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L'archéologie dans les Amériques aujourd'hui

Introduction: Archaeology in the Americas today

Claire Alix, Nicolas Goepfert, Benoît Bérard et Nicolas Payraud
Cet article est une traduction de :
Introduction : L’archéologie dans les Amériques aujourd’hui [fr]
Autre(s) traduction(s) de cet article :
Introducción: La arqueología en las Américas hoy [es]
Introdução: A arqueologia nas Américas hoje [pt]

Texte intégral

1The South and North American continent is a huge area, unique in many ways, and characterized by a large diversity of environments and cultures (Silverman H. and W. H. Isbell, 2008; Krupnik I.; 2022; Faugère B. and N. Goepfert, 2022; Bertrand M. et al., 2016). The last continent colonized by Homo sapiens (Moreno-Mayar J. et al., 2018; Raff J., 2022) at a date that remains highly debated (e.g. Gómez Coutouly Y.-A., 2021; Lourdeau A., 2021; Gruhn R., 2023), the societies that developed there have been the focus of scientific research since the “rediscovery” of the Americas in the 16th century. Archaeology plays a key role here. This special issue of IdeAs stems from a scientific seminar organized in 2022 by the research team Archéologie des Amériques (UMR 8096), whose aim was to discuss the challenges facing archaeology in the Americas today. We wanted a panel of researchers to have the opportunity to present their thoughts and results based on fieldwork conducted from the Arctic to Amazonia, via Mesoamerica, the Caribbean and the Andes, and covering the long-time span from the earliest settlements to the colonial periods. Archaeology in the Americas, as elsewhere in the world, faces major challenges (Teyssandier N. et al., 2023), but because of the variability of environmental contexts, cases of cultural continuity over the long term and political and social trajectories independent of the old continent, they take on specific forms. The present issue is organized around three main themes: 1) Climate change and archaeology in the Americas, 2) Technical approach to material culture, and 3) Digital technologies in support of artifact analyses and archaeological issues.

2A major topic of conversation and concern, climate change is addressed here through the lens of ancient and recent societies. For its part, the archaeology of technology, an approach favored by a “French school”, is being gradually more commonly applied in the Americas to reconstitute the chaîne opératoire, knowledge and know-how, leading to the identification of social groups (Tixier J. et al., 1980; Balfet H., 1991; Roux V., 2010). Those, in turn, can refine or transform archaeological constructions. Last but not least, the democratization of “new” technologies is renewing our analytical methods, contributing to deciphering remains, sites and territories, and advancing yet further our reading of the past.

3While climate change has had direct or indirect effects on the societies we study, it is also having an impact on the surviving archaeological remains, and regularly threatens their preservation. The series of articles on this topic present research that examines the special relationship between societies and their territory, environment and climate. In this respect, the Amazon is probably one of the most closely observed areas in the world. In their article "Avis de tempête sur les Guyanes" (Storm warning in the Guianas), Stéphen Rostain, François Renoux and Benjamin Batista Iaparra show how interdisciplinary research, combined with listening to and taking into account oral tradition, provides food for thought in understanding past climatic events in the context of a more global change. The discourse of Palikur populations and their interpretation of ancient climatic phenomena reflect the need for a growing dialogue between primary scientific data and the Indigenous vision of these phenomena (see, among others, the viewpoints of Harris H., 2003; Nicholas G. P. and T. Andrews, 1997). In another vein, Charlotte Arnauld's contribution on "Le pourquoi et le comment. Les recherches en causalités dans l'archéologie maya du changement climatique (800-1100 CE)" (The Why and the How. Causal Research in the Maya Archaeology of Climate Change) deals with the much-discussed Maya "collapse". While still very much alive, the Maya have suffered several “collapses”, and the one at the end of the Classic period is probably the most spectacular considering the scale of its manifestations. Moving away from former deterministic theories and rejecting the trap of confusing correlation with causation, Arnauld offers a critical analysis of the relationship between climatic data (specifically episodes of drought, which are now well identified) and this major event in Maya history, within a refined and calibrated chronological framework thanks to recent advances in epigraphy. Putting this data into perspective at different temporal (8th-11th centuries) and socio-political scales (royal dynasties, urban elites and general populations), it becomes possible to revisit this major issue, in light of all the factors at play: climatic, but also political and demographic, and even the Maya's perception of themselves, as the author suggests, on the basis of glyphic texts.

