Digging Their Past: Archaeological Labor in Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, México

Abstract

This paper focuses on the intersection between archaeological labor and local communities’ cultural heritage and social memory. More specifically, it examines how archaeological projects in Tres Zapotes and local people participation as workforce have shaped the perception of archaeological remains as well as the multiple narratives originated about them. The village of Tres Zapotes, located in the Gulf lowlands of southern Veracruz, constitutes the humble beginnings of the history of Olmec archaeology, as it was there where the very first Olmec monument was reported in 1869. This unprecedented monolith put Tres Zapotes on the map and changed the course of its sociocultural development. During the twentieth century, the village has experienced at least three major events in terms of archaeological labor: 1) in 1938 Matthew Stirling began the first systematic archaeological project at Tres Zapotes; 2) in 1975 an archaeological museum was founded in the village; and 3) in the 1990s Christopher Pool conducted a second major archaeological project at the site. These events have led to the emergence of at least four types of economy activities related to archaeology in Tres Zapotes: archaeological project workers, museum staff, tour guides, and craftspeople. Based on ethnographic research conducted in Tres Zapotes in 2022, I present life stories of individuals from each category to explore how engaging in archaeological labor contributes to the creation of local narratives about the ancient past, and to the reformulation of cultural identity.

Keywords

• labor archaeology
• cultural heritage
• social memory
• olmec archaeology