Archaeologies that hurt; descendants that matter: A pragmatic approach to collaboration in the public interpretation of African-American archaeology

Abstract

Pragmatism's anti-essentialist emphasis on contingency and plurality and its notion of truth-as-created (not discovered) have important implications for the interpretation of archaeological data, and for the 'public presentation' of archaeological research. This paper will examine a pragmatically oriented project in Brazoria, Texas, USA, in which archaeologists and local citizens (including site descendants) have collaborated to create an Internet website to discuss the politically and emotionally charged archaeologies and histories of an eighteenth-century sugar plantation. It will discuss ways in which a pragmatic philosophical framework has given archaeologists new ways of approaching and 'conversing' about their data, and new ways of dealing, openly and non-hierarchically, with the communities most affected by their research. It will also discuss ways in which elements of post-processual archaeological theory - multivocality, interactivity, reflexivity and contextuality - were incorporated within both the content and delivery of the website, and will close with a short discussion about whether these strategies were effective in creating an open, relevant, democratic and multivocal discourse about archaeology.