mineralogical results show similar compositions with varied peak intensities, suggesting differences in sources or firing temperatures. These findings illuminate regional ceramic production and establish a foundation for further comparative archaeometric research. The study aims to deepen understanding of Early Historic ceramic technologies in Bangladesh.
This essay contributes an Introduction to the Special Issue Politics of Heritage Values. I first discuss the history and theoretical approaches to the heritage concept. Then each chapter is briefly introduced. In the Discussion and conclusions, I frame the articles of this Special Issue through the lens of Arturo Escobar’s Pluriverse (Pluriversal politics, Duke University Press, 2020), analyzing how their insights can shape a more sustainable future.
Recent studies on ethnic music increasingly highlight educational awareness, cross-domain dissemination, and innovative mechanisms. However, a systematic review that synthesizes these developments within the framework of digital diffusion remains lacking. This study presents a scientometric analysis of 324 publications from 2020 to 2024, identifying seven major dimensions: thematic evolution, regional influence, collaboration patterns, technological applications, research foci, conceptual trends, and influencing factors. The results reveal a three-phase evolution of digital technology applications, distinct regional emphases, and emerging research hotspots. A clear shift is observed from a traditional “transmission–reception” model toward a more participatory form of “collaboration–co-creation.” Building on these insights, the study proposes an innovation model that integrates technology, culture, and design. This framework supports SDG 11, advancing sustainable and digitally empowered modes of cultural transmission in the domain of ethnic music heritage.
This article critiques the persistence of binary categories—past/present, tangible/intangible, rational/affective, and science/belief—that continue to shape archaeological heritage practices. These divisions limit efforts within the discipline to adopt multi-temporal, inclusive, ontologically diverse, and decolonizing approaches. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of the Kerkenes site in Türkiye, it explores the disjunction between archaeologists’ construction of an isolated Iron Age past and local communities’ lived engagements with the site. Villagers did not recognize the Phrygian past as part of their heritage and observed that Islamic elements had been overlooked by archaeologists. The dialogical and ontological reanalysis of ancient features such as ponds, wells, and graves reveals how they connect to local experiences grounded in Islamic theophanic ontology. The article employs a framework for ontologically plural and dialogical heritage practices that transcends entrenched binaries in archaeology.
Although the land crisis has been considered a potential factor in the decline and downfall of the Western Zhou dynasty, previous scholarship primarily based its argument on inscriptions from the middle and late Western Zhou periods. This paper argues that the land grant recorded in Zhong Fangding provides a glimpse into the socio-economic situation of the early Western Zhou state. By contextualizing the Zhong Fangding archaeologically, geographically, and historically, this article dates it to the 15th year of King Zhao and discusses its implication for understanding the socio-economic pressure that the Zhou court faced and its relation to King Zhao's southern campaigns. Si bien la crisis de tierras se ha considerado un factor potencial en el declive y ca & iacute;da de la dinast & iacute;a Zhou Occidental, la investigaci & oacute;n previa se bas & oacute; principalmente en inscripciones de los per & iacute;odos Zhou Occidental medio y tard & iacute;o. En este art & iacute;culo se argumenta que la concesi & oacute;n de tierras registrada en Zhong Fangding ofrece una visi & oacute;n de la situaci & oacute;n socioecon & oacute;mica del Estado Zhou Occidental temprano. Al contextualizar arqueol & oacute;gica, geogr & aacute;fica e hist & oacute;ricamente el Zhong Fangding, este art & iacute;culo lo ubica en el decimoquinto a & ntilde;o del rey Zhao y analiza sus implicaciones para comprender la presi & oacute;n socioecon & oacute;mica que enfrent & oacute; la corte Zhou y su relaci & oacute;n con las campa & ntilde;as del sur del rey Zhao. Bien que la crise fonci & egrave;re ait & eacute;t & eacute; consid & eacute;r & eacute;e comme un facteur potentiel du d & eacute;clin et de la chute de la dynastie Zhou de l'Ouest, des travaux ant & eacute;rieurs de recherche ont fond & eacute; essentiellement leur argumentaire sur des inscriptions provenant des p & eacute;riodes moyenne et tardive des Zhou de l'Ouest. Le pr & eacute;sent article soutient que l'octroi de terre figurant dans le Zhong Fangding donne un aper & ccedil;u de la situation socio-& eacute;conomique des d & eacute;buts de l'& eacute;tat des Zhou de l'Ouest. Par la contextualisation du Zhong Fangding sur un plan arch & eacute;ologique, g & eacute;ographique et historique, cet article le fait remonter & agrave; la 15 & egrave;me ann & eacute;e du Roi Zhao et s'interroge sur ses cons & eacute;quences pour comprendre la pression socio-& eacute;conomique & agrave; laquelle & eacute;tait confront & eacute;e la cour des Zhou et sa relation avec les campagnes du Roi Zhao vers le sud.
