Archaeological Ethnographies Workshop

Using ethnography to explore ethical dilemmas in archaeology and contribute to a political economy of archaeology

An important application for archaeological ethnography is exploring ethical dilemmas that face archaeologists and others who deem to protect and preserve the past. My own multi-sited fieldwork combines a follow-the-thing approach and standpoint theory to study the legal market for archaeological materials from the Bering Strait region (thus also providing an important comparison to similar illegal and quasi-legal markets). Among many other things, I learned that the materials surfacing on the art market, which generated so much attention, represented only a very small portion—and often were but a byproduct—of a much larger social, economic and historical phenomenon. A handful of other ethnographic studies of “looting” have added much to what we know about these situations. Without a more holistic understanding of the context of “looting”—from the economic plights of subsistence diggers to the motives of collectors, the strategies of dealers, and the complicity of museums, and the double standards that play to developers—how can those who decry the destruction of the past hope to make more informed or effective decisions, much less engage in self-critique or respect other perspectives? Ethnography has an important role to play in decentering the archaeological standpoint and in providing a much-needed political economy of archaeological subjects and objects, including better understanding of the social context of ethical dilemmas such as looting and the antiquities market, thus opening the possibility for better, more informed decision-making.