Território, comunidade, memória e emoção: a contribuição da história da arqueologia (algumas primeiras e breves reflexões)

Abstract

Contributing to the composition of written and iconographic discourses of an identity nature, archaeology has sometimes played a determining role in the development of local communities. This capacity should be deepened by helping to deconstruct myths and recover memories, thus favouring the proximity and harmony between territory, citizen, community, production of scientific and heritage knowledge and sustainable development of different populations and geographies. However, it is an involvement that requires a growing and continuous effort of citizenship, especially by those who, in a university context and aware of the implications of the practice of a demanding ‘citizen science’, should encourage the development and implementation of innovative projects aimed at meeting some of the ‘Millennium Development Goals’ and the ‘Agenda 2030’ itself. We therefore propose to debate, based on a specific case of the Évora region, to what extent the history of archaeology itself, as a university discipline, can – and should, in our opinion – contribute to the intersection between archaeology, territory, community, memory and local development, going beyond the mere – but necessary – conceptual domain.