Archaeological ethics and violence in post-genocide Rwanda

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the ethics of archaeological interpretation regarding the post-genocide identification of violence associated with the precolonial past, specifically a c. 400 AD potentially violent burial, which could, it is speculated, contribute toward the persistence of structural violence in the present and the return to extensive physical violence in the future. In so doing, it questions a forgotten aspect of archaeological ethics, that is, the political nature of "scientific"interpretation and whether supposedly objective, non-political, interpretation is always ethical. In conclusion, this chapter argues that archaeological interpretation should not be removed from political context but must be explicitly embedded within it wherever and whenever it is discussed and published.