Indigenous archaeology plows forward, despite anthropology's checkered past

[Judi Lynn]

By Yasmin Anwar, Media Relations| FEBRUARY 4, 2021


Kent Lightfoot trained in archaeology when backhoes and front-end loaders tore through Native American sites. At the time, it didn’t occur to him that the land could actually feel pain — not until Kashaya Pomo tribal elders at Northern California’s Fort Ross Historic State Park set him straight.

“They taught me that archaeological sites should be treated as living organisms that can feel pain if disturbed,” recalls Lightfoot, a UC Berkeley anthropology professor since 1987. “Looking back, that was the aha! moment that led to my vision for low-impact archaeology and reducing our footprint.”

Today, Lightfoot, 67, is an influential and endearing figure in Indigenous archaeology, a subfield of anthropology that eschews cultural imperialism and blends tribal perspectives, customs and collaboration into scholarship.

With precision technology that can detect what’s beneath the ground and prevent unnecessary digging — including ground-penetrating radar, satellite imagery, magnetometry and light detection and ranging sensors — the field is, in many ways, an antithesis to anthropology’s grave-plundering past.

More:
https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/02/04/indigenous-archaeology-plows-forward-despite-anthropologys-checkered-past/