On Latin American Archaeology: Colonial legacy and current disciplinary trends in Peruvian and Argentinan national archaeologies

The term “Latin America” is used as the common denominator that encompasses a large region with several countries whose traditions, language, and colonial background share a set of common characteristics. The paper explores the meaning of Latin American archaeology through the examples of Peruvian and Argentinian national archaeologies—the historical development of both countries and their respective archaeologies from the Colonial period to the present. The countries are first analyzed separately with a focus on their socioeconomic status and the influx of foreign theoretical trends and their impact on the development of archaeology within the context of colonialism and post-colonialism. At the beginning of the twentieth century the focus shifts on onto the “functioning” of archaeology through its legislative frameworks, university training programmes, and public archaeology. These elements are used to compare the archaeologies of Peru and Argentina to reveal their characteristic,...Show moreThe term “Latin America” is used as the common denominator that encompasses a large region with several countries whose traditions, language, and colonial background share a set of common characteristics. The paper explores the meaning of Latin American archaeology through the examples of Peruvian and Argentinian national archaeologies—the historical development of both countries and their respective archaeologies from the Colonial period to the present. The countries are first analyzed separately with a focus on their socioeconomic status and the influx of foreign theoretical trends and their impact on the development of archaeology within the context of colonialism and post-colonialism. At the beginning of the twentieth century the focus shifts on onto the “functioning” of archaeology through its legislative frameworks, university training programmes, and public archaeology. These elements are used to compare the archaeologies of Peru and Argentina to reveal their characteristic, and potentially the way in which colonialism and subsequent historical events pushed the development of archaeology. Four cases are presented with the intention of providing insight into how the theory is applied in practice. It was concluded that the pre-colonial history of the countries and their subsequent treatment significantly impacted the development of two markedly different national archaeologies who appear similar in theory but diverge in practice—when the current situation of archaeological practice and the most rudimentary elements keeping “Latin America” together are put into perspective, the archaeologies of the two countries appear to have less in common than they do at first glance.Show less

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On Latin American Archaeology: Colonial legacy and current disciplinary trends in Peruvian and Argentinan national archaeologies