4Like Amazonia, the Arctic is also at the heart of current climate concerns as the region is warming two to five times faster than the rest of the globe (Rantanen M. et al., 2022). The fragile balance of the northern environment means that, perhaps even more than in other geographical and cultural areas of the Americas, changes in past societies have been even more easily explained by climate variations. Today, the full complexity of these relationships is gradually being revealed. In her article "Architectural wood remains and climatic variations in early 2nd millennium CE, Northwest Alaska: Reflections on the Possibilities and Limits of Dendroarchaeology", Juliette Taïeb presents the potential of dendroarchaeological analyses of ancient wood from architectural features of the last millennium AD. She addresses the challenge of the great differences in scale between climatic reconstructions and their effects on societies, and the difficulty of correlating these climatic and cultural sequences. Using the dendrochronological and dendro-isotopic analyses of timbers dated to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (9th-13th centuries), she describes the methodology that involves detrending the tree-ring series to better identify the different climatic signals and the need to consider the growth origin of the timbers in the climatic interpretation. Applied to the architectural remains of the direct ancestors of the Iñupiat, this method makes it possible to start reconstructing at annual resolution past conditions of temperature and drought, with the objective to correlate them (or not) with regional human and environmental dynamics.

5As mentioned above, the archaeology of technology is one key research approach that is part of what might be described as a “French tradition”. In the Americas, the growing number of studies over the last two decades is ample proof of its potential (e.g. Andrieu C. and N. Cadalen, 2023; Darras V. and C. Hamon, 2020; Gómez Coutouly Y.-A. et al., 2020). In addition to reconstructing technical systems, it is an unparalleled tool to access past societies in general. The technological approach, which is largely based on the concept of chaîne opératoire, was initially developed as a means to study lithic tools but is now applied to various types of remains and materials. The two case studies in this issue focus on stone and wood artefacts. Angélique Neffe-Godyn's article "Producing in the Spirit of 'Zero Waste' Long Before Today: The Example of Thule Jade-Nephrite Tools from North-West Alaska" deals with a wide range of 900 jade-nephrite tools produced by Thule craftsmen from the 13th century AD onwards. Following a physico-chemical characterization of the artifacts, the author describes the shaping and finishing stages (sawing, abrasion, pecking, polishing, hafting) of a rare and hard to work material; two parameters that give the objects an intrinsic value that is potentially greater than their function. She also shows that many artefacts are “recycled” from worn and broken tools, or off-cut waste, the sign of a special connection to this raw material despite the substantial time spent processing it. Still in the Arctic, but at its eastern end, Élie Pinta and Pierre Mille's article "Diversity and Potential Uses of Stave-built Wooden Containers from Medieval Norse Greenland" examines more than 600 wooden artefacts (staves, bottoms and lids) from medieval settlements in Greenland. The authors explore the past use of these composite containers, which are potential indicators of the movement of goods and people. Morpho-functional analysis of these barrel parts and various containers allows reconstructing a range of vessels, most of which are cylindrical in shape. This study, together with a calculation of volumes, enables the authors to put forward some functional hypotheses: the Norse would have used these containers for both service and storage, in some cases in connection with their agro-pastoral activities (milk production and wool processing).

6The third part of this special issue is devoted to digital technologies and their contribution to archaeological practice and analysis. The “new” technologies (LiDAR, 3D modelling, etc.) are possibly transformative for studying and producing new data which could be seen as triggering a shift in our knowledge of past societies in the Americas (see, for example, Chase A. F. et al., 2012; Canuto M. A. et al., 2018; Rostain S. et al., 2024a). They are used equally on artefacts, monumental constructions and territories. The studies presented here address methodological aspects as well as the use of primary data generated using these technologies. By using 3D geometric morphometry as part of a techno-functional analysis of prehistoric tools in a tropical context, Marina González-Varas develops an analytical protocol capable of providing precise, quantifiable and reproducible data for analyzing and comparing these tools. Her article "3D techniques for the morphological, technological, structural and functional analysis of lithic artefacts in tropical South America: problems and potential" describes this automated statistical method and applies it to a well-known type of artefact from Brazilian sites, the limaces. It is clear that this type of study cannot be conducted without prior knowledge of the knapping processes at play, but the production of 3D recordings is of great interest for systematizing, reproducing and better quantifying the analyses of these ancient tools. Digital and 3D techniques are thus becoming complementary to traditional analyses of ancient and more recent contexts.

