Mining the Past to Build Social Memory

Topic: Archaeology, Anthropology, Maya, Social Memory Participants: Ryan Mongelluzo PhD, Associate Professor San Diego Mesa College Broadcast Air Date: 11/08/19 Time: 5:15 PM (PST) Station: KUCR 88.3 FM Riverside, CA KUCR station page: http://www.kucr.org Archive pages: https://soundcloud.com/stoppretending, http://www.dreport.org Send comments about this segment to: [email protected] Segment produced in KUCR, the radio station of the University California in Riverside. Disclaimer: The views expressed are the sole responsibility of the respective speakers and do not represent the endorsed position of the UC Regents, UC Riverside or KUCR. Discussion Topics: – Is our understanding of the past based movies? – Where in Guatemala do we find Ucanal? -How do you conduct photogrammetry with drones? -How long does it take archaeologists to map a site? -What new maps of Maya sites are generated via Lidar archaeometry? -When were 30 or 40,000 people living in site of Ucanal? -How do physical features of sites demonstrate significance of power arrangements? -How does the past inform the present? -Is social memory a practice of purposefully forgetting and purposefully remembering? -How does the work of archaeology become appropriated by countries for the purpose of nationalism? -Is it accurate to frame the Maya of 800 years ago as Mexican or Guatemalan nationals? – How are our collective fictional narratives based on someone else’s perception of reality? -What evidence can we use to reconstruct yesterday? -Why do we speak so concretely about the past, if accuracy of context gets weaker the further we go into the past? -How do we challenge the present by looking at the past? -Can we see social inequality in the archaeological record? – Why is it a problem for archaeologists to see themselves reflected what is being excavated? -Does the concept of citizenship apply to membership formats of the past Maya classic city-states? – Why don’t we see native American iconography in the United States of America flag? -How does the nation-state of Mexico mirror the nation-state of USA, as both products of the colonial encounter? -Is the modern nation-state trying to forget the indigenous Maya?