Public Archaeology Forum
The following two paragraphs constitute the ``Preface'' by Hester
A. Davis to "The Future of the Past in Latin America"
Destruction of archaeological sites and the information they contain is endemic in the world today, both in the name of progress and profit. In Third World countries both the economic need for improving the infrastructure and of the rural population for the money that the sale of antiquities brings makes pleas for preservation difficult. However, large corporations and financial institutions from developed nations are aiding these countries through loans for building roads, huge dams, and similar projects destructive of evidence of past human activity in the area. Those countries where national law makes archaeological sites and artifacts the property of the government are the very ones that are experiencing the most difficulty in public and governmental recognition of this destruction, particularly in light of other economic and civil problems.
The following article, "The Future of the Past in Latin America," by Erika Wagner, is reprinted in the Journal of Field Archaeology with the permission of the author from Interciencia 10:6 (1985) 275--276. Interciencia is a journal published by Interciencia Association, a "non-profit organization which aims to unite the scientific communities of the Americas and enable them to aid more effectively the development of the nations and the welfare of their people."
In lieu of an abstract for the web site, the first paragraph of the article by Erika Wagner follows.
Human activity and the accelerated technology of the last decades have transformed the Earth in such a way that one could easily speak of a "topographic revolution," unequaled before. This fact has deeply affected the conservation of renewable natural resources, and as a consequence movements for the defense of the environment have been created throughout the world. Simultaneously, the impact has affected even more alarmingly the planet's non-renewable resources, such as the all-important cultural archaeological, paleontological and historical resources, which are either removed from their original sites or covered by cement or large bodies of water. Latin America has not escaped this crisis. In addition, there are other negative factors that are also destroying the millenary past, such as: the so-called huaquerismo or international plundering of humanity's cultural heritage, the existence of obsolete laws which supposedly protect cultural patrimony, scarcity of economic and human resources destined to its rescue and, above all, a lack of consciousness, at all levels, regarding preservation of the past for future generations.