2Reflecting on Positionality: Archaeological Heritage Praxis in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract

In this article I argue for a renewed engagement with the concept of positionality in archaeology. I provide a brief history of thinking about the idea of subject position in archaeology, focusing specifically on researcher subjectivity rather than that of past persons. The discussion highlights some of the strands of archaeological thinking where positionality has figured prominently in investigative and interpretative strategies: namely, intersectional, relational, and community‐based archaeologies. I then offer three examples from research in Quintana Roo, Mexico that speak to the ways that grappling with positionality has influenced my and my collaborators’ agendas and goals related to the commemoration of the heritage of the Maya Social War (Caste War of Yucatan).