ABSTRACT
The concept of community archaeology have developed over the last two decades, generally in the English-speaking world, focusing on regions with a colonial history and the presence of indigenous or marginalized communities, as is typical in North America and Australia. In Africa, the Malian historian Alpha Oumar Konare initiated early the idea of better integration of communities in heritage studies. Under President Konare, the new democratic regime of Mali decided to restructure administration through a policy of decentralization. A precursor, Konare asserted: People cannot provide an ideal model, each people, each ethnic group, each cultural community defines, on the basis of their own traditions, the specific types and structures for conservation. After a brief contextual presentation of the threats to the heritage of the Dogon Country by looting and the illicit trade of cultural goods, people presents the implementation of a relationship of reciprocity between the researchers and the residents of Dimbal, at the interface between archaeology and development.
