Conflict Archaeology: an audiovisual project on the invisibility of women in certain archaeologies
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 18/02/2021

Our proposal presents the documentary “(Conflict) Archaeology”, made by Sara Traba, film director, and Rebeca Blanco-Rotea, archaeologist, from a somewhat "intimate" perspective that connects with the approach we take in the research collective, RomanArmy.eu, but also from the postdoctoral project "Frontier landscapes in Early Modern Age: from Archaeology to Society (FLandS)". In them we attach great importance to the relationship of archaeology with communities in the processes of knowledge production, especially female collectives, and to the search for formulas for the use of fortified landscapes as a sustainable cultural and socioeconomic resource. The work is based on the idea that there is a significant absence of women in the processes of knowledge production, in the construction of stories, and in the conversion of this type of heritage into a cultural and socio-economic resource. This is an issue that concerns us and something we are interested in rethinking from a multiple perspective. Based on this idea, within the framework of preparing a project in two sites located on the northern border between Spain and Portugal, one of which is possibly a Roman castellum (Outeiro de Arnás) and the other an early medieval enclosure (Alto do Circo), we decided to develop an audiovisual project that would influence this debate. The documentary is not intended to be a product that seeks to answer the questions we ask ourselves, but rather to dialogue, precisely, with these collectives, with local communities, with women and with other professional colleagues. Like many of the activities that we propose from RomanArmy.eu, we are interested in investigating how to investigate, face up to new challenges, question our own profession, and attempt to resolve other conflicts, from the scientific perspective shared by the collective: one that is democratic, dynamic, open, feminist and social.

REBECA BLANCO-ROTEA, G.I. SÍNCRISIS, UNIVERSITY OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA; SARA TRABA, INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER