Uncharted Territories: Developing digital experiences for anthropological and archaeological exploration

This paper discusses the development of digital pedagogical and promotional tools for ongoing anthropological and archaeological work in the Darién Region of Panama. The Darién Region has been underexplored by archaeologists for the last century, and is home to the Darién Gap, the only break in the Pan-American Highway, which has, thus far, facilitated Indigenous sovereignty and protected endemic species. The authors have collaborated to share experiences of navigating the Darién Province of Panama through storytelling, adventure, and exploration with digital media. This project resides as a website with a variety of video and game works. Our goal is to have as much media available in both English and Spanish as possible, to be accessible to the local communities in Darién and to international communities, which is crucial to support locally-initiated conservation initiatives. Current projects include videos documenting known populations that have migrated through the area, videos documenting a current anthropologist's explorations of the region, a game depicting a historical anthropologist’s findings of an archaeological expedition from the 1920s, and accessible compilations of research on local flora and fauna.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Kristin Carlson

Lucy Gill

Zahra Irranezhad

Amal Abdalla

Annie Sungkajun

Sam Bruner

Ella Jahraus

Conference

Publication date: July 2021

Publication date (Print): July 2021

Pages: 52-60

Affiliations

[0001]Illinois State University

[0002]University of California, Berkeley

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2021.9

SO-VID: 3c29899b-4a3a-4ece-baa2-e82de3f93d4d

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of EVA London 2021

Conference acronym: EVA 2021

Conference number:

Conference location: London

Conference date: 5th July – 9th July 2021

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: AI and the Arts: Artificial Imagination

History

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2021.9

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

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Carlos Fitzgerald, Mark Horton, and D. Theodossopoulos. (2007). “Report of Reconnaissance of Río Chico and Río Tuirre, Darién.” Panama City.
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G. Miranda, Luis Maximo, and Roberto de la Guardia. (1971). “Prehistoria Del Distrito de Chepigana, Provincia Del Darién.” Revista Tierra y Dos Mares 54.
Aaron O’Dea, Harilaos A. Lessios, Anthony G. Coates, Ron I. Eytan, Sergio A. Restrepo-Moreno, Alberto L. Cione, Laurel S. Collins, et al. (2016). “Formation of the Isthmus of Panama.” Science Advances 2 (8): e1600883. [Cross Ref]
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] A Journey Into Time Immemorial. (2019, May 17). Siwal Si’wes Digital Library. https://swswlibrary.com/culture-and-history/a-journey-into-time-immemorial/

[2] Hubert Howe Bancroft. (1883). History of the Pacific States of North America. Vol. 6. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and Company, Publishers.

[3] Gustavo Cárdenas Castillero. (2019). “¿Quién: Es Ligia Arreaga?” La Prensa, January 3, 2019, sec. Opinion. https://www.prensa.com/opinion/LigiaArreaga_0_5205979455.html.

[4] A. Cerwonka, & L. H. Malkki (2007). Improvising Theory: Process and Temporality in Ethnographic Fieldwork (New edition). University of Chicago Press.

[5] José María Cruxent. (1959). “Informe Sobre Un Reconocimiento Arqueológico En El Darién (Panamá).”

[6] Robert Patrick Drolet. (1980). “Cultural Settlement along the Moist Caribbean Slopes of Eastern Panama.” PhD Dissertation, Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

[7] N. Drost (2020, August 12). What migrants face as they journey through the deadly Darién Gap. In PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-migrants-face-as-they-journey-through-the-deadly-Darién-gap

[8] Carlos Fitzgerald, Mark Horton, and D. Theodossopoulos. (2007). “Report of Reconnaissance of Río Chico and Río Tuirre, Darién.” Panama City.

[9] Claude Fortin. (2017). “Place-making With Telepresence: A Navigation Guide to A Journey into Time Immemorial’s Seven Exhibition Spaces”. The International Symposium of Electronic Art.

[10] G. Isaac (2008). Technology Becomes the Object: The Use of Electronic Media at the National Museum of the American Indian. Journal of Material Culture, 13(3), 287–310. [Cross Ref]

[11] Robin Kimmerer. (2011). “Restoration and Reciprocity: The Contributions of Traditional Ecological Knowledge.” In Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration, edited by Dave Egan, Evan E. Hjerpe, and Jesse Abra, 257–76. Washington, DC: Island Press/Center for Resource Economics. [Cross Ref]

[12] C. Levi-Strauss, & P. Wilcken (2012). Tristes Tropiques (J. Weightman & D. Weightman, Trans.; Revised ed. edition). Penguin Classics.

[13] S. Linné (1929). Darién in the Past: The Archaeology of Eastern Panama and NorthWestern Colombia. Goteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag.

[14] Charles McGiey. (1964). “Investigaciones Arqueologicas En Panama: Informes Preliminares Sobre Temporada 1961-1962.” Hombre y Cultura 1(3): 39–55.

[15] G. Miranda, Luis Maximo, and Roberto de la Guardia. (1971). “Prehistoria Del Distrito de Chepigana, Provincia Del Darién.” Revista Tierra y Dos Mares 54.

[16] Aaron O’Dea, Harilaos A. Lessios, Anthony G. Coates, Ron I. Eytan, Sergio A. Restrepo-Moreno, Alberto L. Cione, Laurel S. Collins, et al. (2016). “Formation of the Isthmus of Panama.” Science Advances 2 (8): e1600883. [Cross Ref]

[17] A. Pandian (2019). A Possible Anthropology: Methods for Uneasy Times (Illustrated edition). Duke University Press Books.

[18] Physical Keys to Digital Memories: Reflecting on the Role of Tangible Artefacts in “Reminisce” | museuandtheweb.com . (n.d.). Retrieved December 22, 2020, from https://www.museuandtheweb.com/mw2011/papers/physical_keys_to_digital_memories_reflecting_o. html

[19] S. J. Record, & C. D. Mell (1924). Timbers of tropical America (Vol. 4). Yale University Press.

[20] Rene Senos, Frank K Lake, Nancy Turner, and Dennis Martinez. (2006). “Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Restoration Practice.” In Restoring the Pacific Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Canada, edited by Dean Apostol and Marcia Sinclair, 35. Washington: Island Press.

[21] Serious Animation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2021. http://www.seriousanimation.com/

[22] Julie Velásquez Runk. (2015). “Creating Wild Darién: Centuries of Darién’s Imaginative Geography and Its Lasting Effects.” Journal of Latin American Geography 14 (3): 127–56. [Cross Ref]

[23] J. Velásquez Runk (2017). Crafting Wounaan Landscapes: Identity, Art, and Environmental Governance in Panama’s Darién. University of Arizona Press. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/49876

[24] A. Watterson, J. Anderson, & K. Baxter (2020, July 1). Designing Digital Engagements: Approaches to creative practice and adaptable programming for archaeological visualisation. In: J. Weinel, J.P. Bowen, G. Diprose, and N. Lambert (eds), EVA London 2020 (Electronic Visualisation and the Arts) 2020. [Cross Ref]

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