Recent Research
My academic interests concern the production and circulation of expert knowledge. My thesis research explores the nature of international collaborations between North and South American archaeologists; and how both the practices and the products of their collaborations are contested or appropriated by either the state as part of a project of nation building, or by local communities reclaiming rights to indigeneity. My approach is intra- and inter-disciplinary, bringing into dialogue such diverse fields as science studies, anthropology of professionalism/expertise, politics of memory, archaeological theory/material culture studies, theories of labour, and more traditional anthropological concerns with indigenous knowledge systems.
My fieldwork in Bolivia and in Chile involves exploring a network of archaeologists as an expert knowledge community though their collaborations and conflicts with local Aymara, and the structure of the international collaborations between academics from North American and Bolivia or Chile.
From summer 2009 I will be in Chile conducting 10 months of fieldwork, funded by a Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.
Papers and Presentations
- "Personifying Objects/Objectifying People: Handling Questions of Mortality and Materiality through the Archaeological Body" Ethnos (forthcoming 2010). Abstract: Death and the bodies of the dead are managed and handled in contemporary Western society by various professions that include archaeology. The bodies of the dead exist in a variety of material forms, and generate conflicting responses from the archaeologists who work with them. Positioning archaeologists as professionals within wider society, this paper explores the relationship between the physicality of the body, the (de)construction of personhood, and the problem of mortality in contemporary Western (British) society.
- "Engaging the Present, Presenting 'Engagements': Legitimising the Just War at the Museum of Science and Industry's U-505 exhibit" Critical Sense 9:1 (forthcoming Summer 2009)
- Rajala, U. et al. 2005. "New international excavations at Cisterna Grande (Crustumerium, Rome, Italy): studying chamber tombs, burial rites and funerary representations during the Archaic period" Antiquity Vol. 79 No 304. Link
- Leighton, M. and Stig Sorenson, M.L. 2004. "Breathing Life into the Archives : reflections upon decontextualisation and the curatorial history of V.G.Childe and the material from Toszeg" European Journal of Archaeology Vol. 7(1): 41-60 Download paper
- Excavation as Encounter: thoughts on methodology, multi-vocality, and the creation of archaeological facts. Interdisciplinary Archaeology Workshop Conference, "Encounters: Conversations on Society, Materiality, and the Politics of the Past and Present". May 16 2009
- Collaboration, compromise and knowledge construction: Ethnography of archaeology in the Andes Society of American Archaeology, Atlanta, April 22 2009
- Creating Both Objects and Experts through Practice: Understanding the Epistemic Culture of Postcolonial Archaeology in South America Theoretical Archaeology Group, Southampton, December 17 2008
- More than Objective Artefacts and Subjective Narratives: Authentication, representation, and limitations in archaeology museums Theoretical Archaeology Group, Southampton, December 16 2008
- Personifying Objects/Objectifying People: The Ambiguity of Human Remains in the Practice of Contemporary Archaeologists Medicine, Body and Practice Workshop, University of Chicago. October 14 2008
- Aliens, Time Travel and Choose Your Own Adventure novels: Exploring time and archaeology in American pop-culture Theoretical Archaeology Group, NY, May 25 2008
- Dialogues between the living and the dead. With Nene Lozada, Centre for Latin American Studies Brown Bag Seminar, Chicago. January 9 2007
- "Did you see any Incas in Peru?": The use of the Inca in the construction of indigenous identity in Peru Workshop for the Anthropology of Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of Chicago. Oct 24 2007
- Creating the Inca in Peruvian, U.S. and Spanish Museums. Center for Latin American Studies Brown Bag Seminar, Chicago. March 6 2007
- Life to the dead: Archaeologists and the study of human remains European Archaeology Association Conference, Lyon. September 2004
Projects
I am involved in various projects not directly related to my main research.
Museums
From 2003-5 I was involved in the Science outreach program MSCOPE. Organised by the University of Chicago, Scitech and Museum of Science and Industry, teaches graduate students how to present science in science museums. Students are trained in and participate in the presentation of scientific knowledge to a broad public. As an intern on this project I was involved with creating museum exhibits and demos from the earliest 'ideas' stage, through evaluations, prototyping, audience reactions, and building, with a team of graduate students from both the social and physical sciences.
