Artifacts, Contested Histories, and Other Archaeological Hotspots

Abstract

As a contemporary act, historical archaeology must interweave past and present. This happens in a wide variety of locales, including field sites, classrooms, laboratories, and public venues. At every node of practice the charged fields of prior knowledge and archaeological expertise intersect and sometimes clash. This article explores such hotspots as they relate to the archaeology of World War II, drawing on the author’s experience leading a community-engaged research project at Amache, the site of a Japanese American internment camp during the war. Such research provides the opportunity to collaborate, not just with descendants, but also with survivors, people who once lived at the site under study. Such situations energize historical archaeology, but also destabilize the discipline, calling into question some of the archaeologist’s most basic tools, including terminology. Thoughtful contemporary engagements, however, can create new opportunities to expand conceptual frameworks.