Archaeology in the Americas today
L’archéologie dans les Amériques aujourd’hui
Published on Monday, July 31, 2023
Abstract
This issue of IdeAs - Idées d’Amériques explores the challenges of contemporary archaeology in the Americas. The aim of this thematic issue is to identify and discuss current challenges in archaeology in the Americas addressing themes such as climate change, the specificities of conducting research, the archaeology of techniques and digital technologies.
Announcement
Argument
The aim of this thematic issue is to identify and discuss current challenges in archaeology in the Americas addressing themes such as climate change, the specificities of conducting research, the archaeology of techniques and digital technologies. The idea is to enable a panel of researchers to present their reflections and results, based on their field research and contexts, from the Arctic to Amazonia and Patagonia, from the earliest settlements to the colonial periods. Archaeology in the Americas, as elsewhere in the world, faces major challenges, but the variability of environmental contexts, examples of cultural continuity over the long term and the independent cultural and political trajectories of the Old Continent mean that these challenges take on specific and unique forms.
Indeed, while climate change has had an impact on past societies and is now affecting descendant societies (or not), it also determines how much of the archaeological record reaches us, and poses a threat to its future preservation. The research presented will examine the specific relationship between societies and their territory, environment and climate, past and present. Furthermore, research and fieldwork conducted today in close proximity to local communities must take into account the historical, economic and political context in which they take place. Using concrete examples, articles will describe the conditions of archaeological research today, local partnerships and the specific socio-economic conditions that can affect practices, objectives and related constructed narratives. The idea, then, is to ask how, for whom and with what goal we should conduct archaeology in the Americas in the 21st century. In addition, approaching the past through understanding and reconstructing behavior and technical knowledge provides access to cultural and social aspects of societies, often characteristing of French archaeological tradition. This approach, which is fully developing in the Americas, demonstrates a greater appreciation of this anthropology of technology by our American colleagues. In such context, it seems essential to address how knowing ancient technologies alongside the possibilities and renewal offered by new technlogies (Lidar, 3-D modeling, etc.) contributes to our understanding of past societies in the Americas.
In this special issue, we propose three main themes:
- The effects of past and present climate change on archaeology in the Americas
- Conducting archaeological research in the Americas today
- Archaeology of techniques and digital technologies for the archaeology of the Americas
Submission guidelines
Proposals can be submitted in French, English, Spanish or Portuguese. Please, also make sure to provide:
- a title
- an abstract (500 words max.)
- 5 keywords
- a short academic bio-bibliography (10-15 lines)
Email your proposal to the editors of the forthcoming issue before December 20, 2023:
- Claire Alix: claire.alix[at]univ-paris1.fr
- Nicolas Goepfert: nicolas.goepfert[at]cnrs.fr
- Nicolas Payrayd: nicolas.payraud[at]culture.gouv.fr
- Benoit Bérard: benoit.berard[at]univ-antilles.fr
- Françoise Martinez: francoise.martinez[at]sorbonne-universite.fr
- Hélène Quanquin: helene.quanquin[at]univ-lille.fr
Coordination
- Claire Alix (Associate Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR 8096 ArchAm)
- Nicolas Goepfert (Chargé de recherche CNRS, UMR 8096 ArchAm)
- Nicolas Payraud (Conservateur régional de l'archéologie adjoint en charge de l'Alsace Ministère de la Culture DRAC Grand Est)
- Benoit Bérard (Professor, Université des Antilles) benoit.berard[at]univ-antilles.fr
Subjects
- America (Main category)
- Society > Sociology
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology
- Society > History
- Mind and language > Representation
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology
Date(s)
- Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Attached files
Keywords
- archéologie, Amériques
Reference Urls
Information source
- Matthieu Baudry
courriel : recherche [at] institutdesameriques [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Archaeology in the Americas today », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, July 31, 2023, https://doi.org/10.58079/1bnf