Reflections on a pandemic archaeology

the role of affections and relationships in archaeological practice

Abstract

This text is the materialization of anxieties, affections and reflections caused by the long days of lockdown generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Thoughts produced during my pandemic archaeological studies, with the development of my doctoral research in quarantine. The social isolation contributed to a reflection on the role and importance of relationships in our daily lives, and in the very constitution of ourselves, and of the different beings and the world. Something that can also be thought for archeology. An archaeological practice in quarantine, in complete isolation, loses its basic meaning and goes against the main idea of what archeology is. Something constituted by the constant intra-actions of beings, objects, people, landscapes, constructions, driven by affections and sensations in the establishment of complex assemblages. My brief reflection proposes to discuss the bases of archeology as something relational and affective, composed by the presence of forces and flows in a constant becoming. A collective and plural work resulting from the performance of different entities, beings and people.