{"id":162388,"date":"2020-05-28T06:47:44","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T04:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/archaeology-is-changing-slowly-but-its-still-too-tied-up-in-colonial-practices-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2020-05-28T06:47:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T04:47:44","slug":"archaeology-is-changing-slowly-but-its-still-too-tied-up-in-colonial-practices-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/archaeology-is-changing-slowly-but-its-still-too-tied-up-in-colonial-practices-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Archaeology is changing, slowly. But it’s still too tied up in colonial practices | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeology is changing, slowly. But it’s still too tied up in colonial practices<\/a>: <\/p>\n

More room should be made for archaeologists who do things differently.<\/span> Robyn Walker\/HERI<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For many people, the mention of archaeology makes them think of Indiana Jones. He\u2019s the hero of the 1980s movie franchise \u2013 but any archaeologist will tell you that Indiana isn\u2019t very good at his job.<\/p>\n

For starters, he destroys so much of the contextual information that could tell people more about the site where an artefact was found, the climate at the time, what material was used to make something and whether that material was local or from another area. That\u2019s all just as important as the exciting artefact he\u2019s trying to find.<\/p>\n

The films also glorify the long relationship between colonialism and archaeology. Indigenous communities are depicted stereotypically, and Indiana isn\u2019t above violent methods to collect the artefacts he wants. This isn\u2019t poetic licence: colonialism aided access to sites and the collection and distribution of artefacts. This gave colonial powers control of other cultures\u2019 heritage \u2013 especially on the African continent.<\/p>\n

There are some moves towards recognising archaeology\u2019s colonial history. Some European nations have begun to return items taken from the African continent by archaeologists. Contemporary archaeologists also do a much better job than Indiana did, trying to understand a site and its social context.<\/p>\n

The work we\u2019re doing alongside other scholars at the University of Cape Town\u2019s Human Evolution Research Institute in South Africa is trying, among other things, to address the legacies of racism and colonialism in archaeology and related sciences.<\/p>\n

A chequered history<\/h2>\n

Archaeology\u2019s history in South Africa ties it to race science, which tried to justify racism.<\/p>\n

Some of South Africa\u2019s most prized archaeological finds were made by Western men who came to the country to study its people. Mapungubwe, an Iron Age archaeological site, was \u201cdiscovered\u201d by a student and his father who coerced a black local informant into showing them where the sacred hill was.<\/p>\n

Archaeologists also perpetuated the idea that Great Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe, which had large stone wall structures, were constructed by outsiders such as Persians rather than by the African people who lived in these places. <\/p>\n

\"\"
A conical tower in the Great Enclosure of the Great Zimbabwe ruins.<\/span> DeAgostini\/Getty Images<\/span><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaeological practices in the 19th and 20th centuries not only sidelined African people\u2019s heritage and knowledge. They also resulted in many important fossils and artefacts being held in institutions outside Africa; many remain there today. African scholars and the indigenous people themselves often have difficulty accessing this material. <\/p>\n

Some things have changed in the past few decades \u2013 but problems persist.<\/p>\n

Paper versus practice<\/h2>\n

Many countries in Africa have formal procedures related to accessing archaeological sites. Legislation is also in place in many countries that outlines what\u2019s to be done with material once it\u2019s been discovered. And increasingly researchers are being encouraged or required to work with local researchers and communities.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s on paper doesn\u2019t always translate into practice. Some of the most recent significant advances in the field were made as a result of foreign researchers working in Africa. <\/p>\n

While this is recognised, there are problems often with research ethics and processes. That\u2019s not to say foreign researchers shouldn\u2019t be working in African countries. The problem is that their work can still happen with little or no interaction with local people, including researchers as well as communities who live near or on sites. And when locals do share their knowledge, it isn\u2019t always acknowledged. Findings aren\u2019t always shared with them in accessible forms nor is there necessarily protection of indigenous knowledge shared. <\/p>\n

For this reason the San Institute of South Africa, for example, has developed a Code of Research Ethics for researchers. Many of the continent\u2019s indigenous people are deeply familiar with regions and landscapes on spiritual levels. Some have interacted closely with the types of objects that archaeologists are trying to find. <\/p>\n

Often, archaeological sites have acquired new meaning for communities over time. Zimbabwe\u2019s Matobo Hills, for instance, have rock art sites originally produced thousands of years ago. They have subsequently become significant in different ways to local communities and are still of ritual significance. Archaeological research too often interferes with this without any real consultation.<\/p>\n

There is also so much valuable local knowledge to tap into that can aid archaeological research. Recently a whole city was discovered in Ethiopia because of local communities\u2019 knowledge about the site. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s crucial for archaeologists to listen deeply and respectfully to indigenous people locally based at sites. There has been some great progress in this direction. The scholar Nthabiseng Mokoena examined what the rock art in Matatiele in South Africa\u2019s Eastern Cape province meant to local communities and what this would mean for conservation and research at these sites. Working closely with the community produced recommendations that genuinely included them and protected their sacred sites.<\/p>\n

But too often archaeology is still extractive and not aware of sociopolitical issues and research sensitivities. <\/p>\n

Ethical approaches<\/h2>\n

A lot of work lies ahead to make sure that archaeology does not perpetuate colonial power dynamics in its practice. There are a few ways to do this.<\/p>\n

One of these, which we are championing at the Human Evolution Research Institute, is to cultivate young African scholars. These scholars are taught to include communities and genuinely value the continent\u2019s heritage and local indigenous knowledge.<\/p>\n

Collected material shouldn\u2019t only be available to scientists from the global North. African researchers, in African countries, need to be able to access the continent\u2019s heritage and history and share it with descendant communities. <\/p>\n

Ethical practice requires awareness of colonial history and how that has benefited archaeology \u2013 and why it\u2019s not sustainable. Indiana Jones\u2019 days are numbered.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Robyn Humphreys receives funding from the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

June Bam-Hutchison works as interim director of the San and Khoe Research Studies Unit within the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town. She is also co-founder of the A\/Xarra Restorative Justice Forum an indigenous knowledge partnership with traditional structures established in 2018. Her research in the field has been funded through the National Institute of Human and Social Sciences' Catalytic Precolonial Project through the NRF Chair on Land and Democracy. Her current research with global indigenous scholars on 'deep listening' titled '!G\u00e2 re \u2013 Rangatiranga \u2013 Dadirri: Decolonizing the \u2018capture of knowledge\u2019 is hosted and funded by the Worldwide University Network. She is also a Visiting Professor with Stanford University's overseas programme since 2014. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Rebecca Ackermann receives funding from the National Research Foundation and the DST\/NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences.. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
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Archaeology is changing, slowly. But it’s still too tied up in colonial practices: More room should be made for archaeologists who do things differently. Robyn Walker\/HERI For many people, the mention of archaeology makes them think of Indiana Jones. He\u2019s the hero of the 1980s movie franchise \u2013 but any archaeologist will tell you that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[31612,3761,5550,8890,3821,8379,29858,5739,15145],"class_list":{"0":"post-162388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-archaeology","8":"tag-changing","9":"tag-colonial","10":"tag-conversation","11":"tag-its","12":"tag-practices","13":"tag-slowly","14":"tag-still","15":"tag-tied","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}