Mapping Local Perspectives in the Historical Archaeology of Vanuatu Mission Landscapes

The concept of place is a powerful theoretical tool in the social sciences and humanities, which can be especially useful in archaeological work that involves community–based collaboration. Using place as a starting point, archaeologists can beneficially use their skills to answer questions that are...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian perspectives (Honolulu) 2014-04, Vol.53 (1), p.2-28
Main Author: FLEXNER, JAMES L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeological evidence
Archaeological mapping
Archaeological paradigms
Archaeological surveys
Archaeology
Archaeology and history
Christianity
Collaboration
Colonialism
Conversion
Cultural anthropology
Fieldwork
Historical analysis
Historical archaeology
History
Landscapes
Mapping
Melanesians
Missions
Missions, Foreign
Oral tradition
Religious aspects
Religious buildings
Religious conversion
Research methods
Social aspects
Social science research
Social sciences
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Summary:The concept of place is a powerful theoretical tool in the social sciences and humanities, which can be especially useful in archaeological work that involves community–based collaboration. Using place as a starting point, archaeologists can beneficially use their skills to answer questions that are of relevance to the local communities with which we work while also advancing knowledge about the past. For historical archaeology, this often involves engaging in dialogue across multiple lines of evidence, including material remains from the past, written documents, and local oral traditions. Recent fieldwork on the islands of Erromango and Tanna, Vanuatu, exploring early landscapes relating to Christian conversion uses this kind of approach. A major part of preliminary survey work involves mapping features in the mission sites and surrounding areas. Archaeological cartographic techniques help build a sense of place that provides engaging research for a collaborative environment with local Melanesian communities, while also producing new perspectives on colonialism in the South Pacific. This approach is not limited to the recent past, being applicable to any collaborative, community–based archaeological research that incorporates the use of oral traditions.
ISSN:0066-8435
1535-8283
1535-8283
DOI:10.1353/asi.2014.0012