1st Edition

Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa Decolonizing Practice

Edited By Peter R. Schmidt, Innocent Pikirayi Copyright 2016
    324 Pages
    by Routledge

    324 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    1: Introduction to Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa: Decolonizing Practice
    Innocent Pikirayi and Peter R. Schmidt


    2: Maasai People and Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge: Looking for Sustainable People-Centred Approaches and Practices
    Asmeret G. Mehari, Kokeli P. Ryano and Naserian Ndangoya


    3: Walking the Long Path to Partnership: Archaeology and Communities in Eastern Africa 
    George Abungu


    4: Collaborative Archaeology and Heritage in Africa: Views from the Trench and Beyond
    Peter R. Schmidt


    5: Heritage, Memories and Community Development: The case of Shimoni Slave Caves Site, Kenya
    Patrick Abungu


    6: Archaeology, Local Knowledge and Tradition: The Quest for Relevant Approaches to the Study and Use of the Past in Southern Africa

    Southern Africa, Innocent Pikirayi

     


    7: Old Archaeology Camouflaged as New and Inclusive? South African Community Archaeology in the 21st Century 
    Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu


    8: Cultural Pathways to Development Among Communities: The Cultural Banks in Mali 
    Anne Mayor and Eric Huysecom


    9: Perspective on Heritage, Local Community and Archaeological Engagements in Parts of Northern Yorubaland, Nigeria
    Jonathan O. Aleru and Kolawole Adekola


    10: “We will not Relocate until our Ancestors and Shrines Come with Us”: Heritage and Conflict Management in the Bui Dam Project Area, Ghana 

    Dam Project area, Ghana Wazi Apoh and Kodzo Gavua


    11: In Lieu of Community Archaeology? Mandara Archaeological Project (1984-2008): Outreach and Involvement in Heritage issues 
    Nic David and Judy Sterner


    12: Community Archaeology and Heritage in Africa: Conversations inspired by a workshop
    Carol McDavid, Uzma Rizvi and Laurajane Smith

    Biography

    Peter R. Schmidt is Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Florida, USA, as well as Extraordinary Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

    Innocent Pikirayi is currently Professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

    "This important text on community involvement with archaeology in Africa constitutes the most extensive examination to date of the roles that African communities can and should play in engaging with archaeologists and cultural heritage management practitioners... An absolutely indispensable text for anyone doing archaeology or heritage management, in Africa or elsewhere. Summing Up: Essential."

    — S. MacEachern, Bowdoin College, CHOICE Reviews

    "Schmidt and Pikirayi’s edited volume is an important contribution... Archaeologists and heritage practitioners working in Africa may respond defensively to the content of this volume, believing that their practice is not colonial and thus not in need of decolonising. However, it is only through critical reflection and new research approaches, as promoted in this volume, that as archaeologists we can expose to ourselves the underlying colonial biases that the various communities that witness, and are impacted by, our work so often perceive."

    — John Giblin, Azania: Archarological Research in Africa