Oxford Handbook of Global Indigenous Archaeologies

Archaeological practice is undergoing a period of radical reassessment in response to calls by Indigenous peoples for control over their cultural and intellectual property. This is an exciting period when the shape of Indigenous archaeology is changing through the incorporation of Indigenous methodologies and theoretical positioning. Moreover, driven by Indigenous priorities, Indigenous archaeology is becoming increasingly inter-disciplinary and engaging beyond the usual boundaries of the discipline. For some archaeologists, this is a time of disquietude, as the tenets they have held true are questioned increasingly by the Indigenous peoples with whom their work intersects and those within the discipline who are decolonising its theories and methods. The issues are wider still and include the ethics of conducting social science research. For example, if excavation is destruction, should archaeologists dig? If social science research is meant to uncover the whole range of past and present human experience, is it correct that most social scientists are male? What happens when Indigenous and Western copyright come into conflict? To what degree are public-funded social scientists accountable to the public and what should their levels of public engagement be? These are not clever academic questions, but issues that reach to the root of the social sciences. They need constructive debate and practice to ensure a robust and honest social enquiry.

The editorial goals for this handbook are that it 1) is comprehensive, inclusive, and current, and that it 2) offers an interdisciplinary and even post-disciplinary view of developments, methodologies and theories in global Indigenous archaeologies. In order to accomplish these goals we have structured the volume around broad themes that cross disciplinary and theoretical boundaries. This handbook walks readers through contemporary issues, placing them within their historical, legislative and global contexts. It introduces both students and established researchers to the various viewpoints taken on major debates, providing them with the intellectual tools to develop their own positions on these important issues. Thus, this book examines not only aspects of the Indigenous past, but also how this knowledge is used in the present.