This volume provides new insights into the distinctive contributions that community archaeology and heritage make to the decolonization of archaeological practice. Using innovative approaches, the contributors explore important initiatives which have protected and revitalized local heritage, initiatives that involved archaeologists as co-producers rather than leaders. These case studies underline the need completely reshape archaeological practice, engaging local and indigenous communities in regular dialogue and recognizing their distinctive needs, in order to break away from the top-down power relationships that have previously characterized archaeology in Africa.
Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa reflects a determined effort to change how archaeology is taught to future generations. Through community-based participatory approaches, archaeologists and heritage professionals can benefit from shared resources and local knowledge; and by sharing decision-making with members of local communities, archaeological inquiry can enhance their way of life, ameliorate their human rights concerns, and meet their daily needs to build better futures. Exchanging traditional power structures for research design and implementation, the examples outlined in this volume demonstrate the discipline’s exciting capacity to move forward to achieve its potential as a broader, more accessible, and more inclusive field.
Author(s): Peter R. Schmidt; Innocent Pikirayi
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 310
Cover
Title
Copyright
CONTENTS
List of figures
List of tables
List of contributors
Preface
1 Introduction: community archaeology and heritage in Africa—decolonizing practice
2 Maasai people and Oldupai (Olduvai) gorge: looking for sustainable people-centered approaches and practices
3 Walking the long path to partnership: archaeology and communities in Eastern Africa—relevance, access, and ownership
4 Collaborative archaeology and heritage in Africa: views from the trench and beyond
5 Heritage, memories, and community development: the case of Shimoni slave caves heritage site, Kenya
6 Archaeology, local knowledge, and tradition: the quest for relevant approaches to the study and use of the past in Southern Africa
7 Old archaeology camouflaged as new and inclusive? South African community archaeology in the twenty-first century
8 Cultural pathways to development among communities: the cultural banks in Mali
9 Perspectives on heritage, local community, and archaeological engagements in parts of Northern Yorubaland, Nigeria
10 “We will not relocate until our ancestors and shrines come with us”: heritage and conflict management in the Bui Dam Project area, Ghana
11 In lieu of community archaeology? The Mandara Archaeological Project (1984–2008): outreach and involvement in heritage issues
12 Community archaeology and heritage in Africa: conversations inspired by a workshop
Bibliography
Index
