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Social Archaeology in Latin America?: Comments to T. C. Patterson

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Augusto Oyuela-Caycedo ,
Armando Anaya ,
Carlos G. Elera  and
Lidio M. Valdez
Augusto Oyuela-Caycedo
Affiliation:
Instituto Amazonico de Investigaciones, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, A.A. #255, Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia
Armando Anaya
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
Carlos G. Elera
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
Lidio M. Valdez
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada
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Abstract

The published paper by Patterson (1994) gives the impression that Latin American archaeology has a significant orientation toward social archaeology. We present evidence, however, that indicates the restricted nature of social archaeology in time (1970s and early 1980s) and space (Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela). Social archaeology developed only in a political context where the model pursued by the state was sympathetic to marxist ideology during a specific historical period. Further, at the academic level, social archaeology gradually lost appeal to students in those countries where it developed because of the politicization of the archaeological discourse at universities and the lack of a relationship between practice and theory (epistemological theory). The practical aspects of social archaeology have never passed beyond those of cultural history produced under the schema of a national state archaeology. Consideration of the realities under which archaeology developed in each Latin American country leads to a broader understanding of the context in which social archaeology exists in Latin America today.

El artículo publicado por Patterson (1994) da la impresión que la arqueología Latinoamericana tiene una orientatión hacia la arqueología social bastante fuerte. Sin embargo, nosotros presentamos evidencia que indica que la arqueología social tuvo importancia muy restringida en tiempo (década de los setenta y comienzos de los ochenta) y en espacio (México, Perú, Venezuela y Cuba). La arqueología social solo se desarrollo en un contexto temporal donde el modelo político del estado era simpatizante a una ideología marxista. Anivel académico, la frustratión de los estudiantes ante la politiquería del discurso arqueológico en la universidad y lafalta de una relatión entre teoría epistemológica y la práctica del quehacer arqueológico. En la práctica de la arqueología social nunca pasó de ser una arqueología diferente de la historia cultural producida dentro del marco de la arqueología estatal. Si se considera la realidad bajo la cual se desarrolla la arqueología Latinoamericana se puede lograr un mejor entendimiento del contexto de la arqueología social hoy en dia.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 1997 , pp. 365 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

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