Chapter 1 Archaeology, Slavery, and Marronage: A Complex Relationship Pedro Paulo A. Funari and Charles E. Orser Since its inception in the nineteenth century, archaeology has been associated with nationalist and imperialist endeavors. Its practitioners, both professional and avoca- tional, have been prone to take part in the eulogy of the elites. Archaeology was born in an environment in which the ancient artworks of antiquity were valued for their beauty and uniqueness. The collection of rare works of art has been an aristocratic activity since the Renaissance. For many years, archaeologists were happy to supply museum galleries and the homes of the wealthy with beautiful objects from the past. In the wake of the development of the modern university system, with its special- ized, enlightened faculty, many of whom had a willingness and desire to serve the new bourgeois nation-state, archaeology was a side effect of philology and history. Archaeologists served the state in the search for the ancient roots of newly established nations, inside and outside of its territory, however defined. Napoleon is perhaps the best expression of this early phase, inventing the French heritage inside the coun- try (the Gauls) and outside (starting with the ancient Egyptians). Champollion is a good example of archaeology’s early association with nationalism, imperialism, and philology. In deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, he supported the imperial conquest of Egypt and helped appropriate an ancient civilization for French imperial power. In the quest to use archaeology in the service of the state, excavators and re- searchers ignored the vast majority of people who had lived in the past. Casting their eyes only on the elites of society, they had no room for the “lower orders,” such as the slave builders of the pyramids. P. P.A. Funari () Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas Ambientais—NEPAM, Universidade Estadual de Campinas—Unicamp, Rua dos Flamboyants, 155 Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, SP 13083-867, Brazil e-mail: ppfunari@uol.com.br C. E. Orser Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, VU Station B #356050, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235, USA e-mail: charles.e.orser@vanderbilt.edu © The Author(s) 2015 1 P. P.A. Funari, C. E. Orser Jr. (eds.), Current Perspectives on the Archaeology of African Slavery in Latin America, SpringerBriefs in Archaeology, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4939-1264-3_1