This article explores the current state of rock art site preservation in the Mara Region. These sites represent tangible and intangible cultural heritage that face risks from natural erosion, vandalism, development pressures, and inadequate legal protection. Furthermore, despite their cultural importance, many sites—especially those recently discovered—lack a formal management framework to ensure their preservation for future generations and face numerous challenges due to the absence of a structured management approach. Drawing on decades of research in rock art conservation, this study highlights key factors contributing to the deterioration of these sites, such as environmental degradation, encroachment, and ownership issues. Additionally, borrowing from research from various parts of the world, the paper examines potential strategies for both immediate and long-term preservation of the sites, ensuring a balanced approach to cultural preservation and economic sustainability. It also proposes a holistic management framework that integrates legal protection, community involvement, and conservation science.
The past 20 years have witnessed profound changes in prehistoric archaeological research in mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Based on publication data from related research results—including journal article, book, book section/conference paper, and thesis—this paper provides a bird’s-eye view of how the field of prehistoric archaeology has developed over the past 20 years and, in particular, the role of local and international scholars. The findings show that Western scholars, who remain active in this field, have had a comprehensive and far-reaching influence on the discipline of prehistoric archaeology in MSEA. Local and international scholars have remarkably contrasting interests in terms of research topics, as local scholars are deeply invested in revealing the intricate threads of their own histories and cultures, while international scholars traverse regional boundaries and engage in macro-level discussion to explore scientific questions. This diversity is also found in their journal selection preferences, with local scholars focusing on local journals and international scholars preferring high-impact international journals. The analysis of institutional cooperation also shows diversified international cooperation and a growing local cooperative practice. This study provides a broad perspective from which to examine the development of research on prehistoric archaeology in MSEA over the last two decades and to deepen our understanding of the state of the field in this region.
This article presents a collaborative archaeological research conducted with the Mosetén community of Asunción de Quiquibey (Bolivia) as part of the project Heritage and Territoriality: Past and Future Perceptions among the Tacana, Tsimane’, Mosetén, and Waiwai. Using an interdisciplinary and decolonial methodology, scientific and Indigenous knowledge is articulated with the active participation of the T’simane’-Mosetén Regional Council. The study emphasizes the leading role of community researchers in decision-making, cultural mediation, the production of situated knowledge, and the construction of collective memory. It highlights the challenges and prospects of community archaeology during the excavation of the archaeological site of Chañes Jinak.
The paper examines the challenges of promoting collaborative heritage initiatives in semi-urban settings. The discussion highlights the relationship between the El Huarco Integral project and the local government in their attempt to establish collaborative heritage management for the El Huarco site. The paper also places attention on the role of local governments in mediating heritage discourses and transforming heritage into a public space for diverse community interactions and negotiations, despite the persistent limitations imposed by traditional academic discourses and state frameworks on participatory initiatives.
In Guatemala, archeological heritage has been under the exclusive protection of the state, as stated in the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and other laws. Although the descendants of those who built the ancient civic and ceremonial centers continue to live in their ancestral territories, they are seen as illegitimate heirs of their cultural heritage. Therefore, Guatemala’s Indigenous populations have no legally defined role in protecting archeological resources. Despite this situation, the ajq’ijab’ "day counters" have been one sector of society that has actively made various efforts to directly or indirectly protect archeological sites considered as sacred sites to them. I emphasize that establishing alliances with them could strengthen research and the protection of archeological sites, while questioning the popular belief that the practice of Maya spirituality damages archeological sites.
