The archaeology of intimacy in El Arenal

In established practice, archaeology is used as a method to relate to former cultures of humanity by the excavation of their artifacts or dwelling structures. But the discipline itself has evolved to have an enormous effect on the history making of societies. It is usually con- ducted by an elite that would decide which cultures are relevant enough to be studied, whose graves shall be exhumed and how they would be presented to the public afterwards. Especially in postcolonial contexts, this is regarded as highly problematic and has led to public political discussions. The criticism against the discipline to school a selection of academics that is enabled to write down the former past of other social and ethnic groups led some researchers to a shifting approach towards time and place. Studies emerged on ethnological archaeology of the contemporary world. Not ‘there‘, but ‘here’ was studied and archaeological methods were probed on their efficiency to help understand societies as they exist right now. Following these ideas, in this paper, I will use archaeology as a term to name the (re)construction of a society with its cultural processes by its material remains, finds and features (including architecture) in order to understand its dynamics and developments. This will happen within a particular case, as I will focus on material connected to intimacy and sexuality in the mass tourism site of El Arenal. Further, I will present a study on the effects of a discipline out of context, or rather a new context: the report of a small-scale excavation on the beach in front of a drinking arena during the high touristic season by night.