Abstract :
Archaeological spaces can be viewed as material manifestations of human drama—sites for the production, expression, and manipulation
of social life, power, and history. By viewing such spaces as stages for the enactment of processes of social memory, we may further enrich
considerations of the interplay of materiality and history. Here I address the insights archaeologists may gain from engaging with theories
of social memory by exploring their application to the analysis of settlements occupied during the Late to Terminal Classic period
transition (a.d. 650–900) in pre-Columbian southeastern Mesoamerica. I also consider their relevance to community initiatives engaged
by archaeologists today. Ultimately, I argue that processes of making, altering, and remaking place are one among many ways that memory
may have served as a tool for political strategies and discourses about power.
