Consuming Texts and Traditions in the Archaeology of Madagascar<\/p>\n
s094<\/a><\/p>\n Zoe Crossland (USA), Chantal Radimilahy (MADAGASCAR) & William Griffin (USA)<\/p>\n How do we know the past? In Madagascar, the past is a vibrant and continuing part of the present, drawn from the rich written histories and enduring oral traditions. Archaeology, as a relative newcomer to Madagascar, is creating alternate ways of knowing the past, in an environment where the past is already created and understood from other sources. This has made it hard if not impossible for archaeology to break free of these all-consuming texts and traditions. By looking critically at the neglected relationship between archaeology and the texts and traditions we ask whether archaeology can exist independently of these sources and indeed whether and why it needs to.<\/p>\n Madagascar, familiar to many as ‘The Island of the Ancestors’ is known for the connectedness of the past to the present. In this context we hope to explore the tension that exists between a sociopolitically informed archaeology that takes account of its positioning within present day understandings of the past, and yet the simultaneous need for archaeology to be able to stand alone, able to know the past without the crutch of history. We hope that in reassessing the relationship between archaeology and the texts and oral traditions we can critically explore the choices we make when creating the past through archaeology. A more nuanced understanding of the relationship of archaeology to these other ways of knowing the past can only benefit archaeology and open fruitful new avenues for research in Madagascar.<\/p>\n We also hope that holding a symposium on Madagscar at WAC 4 in South Africa will encourage people to place Madagascar within a wider African context: too often its archaeology and history are written as somehow outside the currents of world history. Yet the presence of the Sorabe, a Malagasy writing system based on Arabic, and the influence of British missions and later French colonialism testify to Madagascar’s involvement in the world system, and our archaeology should engage with this. This session will bring together archaeologists from Madagascar, France the US and Britain, and will provide a opportunity for many of the archaeologists currently working in Madagascar to discuss these issues together.<\/p>\n papers: Consuming Texts and Traditions in the Archaeology of Madagascar s094 Zoe Crossland (USA), Chantal Radimilahy (MADAGASCAR) & William Griffin (USA) How do we know the past? In Madagascar, the past is a vibrant and continuing part of the present, drawn from the rich written histories and enduring oral traditions. Archaeology, as a relative newcomer to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldarchaeologicalcongress.com\/wac4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAuthor 1 Author 2 Title
\nCrossland statements in stone: marking Merina state presence on the frontier
\nDewar How to understand the past to save modern forests in Madagascar
\nGriffin Texts and surveys on the Matitanana River
\nPearson Indigenous development and Europen contact in Southern Madagascar
\nRadimilahy Toponymie et archeologie
\nRamilisonia L’archeologie et foret sacree “Ala Falya” en Pays Tandroy Sud Malgache<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"