Race and racism in South American archaeology

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of race and racism in the archaeology of South America taking into account contemporary contributions in order to analyse and discuss the subtle functioning of racist thinking and ideas. It also provides a theoretical framework of departure for deconstructing and interpreting race and racism as social and cultural phenomena trying to elucidate the powerful effects implied by racist feelings. In a more general sense, this paper attempts to show that race and racism are still vivid in many social and cultural fields – including scientific and academic ones, functioning sometimes as a powerfully rooted belief.