Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions African Americans have made to the United States and the world at large, both in the past and present. This February at the Joukowsky Institute, we are highlighting resources created by and for African American scholars of archaeology and anthropology. This will be a three part series with each blog post focusing on different aspects of contemporary African American archaeology: Associations and Archives, Resources and Funding for Black Students, and Field School Opportunities. This week’s post will focus on the intellectual spaces Black and African American scholars have made for themselves within the field, as well as the archives of invaluable knowledge they have maintained and preserved.

Associations and Archives

African Diaspora Archaeology Network (ADAN) | ADAN is an online platform that hosts current news on archaeological studies of the African diaspora. They have archived hundreds of texts relating to the material culture and heritage of the African Diaspora, as well as publish a quarterly online Newsletter. ADAN’s goal is to build an intellectual community for researchers of the African Diaspora, including interdisciplinary studies of African-diasporic material culture.

Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage | This journal publishes peer-reviewed articles on the archaeology, history, material culture, and heritage of African descendant populations. Work published in this article spans across the globe, and features topics ranging from the foodways of the African Diaspora to urban archaeology, and more. They publish a compiled volume of work three times a year, including special issues. Their archive of all past issues may be found here.

The World Wide Web of African Archaeology | This site is an archive of archaeological studies and projects pertaining to the heritage of Africans. The website includes a bibliography of work done in Central Africa, a list of institutions and universities pioneering studies of African archaeology, and a list of ancient maps/documents important to studying African archaeology.

Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) | The SBA was founded in 2011 with the goal to uplift Black and African communities related to the field of archaeology, as well as build a network for Black and African scholars. They host webinar series related to racial equity, community archaeology, and socially-responsible archaeology, and send out a monthly newsletter highlighting opportunities for Black and African archaeologists.

The Association for Black Anthropologists (ABA) | The ABA is a flagship society founded in the 1970s with the intention of making space for Black/African American scholars to enter the field of anthropology. Their members include sociocultural anthropologists, medical anthropologists, biological/physical anthropologists, and archaeologists of various disciplines. They publish work that critically engages with how the discipline of anthropology can better serve Black communities around the world. This year, they are hosting a conference in Senegal entitled “Anthropology and the Black Experience.”

We encourage you to explore more of the amazing work Black and African American archaeologists pioneering today. Please stay tuned for next week’s post: Resources and Funding for Black Students.

*Compiled and written by Christina Miles (`25)