11/08/19 Mining the Past to Build Social Memory

Topic:  Archaeology, Anthropology, Maya, Social Memory
Participants:  Ryan Mongelluzo PhD, Associate Professor  San Diego Mesa College
Broadcast Air Date: 11/08/19
Time: 5:15 PM (PST)
Station: KUCR 88.3 FM Riverside, CA
KUCR station page: http://www.kucr.org
Archive pages: https://soundcloud.com/stoppretending, http://www.dreport.org

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Segment produced in KUCR, the radio station of the University California in Riverside.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are the sole responsibility of the respective speakers and do not represent the endorsed position of the UC Regents, UC Riverside or KUCR.

Discussion Topics:
– Is our understanding of the past  based movies?
– Where in Guatemala do we find Ucanal?
-How do you conduct photogrammetry with drones?
-How long does it take archaeologists to map a site?
-What new maps of Maya sites are generated via Lidar archaeometry?
-When were 30 or 40,000 people living in site of Ucanal? 
-How do physical features of sites demonstrate significance of power arrangements?
-How does the past inform the present?
-Is social memory a practice of purposefully forgetting and purposefully remembering?
-How does the work of archaeology become appropriated by countries for the purpose of nationalism?
-Is it accurate to frame the Maya of 800 years ago as Mexican or Guatemalan nationals?
– How are our collective fictional narratives based on someone  else’s perception of reality?
-What evidence can we use to reconstruct yesterday?
-Why do we speak so concretely about the past, if accuracy of context gets weaker the further we go into the past?
-How do we challenge the present by looking at the past?
-Can we see social inequality in the archaeological  record?
– Why is it a problem for archaeologists to see themselves reflected  what is being excavated?
-Does the concept of citizenship apply to membership formats of the past Maya classic city-states?
– Why don’t we see native American iconography in the United States of America flag?
-How does the nation-state of Mexico mirror the nation-state of USA, as both products of the colonial encounter?
-Is the modern nation-state trying to forget the indigenous Maya?