ABSTRACT
Archaeology in Latin America is the result of national and regional developments, and in no way can it be considered an homogeneous process or a compact set of related concepts and theories. When I refer to Latin American archaeology in this chapter I am including only the archaeology carried out in Latin America by Latin American scholars or by foreigners who have lived in the region over a long period of time (some of whom obtained their degrees in Latin America) and have been incorporated into the local scientific communities. I distinguish this type of archaeology from that practised in Latin America by foreign scholars who neither live in the region nor share the cultural idiosyncrasies of the country in which they are researching. The most striking example of the second case are the hundreds of North American archaeologists who are working in Mesoamerica or the Central Andes. While they undoubtedly help significantly towards the increase in knowledge of the indigenous past of the countries where they work, and have made relevant theoretical and methodological contributions, they cannot be considered Latin American archaeologists. Their tradition of research is another, their perception of reality is different, and their focus, therefore, necessarily differs greatly from that of archaeologists who are researching the places where they were born and grew up, and where they have subsequently held professional positions.
