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Insights of Afro-Latin American Archaeology

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Abstract

On September 15 and 16, 2017, the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University hosted a workshop of 20 archaeologists from across the Americas and the Caribbean. Workshop proceedings demonstrate how a focus on Afro-Latin America challenges crucial concerns in archaeology. Likewise, workshop discussions showed the transformative contributions that archaeology makes to Afro-Latin American studies, including deeper understanding of the dynamics of African diaspora, racialization, colonialism, early modern economies, social hierarchies and slavery, consumerism, aesthetic interventions, and contemporary struggles for sovereignty.

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Acknowledgments

The 2017 workshop was made possible by the support of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. A workshop grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Gr. CONF-548) for Anthropological Research was a major source of funding for the event. I am indebted to Bronia Greskovicova-Chang, Program Coordinator for the Afro-Latin American Research Institute, for her energy and creativity; her efforts made the workshop the success it was. This essay benefited greatly from the guidance and careful consideration of Charles Orser, Jr. Alejandro de la Fuente is an exemplary and inspirational colleague, whose many-faceted support of this initiative deserves my most profound gratitude.

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  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Illinois State University, Campus Box 4660, Normal, IL, USA

    Kathryn E. Sampeck

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  1. Kathryn E. Sampeck
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Correspondence to Kathryn E. Sampeck.

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Sampeck, K.E. Insights of Afro-Latin American Archaeology. Int J Histor Archaeol 22, 167–182 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-018-0454-5

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