7For her part, thanks to the use of traditional techniques (excavation reports, aerial and satellite photos, pedestrian surveys) combined with digital technologies such as 3D digitization, modelling and LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), Aura Fossati is documenting and quantifying, as accurately as possible, the damage caused by looting and its evolution over time. Using examples from Guatemala and Mexico, her article "Archaeology and New Technologies Applied to the Study of Contemporary Dynamics of Cultural Heritage Destruction: The Case of Looting in Mesoamerica" describes the methodology and analyses developed to measure this societal and cultural phenomenon, which has had a considerable impact on American heritage for over five centuries. Providing on the ground solutions, this type of data modelling can be used as a preventive tool to anticipate risks to archaeological sites. In another context, the photogrammetric recording followed by 3D modelling and a series of surface treatments applied to monuments in the Maya area, particularly those whose smooth surface made them impossible to read, is transforming our knowledge of Maya stelae and our ability to decipher them. In their article "The contribution of 3D models to the study of stone monuments in the Maya area," Philippe Nondédéo, Julien Hiquet, Hemmauthé Goudiaby, Rémi Mereuze, and Nikolai Grube develop new digital treatments based on photogrammetry, which they apply to stelae discovered at the Naachtun site in Guatemala. Thanks to 3D modelling, partially eroded or completely illegible inscriptions are now readable, thus providing a new set of epigraphic and historical data on the history of this important regional center. Finally, modelling is also being used to analyze the iconography of a figure painted on the wall of a pre-Classic structure at the Maya site of Calakmul, now rendered invisible by later constructions from the Classic period. In "The Painted Cave of Calakmul: New Insights From Iconographic Analysis and Virtual Reconstruction", Daniel Salazar Lama, Benjamín Esqueda Lazo de la Vega and Ana García Barrios study Maya architectural iconography by combining classical iconographic analysis with 3D reconstructions. With their work, we gain a better understanding of the significance of the iconographic scenes depicted. It also puts into context the monumental structure that is no longer accessible to the public today, but which we can now see, through this process, as it undoubtedly appeared to the pre-Classic Maya inhabitants of Calakmul.

8One of the original themes of this special issue ended up not being covered for reasons of timing and editorial process. However, it is worth returning to it briefly before concluding this introduction. Archaeological research and fieldwork in the Americas are usually carried out in close proximity to local communities who are either direct descendants, genetically and/or culturally, of the populations whose remains are excavated, or who see themselves as directly affiliated to this past and integrate it into their identity. Americanist archaeologists must therefore take account of the historical, economic and political context in which they work. They have to consider the contemporary use of sites and territories and seek to establish genuine collaborative projects despite realities that, between the local and the academic, can be difficult to reconcile. Although none of the articles above deal directly with these issues, they are to some extent raised by Stéphen Rostain, François Renoux and Benjamin Batista Iaparra in their integration of the Palikur oral tradition into the narration of a history of French Guiana (see also Rostain S. et al., 2024b), and also in Charlotte Arnauld's article, which highlights the emic potential of Mayan glyphic texts. Finally, this question is present throughout the articles, and in particular in what we can perceive of the possibilities of these new technologies for developing collaborative projects which, in North America, are no longer an option (Mervis J., 2024).

9The articles in this issue cover a wide range of topics and regions, even if one will see that some chronocultural areas are absent. However, each article shows the extent to which the archaeology of the Americas is rooted in present-day issues, and how what we learn from ancient societies opens up avenues for reflection on contemporary challenges. Thanks to archaeological remains often exceptionally preserved, studies by archaeologists highlight ancient processes that provide a basis for dialogue with more recent periods. Far from covering all the current issues in archaeology, the contributions, through the study of long-term climate change, technical manufacturing processes, or the development and application of digital technologies, show how dynamic Americanist archaeology is and how it constantly adapts and embraces new approaches and theoretical renewals.

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Claire Alix, Nicolas Goepfert, Benoît Bérard et Nicolas Payraud, « Introduction: Archaeology in the Americas today »IdeAs [En ligne], 24 | 2024, mis en ligne le 01 octobre 2024, consulté le 16 février 2025. URL : http://0-journals-openedition-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/ideas/19170 ; DOI : https://0-doi-org.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/10.4000/12hs1

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Auteurs

Claire Alix

Associate Professor at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Deputy Director of the UMR 8096 Archéologie des Amériques. Claire Alix has been a specialist in the archaeology of the North American Arctic for 30 years; her research focuses on Inuit history and wood archaeology, particularly its methods of exploitation, production, and circulation, both past and present.
claire.alix[at]univ-paris1.fr

Nicolas Goepfert

Researcher at the CNRS and Director of the UMR 8096 Archéologie des Amériques (ArchAm). His research focuses on the relationship between human societies and the environment, the modes of anthropization of the Pacific desert coast, and the funerary and sacrificial practices of the cultures of the Central Andes.
nicolas.goepfert[at]cnrs.fr

Benoît Bérard

Professor of Pre-Columbian Archaeology at l’université des Antilles of the Antilles and Associate Member of the UMR 8096 Archéologie des Amériques. Benoît Bérard is a specialist in the study of Indigenous Caribbean societies, he has led numerous excavations and research projects for nearly 30 years. His work focuses more specifically on the early agro-ceramist groups and their relationship to this unique archipelagic environment.
benoit.berardmart[at]gmail.com

Nicolas Payraud

Regional Curator of Archaeology at the DRAC Grand Est (Ministry of Culture), and member of the UMR 8096 ArchAm. His research focuses particularly on the role and impact of privileged dwellings (castles, fortified houses, colonial estates) in the organization of space, especially in French Guiana and the western principalities of the Holy Roman Empire.
nicolas.payraud[at]culture.gouv.fr

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