The experience in the MSCOPE program has been critical in shaping my approach to archaeological museums. My MA dissertation, "Creating The Inca: Contextualising the construction of archaeological objects and narratives in museums", compares and critiques the presentation of archaeological narratives in seven museums, using the Inca as a point of shared reference. The museums studied are: The Peabody at Yale, The Museo de América in Madrid, The Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú in Lima, and in Cusco The Museo de Arte Precolombian, The Museo Inca, the Museo del Sitio del Qoricancha and the Museo Histórico Regional.
Death and Archaeological Bodies
Research originally undertaken for my undergrad dissertation focussed on the conception of archaeological human remains by practising archaeologists. I am currently reworking this research, looking at two areas: the objectification and personification of human remains by British archaeologists, and the concept of 'respect for the dead'
Pop-culture Representations of the Past
I am interested in representations of the past, and particularly of archaeology, outside the adacemy. In this vein, I presented a paper at TAG NY in 2008 on time-travel and archaeology in Choose Your Own Adventure children's books.
Excavations
This is a list of non-commercial excavations I have been involved with. I also worked in the commercial sector between 1998-2003, with the Cambridge Archaeology Unit (as a field excavator and a finds assistant), with Cambridge County Council Archaeology Unit and with the Heritage Network (both as a field excavator).
- Jackson Park Archaeological Project, Chicago, 2007 and 2008. Directed by Rebecca Graff, University of Chicago, this historical archaeology project is researching tourism and consumption at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
- Taraco Archaeological Project, Bolivia, 2005 and 2003. TAP works in the Taraco penisular of Bolivia and is directed by Christine Hastorf, University of California Berkeley, and Matt Bandy, University of Oklahoma. Website
- Paurarku Archaeological Research Project, Peru, 2003. Organised by Kevin Lane and Alex Herrera, the Paurarku Archaeological Research Project aims to improve understanding of the historical evolution of the interaction between the cultures of the coast, highlands and jungle of Peru. Website
- Monte da Igreja Project, Portugal, 2002 Organised by Cornelius Holtorf, The Monte da Igreja project adopts a life-history approach to an archaeological investigation of a site. This means that evidence from all periods is considered equally important and thus taken equally seriously. Website
- Prissé-la-Charrière, France, 2002 The excavation of a Middle Neolithic long mound of Prissé-la-Charrière in the Deux-Sèvres departement of western France, some 25kms south of the town of Niort. The project was directed by Dr Chris Scarre (University of Durham), Dr Roger Joussaume (CNRS, Paris) and Dr Luc Laporte (CNRS, Rennes). Website
- Nokalakevi Expedition, Georgia, 2001 Since 2001 this collaborative project between Georgian and British archaeologists has been excavating in Nokalakevi-Tsikhegoji-Archaeopolis in Georiga. The initial project I was involved in was organised by Nick Armour, Ian Colvin and Besarion Lortkipanidze. Website.
- The Lark Valley Research project, UK, 1998-2000 Organised by Catherine Hills and Jess Tipper.
Contact and CV
Email me at: maryleighton at uchicago dot edu.
Postal address via: The Dept of Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 US
Links
Archaeologists
Chicago committee - Shannon Dawdy, Maria Cecila Lozada, and Joe Masco. Cambridge advisors - Catherine Hills, Marie-Louise Stig Sorenson, John Robb. Other archaeologists working in the Andes -Kevin Lane, Alex Herrera, Christine Hastorf, Maria Bruno, Nicola Sharratt, Clare Sammels.
Friends and Family
My brother, Dan Leighton, is (among many other things) a wonderful musician and has his own ceilidh band that is available for weddings, may balls, and any other excuses for a party. My brother Tom Leighton is a professional photographer, and his website is here. My father Mark Leighton is (again, among many other things!) a painter. This website has a very small selection of his work. My sister-in-law Mim Bower is an Archaeogeneticist at the University of Cambridge. Chicago friends with websites: Panos Oikonomou, Brenda Lopez.
Places, physical and vitual
Anthropology at the University of Chicago, Archaeology at the University of Cambridge. Were All Neighbours - the Cambridge Community. Gringo Tambo - La Paz based blog. Savage Minds - anthropology blog. Overthinking-it - what ought to be an anthropology blog!
News resources
Indymedia, BBC, ZNet, Al Jazeera, Chicago Tribune, Reuters, The Register, The Chicago Reader.
Conferences and Professional Organisations
TAG, SAA, EAA, AAA, a useful site listing various archaeology societies.