Transformative Practices in Archaeology: Empowering Communities and Shaping Sustainable Futures

The volume introduces a diverse range of themes and practices relating to sustainable heritage management. Each paper delves into the challenges, successes, and failures of preserving precious cultural heritage. It discusses various strategies, such as the early inclusion of archaeology in UNESCO frameworks to leveraging archaeological findings and indigenous knowledge for sustainable development goals. The chapters explore the evolution of autoarchaeology as a tool for empowering Indigenous communities to assert their human rights and integrating oral histories and local ecological knowledge to interpret ancient remains. Additionally, it highlights the value of archaeologists working more closely with Indigenous peoples, local communities, and other disciplines in identifying, preserving, conserving and managing heritage sites. It appeals to archaeologists, anthropologists, cultural geographers, cultural heritage professionals and others seeking new ways to protect cultural heritage.

Alok Kumar Kanungo, associate research professor at IIT Gandhinagar and adjunct associate professor at Flinders University, was born in Odisha and grew up in close contact with many indigenous communities of eastern and northeastern India. For the past two and half decades, Kanungo has researched field archaeology, ancient technologies, archaeometry, ethnoarchaeology, and indigenous archaeology, resulting in 16 books and more than 80 research articles and book chapters. He has been a Fulbright, Humboldt, British Academy, Rakow, ICG, Homi Bhabha, SPARC, ICHR, and Bead Society fellow and collaborated on an NSF-funded project. Kanungo has travelled and documented the rich heritage of the Nagas of Northeast India, and the Bondos and Juangs of Odisha, both in the field and in museums across Europe and the United Kingdom. Placing the Intellectual rights of indigenous people and/or crafts persons at the forefront of his research, he has worked in many domains of repatriation, and the overlapping spheres of anthropology, history, and archaeology. He has lectured in many universities and research institutes in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the USA.

Claire Smith has a robust record of leadership in research, teaching and administration. Her academic life is driven by three passions: The first is to convey the sophistication of Indigenous cultures and the unique accomplishments of Indigenous Australians. The second is to contribute to global equity and to intellectually enrich archaeology by eroding the many barriers faced by scholars in low-income countries, especially those who do not normally publish in English. The third is to nurture the next generation of scholars who make a difference. Since 1990, she has conducted successful long-term research with Aboriginal communities in remote areas of Australia. Her leadership within a global context has been enacted as the twice (for 10 years)-elected President of the World Archaeological Congress and as Editor of the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (2nd most highly cited and 3rd most downloaded work in Springer’s Humanities, Social Sciences and Law Collections for 2014). She is the author/editor of 16 books and more than 220 publications in English, Spanish, Catalan, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese and Japanese. In 2018, the Royal Anthropological Institute awarded Claire Smith the Lucy Mair Medal and Marsh Award for sustained research with Australian Aboriginal communities that has contributed to human dignity.

Nishaant Choksi received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Michigan, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Kyoto University in Japan. Currently, he is an assistant professor of social sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, in Gujarat, India. His research areas include the study of script and writing systems, language and performance, the aesthetic component of language, cultural politics of heritage, and issues of self-governance and livelihood. Choksi examines these themes mainly in the Adivasi communities of India, with whom he has been conducting ethnographic research for almost two decades. His ongoing field projects include work with Bhili speakers in eastern Gujarat, Mundari speakers in Jharkhand, Santali speakers in West Bengal, and collaborative projects with communities in Northeastern India.