Preface; Archaeology, Dictatorship, and Repression in World Context; The Latin American Case (1960-1980)

PEDRO P. FUNARI; ANDRÉS ZARANKIN; MELISA A. SALERNO

Memories from Darkness. Archaeology of Repression and Resistance in Latin America (1960-1980)

Springer

Lugar: New York; Año: 2009; p. 11 - 23

Interest in the recent past and a new political commiment were necessary to study the historical consequences of political and ecomonic systems. Following this tendency, several researchers decided to discuss the particularities of 20th-century conflicts in the last decade. In our case, we are especially interested in dictatorships. From an analytical point of view, we think it is possible to divide archaeological works on dictatorship into two main groups. Some investigations focus their attention on the existent relationship between archaeology and dictatorial governmnets. Some other investigations intend to shed light on the darkest aspects of dictatorial regimes –mainly political violence. The first works might be included under the term “archaeology under dictatorship”; the second ones, under the term “archaeology of dictatorship” (which is, at the same time, what we call an “archaeology of repression”). Although this book especially deals with an archaeology of dictatorship, in this introduction we offer a critical overview of both perspectives. Furthermore, although the chapters in the contribution are particularly concerned with Latin America, here we will try to connect this scnerario with a more global context.