Do Communities Have a Role in Community Archaeology in Jordan?

Abstract

Within the past 30 years, community archaeology worldwide has worked to address ethical concerns raised by the colonial nature of traditional archaeological missions, and over the past 20 years, Jordan has witnessed a transformation of this colonial enterprise in the rise of community archaeology as a discipline. Unfortunately, this transformation has occurred in the appearance but very often not in the substance. This chapter discusses how archaeology and colonialism are closely intertwined in Jordan, and how such a relationship is fuelled by a culture of welfarism that traps host communities in a vicious cycle brokered by non-governmental organisations that alienates them from their own heritage. The chapter aims to initiate a discussion around the role and voice of host community in archaeology and how community archaeology could contribute to transforming the status quo.