HiStories. On (Pre)Historical Multivocality in Archaeology.

Abstract: This thesis explores the concept of (pre)historical multivocality, i.e. the inclusion of past interpretations and past meanings of the archaeological site under investigation into the present day archaeological process. (Pre)historical multivocality is a flexible concept suitable for use on many archaeological sites and aims at eliminating some of the bias towards only including present-day voices in the concept of multivocality. Through interpretative essays based on archaeological material and oral and written sources, past voices are created and variations of meaning throughout history are heard at the Wari and Inca sites of Tenehaha and Collota in the Cotahuasi valley of Peru. By taking into consideration material from many different time periods, a clear discontinuity of meanings can be found.