Where are the Maya in Ancient Maya Archaeological Tourism? Advertising and the Appropriation of Culture
Author(s)
Arden, Traci
Abstract
The use of archaeological knowledge in the promotion of state-run tourism in Mexico is particularly distinctive because indigenous Maya, who have the closet cultural ties to many archaeological sites, are largely excluded from the interpretation, management, and economic benefits of tourism. Though Maya service industry workers are not satisfied with the wages and conditions of work that have resulted from the tourism boom, they are reluctant to dismantle the system that provides one of the very few options for earning cash in the present economy. Ultimately academic archaeologists must acknowledge their own role in the production of archaeological knowledge that often excludes indigenous people and benefits the state. By acknowledging the power of commercial images to create a visual ideal, archaeologists can decide to engage in the creation of more accurate and hopefully less deliberately exploitative images of the ancient cultures investigated. By working in partnership wish local indigenous peoples whenever possible, archaeologists circumvent the multinational forces which threaten to control archaeological knowledge and return to the anthropological mandate to dignify the human experience.
