Why should we explore contemporary relationships to the archaeological record?

As archaeologists we use insights derived from the material culture record to tell stories about the lifeways of Indigenous peoples in the deep and recent pasts. Yet archaeological agendas oftentimes overlook the values of the contemporary significance and interpretations of the places and objects we seek to learn about. My aim is to challenge archaeologists to explore what frames peoples’ current encounters and interactions with the archaeological record to generate a deeper, more holistic understanding of its significance. While the objects, images and places we encounter may seem decipherable using descriptive and style-based explanations, the meanings are in fact complex, layered, nuanced and enveloped in a world of relationships involving Ancestral Beings (Dreamings), fauna, flora, human kin, social systems and every conceivable aspect of human life. To do this requires considering in greater depth concepts of agency, multivocality, affect, and the relational contexts that shape contemporary engagements to/with the archaeological record. To show how such an approach can work, I draw on work in Yanyuwa Country in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria that has shaped my understanding of how the archaeological record can be conceptualised in present-day settings.