*VIII Reunión de Teoría Arqueológica de América del Sur23-27 May 2016 / La
Paz, Bolivia*
http://viiitaas.wix.com/viiitaas2016

*“NOT ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO AIR”. *

*LANDSCAPES AND MATERIALITY OF BLACK COMMUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA*
In spite of the many material records and historical contexts associated
with the presence of African people and their descendants in Latin America,
archaeologists have paid little attention to this field. Latin American
academia lacks scholars whose research focus not only on intangible
elements, but also on spatial and material ones, i.e. landscape archaeology
and material culture studies. Brazilian and Cuban researchers are notable
exceptions in this regard, as well as pioneers scholars in Jamaica and the
Antilles since the decade of the 1990s. In such a situation it is essential
to focus on the directions for future research and open problems in the
field, and to invite colleagues to reflect on how the national trajectories
have influenced those deafening silences. However, it is not all about
absence. The work carried out in the above-mentioned countries –as well as
in the United States since the early 1960s– have delimited theoretical
oases that, although with little connection among them, have inspired new
scholars across the continent.

It is precisely those ‘unwritten’ parts, as well as the diversity of
contexts, dynamics and social realities (historical and contemporary) of
black communities in Latin America, which lead us to consider the term
landscape as the most useful keyword within this session. The concept is
understood as a dynamic network of social relationships, material
conditions, experiences, territory, memories and archaeological practices.
In this respect, the idea of landscapes of black communities allows us to
cover a multiplicity of temporalities and latitudes. It also enables a
dialogue between different disciplines such as archaeology, history,
anthropology, and any other area interested in (contemporary and
historical) work with these communities. To do so, we seek to integrate a
multiplicity of voices and actors, necessary to re-think the different
memories of black people in Latin America.

Finally, we suggest some questions to encourage discussion:

1) Is it possible to speak of a “single slavery” in the Americas?

2) How concepts of diaspora and landscape can contribute towards the
exploration of questions related to the life of enslaved population,
maroons and/or free blacks in Latin America?


*Session organizers:*
Beatriz Marín Aguilera
Ghent University, Belgium
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Johana Caterina Mantilla Oliveros
University of Cologne, Germany
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Rui Gomes Coelho
Binghamton Univertsity, U.S.A.
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*Discussants:*
Luís Claudio Pereira Symanski
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Lúcio Menezes Ferreira
Federal University of Pelotas. Brazil


*Abstract: Title + 250 words + 4/5 key words. Deadline: 30th Nov. 2015
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-- 
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology
Binghamton University
P.O. Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
U.S.A.