Tag: social justice
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Archaeological Accountability
Unsurprisingly, the current pandemic has got many academics, particularly those of us who are very early in our careers, rethinking our future plans. With many job opportunities cancelled or otherwise postponed, the idea of remaining in academia feels rather pointless, or at least a much bigger risk than it used to be. I came across
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When does “Cultural Preservation” become “Cultural Taxidermy”?
I’ve been thinking a lot about modern engagement with heritage sites lately, specifically beyond the “museum model” that most are presented through. These are the heritage sites that allow for much more engagement, if not actual interaction, between the heritage site and the visitor – most of these are in the form of free-standing spaces,
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Recognising that Recognition is Not Enough: Confronting the Worst of Archaeology
A few months ago, I read Angela Saini’s newest book, Superior: The Return of Race Science. It is a really thorough examination of the ways in which race science continues to pervade our politics and research today, and I would recommend it to those (specifically, white scientists) who may not be familiar with its history
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Anarchy in the UK…Archaeological Sector? A Brief Introduction into an Alternative Approach to Archaeology
Today’s blog post comes from a paper I presented at the 2018 Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference – you can find the full text here. If you think about the word “anarchist”, you probably have a very specific image that comes to mind – some sort of “punk” masked up and dressed all in black, probably
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Fighting the Same Fight: Archaeology, Heathenry, and the Alt-Right
Heathenry is a particular movement within neo-paganism that draws upon Nordic mythology and folklore. It is arguably one of the largest alternative spiritualities practiced today. And, unfortunately, it also houses a large population of white supremacists. To understand this phenomenon, we must first look at the roots of Heathenry as a neo-pagan practice. Arguably one
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Selfies with the Dead: ‘Shadow of the Tomb Raider’ and the Dehumanisation of Human Remains
Content Warning: Discussion of human remains in this blog post. No actual images of human remains are used, however there are images of digital human remains from the Shadow of the Tomb Raider video game, so please be advised. Recently, the third instalment of the rebooted Tomb Raider video game franchise was released. This game,
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The Archaeology of Vandalism
Monuments and, more specifically, the vandalization of monuments have become widely debated topics over the past year. American monuments of Confederate soldiers and others have been subject to destruction by activists across the country who protest against what they represent (Lockheart 2018) – just this week, the “Silent Sam” statue at the University of North
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Not For You: Cultural Appropriation in Neo-Paganism and How Archaeology Plays a Role
Issues of cultural appropriation in “New Age” and holistic circles isn’t breaking news – over the past decade, there has been much in the media and news discussing appropriation of ritual garb, sacred herbs, and practices, often by white spiritual leaders who make financial gain through their appropriative acts without providing anything in return to
Animal Archaeology 