Historical Archaeology Outlook: A Latin American Perspective

This article begins with the history of historical archaeology as an American discipline spreading to the rest of the globe. It then considers that the discipline will develop more and more on peripheral areas, and that an Anglo-Saxon emphasis on capitalism and globalization will be challenged by cultural, even nationalist, subjects and perspectives, as these differences will play a growing role in 21st-century politics and academia. A Latin American approach is then proposed, stressing local issues and cultural specificities and such innovative concepts as transculturation and mixed societies. The archaeology of slavery and rebellion is emphasized. A comparative approach is a fertile strategy with which to explore the different ways Latin America material culture may be used to study exploitation and resistance in a process linked to identity building in different countries. The article then concludes by predicting that, from its origin as a "WASP" discipline, historical archaeology may really become the study of material culture relevant to people worldwide.