2022-2023 Faculty Research Grant

Stacie Hatfield (Behavioral Sciences).

Transitions in Hisban: Kinship, Care, and Community Archaeology.

Abstract: Archaeology and cultural preservation at the Tall Hisban site in Jordan involve multiple processes of identity and place-making mediated by foreign researchers and students, often from Andrews University, but also by local archaeologists, governing organizations, and family groups. This qualitative ethnographic project examines transitions of identity, kinship, and place-making in the village of Hisban and the Tall Hisban Archaeological Park. Hisban as a geospatial and socially constructed place can be conceptualized through a theoretical lens of care, by which I mean care for the archaeological sites and artifacts themselves, but also care for particular historical narratives, kin structures, and identities. Through this lens, Hisban can also be seen as an emerging place of belonging and equity for local research and cultural resource management personnel, solidarity groups, and communities. Research questions for this project may include “To what extent does solidarity with kin and tribe offer a sense of belonging and obligations for mutual caring including care of archaeological sites as places of identity, and possibility? To what extent are traditional social structures of kin-based solidarity and tribal identity threatened or changed by aspirations of modernization and globalization?” This project is significant in that it offers meaningful contributions to studies of community archaeology, of decolonizing efforts in Middle East archaeology, and to archaeological thought and practice at Andrews University. It also assesses the potential of the Jordan Field School as an on-going program of academic research and serves as an important continuation of my ethnographic research on kinship and care.