Abstract
AbstractThis article introduces the first of what will ultimately be two collections of case studies in archaeologist–responsible/responsive artifact collector collaboration. Focused on the United States, the articles in this issue of Advances in Archaeological Practice share the thoughts and experiences of archaeologists representing diverse employment sectors (compliance, agency, museum, and university), artifact collectors, and members of descendant communities. Research areas extend from California to Virginia and from Ohio to the Texas/Mexico border. The breadth of the writers' backgrounds and their focal regions reinforce the wide applicability of collaborative best practices. Every author explicitly treats two subjects: (1) the intersection of their work with the Society for American Archaeology's (SAA) recently published guidelines for ethical professional–collector collaboration, and (2) their own practical suggestions for establishing and nurturing those relationships. This introductory article provides an overview of each of the other contributions, notes how the contributions articulate with the SAA guidelines, and offers its own, mostly philosophical suggestions for prospective members of professional–collector collaborations.
Highlights
This article introduces the first of what will be two collections of case studies in archaeologist–responsible/responsive artifact collector collaboration
American archaeology is actively wrestling with a colonial legacy of studying the material record left behind by people whose descendants are alive but who are usually not themselves archaeologists. This has created a tension between the two populations that we believe can only ever be resolved through collaboration between archaeologists and Indigenous people. This means that best collaborative practices between archaeologists and artifact collectors must, by definition and like every other archaeological practice, include collaboration with the descendants of those who produced the record in the first place
The thoughts that Kelley, Gover, and Neller share speak most directly to Society for American Archaeology (SAA) recommendations 1, 3, and 4. They emphasize the desire of some tribes and their members to actively seek out data that can be gleaned from private collections, the importance of respecting collector knowledge, and the need to facilitate appropriate curation of privately held material. Kelley and his colleagues (2021) argue, as we do in this introductory article, that collaboration should unify the perspectives and knowledge of archaeologists, responsible and responsive collectors, and members of descendant communities
Summary
This article introduces the first of what will be two collections of case studies in archaeologist–responsible/responsive artifact collector collaboration. The SAA statement concludes with the following five concrete recommendations for archaeologists wishing to foster such collaborations within the discipline: (1) Educate professionals about the importance of privately held collections as data sources and of treating collectorcollaborators with respect. This means that best collaborative practices between archaeologists and artifact collectors must, by definition and like every other archaeological practice, include collaboration with the descendants of those who produced the record in the first place.
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