I am an archaeologist who works on colonialism, imperialism, and frontiers from comparative perspectives
I am Beatriz Marín-Aguilera, currently a Derby Fellow at the Department of Archaeology and the Department of History at the University of Liverpool, UK.
My aim is to get a better understanding of the intersections of race, ethnicity, societal hierarchies, and gender in the everyday life of marginalised and subaltern groups.
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Projects
My previous and current work ranges from the analysis of colonial encounters in the ancient Mediterranean and the study of Christian and Islamic imperialism in medieval and early modern Ethiopia, Morocco, and Spain, to the exploration of British and Spanish colonialism in the early modern Caribbean and in early modern Chile, respectively.
AL-ANDALUS
HERITAGE
Antigua & Barbuda
Chile
Ethiopia
Mediterranean
Research
interests
Driven by decolonial approaches, my research focuses on understanding human experiences during imperialism and colonial rule through the study of everyday things.
I am particularly interested in the complex relationship between material culture, the body, and frontiers in colonial territories. I analyse architecture, clothing, and body adornment, food technologies, and burials to explore continuities and discontinuities in kinaesthetic and sensorial experiences. My research challenges our understanding of what colonial and imperial frontiers did to mobile bodies and things, and how material culture and the body shaped the frontiers of colonialism themselves.
Publications
From the blog
The (discarded) material culture of the pandemic
Gloves and, particularly, face masks are the discarded material culture of the current pandemic. What can we learn from an archaeological perspective?
Teaching Archaeology to Schoolers
I have gathered several online lessons, games and ideas to teach schoolers archaeology and have so much fun with them. Especially now, for all of you who need to teach online or for parents who are home-schooling. There is something for everyone!
No, this is not the first time. We’ve seen this before
It is common among politicians these days to repeat many times that ‘nobody expected something like this to happen’. However, this is completely untrue.