Ethics in Caribbean Archaeology: Past, Present, and Future

Throughout archaeology, heritage, and museum studies, organisations and institutions have been re-evaluating their roles and responsibilities and have produced or updated codes of ethics and best practices in recent years. The Caribbean region has also been experiencing this movement, albeit at a lesser intensity compared to other regions. However, social, political, economic, and environmental pressures at work in this region make an ethical re-evaluation of archaeology extremely urgent. Fortunately, consideration of ethical approaches has increasing support within the discipline. This workshop will build on this momentum to address the following key questions:

1. What have been (and remain) the key ethical issues in Caribbean archaeology, heritage, and museum studies?

2. What attempts have been made to solve these in the past? How successful were they?

3. How can archaeologists collaborate with local communities and other stakeholders to create ethical practices?

4. What ethical problems are faced when dealing with different types of archaeological data and collections?

5. How can archaeologists encourage colleagues, institutions, and governments to support ethical archaeological practice?

6. What kinds of ethical issues will the future bring to our discipline? How can we pre-empt these?

At this Lorentz Center workshop, we will bring together a group of 25 participants, primarily young (local) Caribbean researchers, as well as established scholars, to discuss ethical challenges and plan towards their solutions in different areas of archaeology, heritage, and museum studies. Through networking activities, presentations, and group work, we will achieve two main goals: first, to plant the seeds for a community of researchers who explicitly consider and implement ethical approaches in their research and work practice in the Caribbean; and second, to develop a research agenda for the future of ethics in Caribbean archaeology, heritage, and museum studies.