Avaliação: Antropología de la técnica: Materiales, máquinas y organismos – ‘The voices we give them’: Inscribed meaning in the stone sculptures and transformation at the National Archaeological Park San Agustín in Colombia

Archaeological parks and their objects are often considered static entities whose influence is limited to the walls of the park ground. Often overlooked is that objects are active agents in forming social and material relations within a complex assemblage of networks which reach far beyond the archaeological site. The famous stone sculptures of the UNESCO National Archaeological Park San Agustin in Southern Colombia still puzzle scientists, locals, and visitors. Even after 100 years of archaeological research, it is debated who made these monolithic objects and what they can tell us about a time long gone. The silence of the stone sculptures themselves – no traditions exist, as the “culture of San Agustín” disappeared before the Spaniards arrived – results in various inscriptions of meanings made by multiple people and institutions over time. Based on data from six-month fieldwork and using the art and agency approach of Alfred Gell, my work analyses the effect of the stone objects on social processes and political decision-making on different levels. Taking Gells' analytical framework, the stone sculptures as ‘indexes’ materialise social relationships and reveal other accounts of realities.

• Agency
• Stone sculptures
• San Agustín
• Colombia