Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 72 (2023) 101544 Available online 14 October 2023 0278-4165/© 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Music archaeology in Latin America: Bridging method and interpretation with performance Dianne Scullin a , Alexander Herrera b, * a River and Rowing Museum, United Kingdom b Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Music archaeology Archaeological method Archaeological theory Latin America ABSTRACT To practice music archaeology is to enter into a dialogue between the humanities and the sciences, social and otherwise. Music archaeology is part of the humanistic study of past sounded behaviour, ritual practice, and soundscapes, as well as a global history of discursive representations about humans’ capacity for music. It is also the scientifc inquiry of sound technology through time, of materials and provenience, dateable stratifed con- texts anchoring developments in technique and skill to past places of manufacture and interpretation in time. The material cultures of ancient Latin America, in their breadth and depth of musical and sounding materials, present ideal conditions for the exploration of past sound practises at multiple scales. This article provides a brief orientation to the broad theoretical underpinnings and most widely utilised methods of music archaeological research as practised in Latin America. Through the lens of ancient Latin American societies, we argue that music archaeology provides a template for truly interdisciplinary research that operates at multiple scales, from the practises of individuals to larger societal interactions. 1. Introduction Music archaeology is at once two things. It is part of the humanistic study of past sounded behaviour, ritual practice, soundscapes, and a global history of discursive representations about humanś capacity for music. It is also the scientifc inquiry of sound technology through time, of materials and provenience, dateable stratifed contexts anchoring developments in technique and skill to past places of manufacture and interpretation in time. Researchers of past musical practice come from both disciplinary, and non-disciplinary backgrounds, including anthro- pologists, musicologists, archaeologists, folklorists, musicians, artists, sound engineers and architects, all with divergent interests, theoretical frameworks and methods. What draws us together is recognition of the importance of human driven sound practises in the past, perhaps refecting a collective emotional connection to music as sounded human experience. To practice music archaeology is to enter into a dialogue between the humanities and the sciences, social and otherwise. Music is a universal and distinctly human practice (Trehub et al., 2015; Merker et al., 2015; Morley, 2014), where the physics of sound propagation enters into and affords complex relationships with objects, human bodies, spaces, emotions and memories. This sound assemblage exists for a brief and fnite period of time, yet the perception of sounded relations is often highly memorable, and the traces of these networks of relations may endure long after the sound has dissipated. In order to unravel the meanings behind these relations, researchers have employed a myriad of theoretical and methodological approaches. In this paper, we argue that music archaeology provides a template for truly interdisciplinary research that operates at multiple scales, from the practises of in- dividuals to larger societal interactions. The multi-disciplined nature of music archaeology provides it with its greatest strength. Interest in and scholarship concerning music archaeology continues to grow, with the topics of music and sound recently shaping portions of larger archaeological investigations (Ferrari et al., 2017; Hamilakis and Theou, 2013; Hepp et al., 2014; Herrera (forthcoming); Kolar, 2017; Meddens and Frouin, 2013; Scullin, 2015a; among others), ethnographic studies interested in musical longevity or origins of musical practice (Merker et al., 2015; Morley, 2014; Ruedas, 2011) or even multi-year, international and interdisciplinary projects such as Artsoundscapes (https://www.ub.edu/artsoundscapes/archeoacustica/home-page/) or the European Music Archaeology Project (https://www.emaproject. eu/). Despite many of the above referenced projects taking place * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: dianne.scullin@rrm.co.uk (D. Scullin), alherrer@uniandes.edu.co (A. Herrera). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101544 Received 15 February 2022; Received in revised form 6 September 2023;