Is all Archaeology at Present a Postcolonial One?

Abstract

In this short reflective paper, I stress the importance of situating the multiple archaeological practices of Latin America in their particular contexts, in reaction to the so-called ‘globalized’ and/or ‘postcolonial’ archaeologies practiced today. I argue that the different processes that give rise to the many ways of practicing our discipline around the world are embedded in multiple and divergent dynamics of socio-cultural and political interactions. I suggest that rather than simply adopting new forms of theorization imported from the usual theoretical production centers, we need to open new, dialectical and parallel channels of communication to articulate more balanced characterizations of the world’s archaeological practices. Examining and understanding the many places (and circumstances) of action of the different archaeological practices (i.e. analyzing the multiple archaeological practices in their own context) allows a more coherent flow and linkage of information between praxis and theories inherent in particular socio-political contexts.