Music archaeology in Latin America: Bridging method and interpretation with performance

Abstract

To practice music archaeology is to enter into a dialogue between the humanities and the sciences, social and otherwise. Music archaeology is part of the humanistic study of past sounded behaviour, ritual practice, and soundscapes, as well as a global history of discursive representations about humans' capacity for music. It is also the scientific inquiry of sound technology through time, of materials and provenience, dateable stratified contexts anchoring developments in technique and skill to past places of manufacture and interpretation in time. The material cultures of ancient Latin America, in their breadth and depth of musical and sounding materials, present ideal conditions for the exploration of past sound practises at multiple scales. This article provides a brief orientation to the broad theoretical underpinnings and most widely utilised methods of music archaeological research as practised in Latin America. Through the lens of ancient Latin American societies, we argue that music archaeology provides a template for truly interdisciplinary research that operates at multiple scales, from the practises of individuals to larger societal interactions.