Site Custody Activism: Sine qua non of Community Archaeology
Narrating Archaeological Sites and Places - Fifty Years of the Madaba Plains Project at Tall Hisban, Tall al-`Umayri, and Tall Jalul - Douglas R. Clark
Øystein S. LaBianca [+]
Andrews University
Øystein S. LaBianca (PhD Brandeis 1987) is a senior research professor of anthropology at Andrews University and associate director of its Institute of Archaeology. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of over 20 books on Jordanian archaeology, including the 14-volume Hesban Final Publication Series. LaBianca is a founding co-director of the Madaba Plains Project, excavating at Tall Ḥisbān, Tall al-ʿUmayri, and Tall Jalūl, and senior director of the Hesban Cultural Heritage Project, a community archaeology initiative focused on engaging the local community in the care, protection, and presentation of this important site. He has served on the boards of the American Society of Overseas Research and the American Center of Research. LaBianca has been a visiting scholar at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and Bergen universities and has received grants from National Geographic, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of State, and the Research Council of Norway.
Description
My goal with this chapter is to share our experience at Tall Ḥisbān in Jordan with what I have chosen to call “site custody activism” or simply SCA. After introducing the notion of SCA, I briefly examine the historical role of overseas institutions with regard to the custody and care of archaeological sites. Next, I describe SCA activities initiated by Andrews University at Ḥisbān in Jordan and offer some observations on the connection between SCA and the broader field of international community development. I also critically examine the role of narrative in SCA and conclude by offering a brief coda on what is ahead for community archaeology and SCA in Jordan and beyond.