Thinking through the Practical Implications of the Ontological Turn in Archaeology

While any particular school of thought’s impact on the field of anthropology tends to be limited to scholarly interpretation, this paper argues that it can also reveal complex ethical entanglements with places and people affected by our research. Taking as a starting point the impact of the ontological turn on archaeological fieldwork in rural Guatemala, I interrogate my earlier assumptions about the ubiquity and importance of positivism in the social sciences. Using Proyecto Salinas de los Nueve Cerros as a case study, I argue that a reliance on Western ethical considerations is fundamentally inadequate for conducting ethical research since they are inexorably linked to other hegemonic practices that lionize Western ethics over Indigenous counterparts. Finally, I suggest several starting points for creating a more relevant and collaborative ethical framework for conducting cross-cultural research.