Paper short abstract:

This paper presents a summary of the historical assumptions employed within developmental and conservationist narratives in the Pare mountains, Tanzania, and argues that the intention of producing data of direct relevance to these debates serves to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both archaeology and social anthropology.

Paper long abstract:

Many contemporary debates regarding rural development and biodiversity conservation emphasise the importance of an historical dimension. In essence this perspective results from concern for the related concepts of sustainability, resilience, and conservation, all of which refer to the need to balance short-term gains with long-term resource maintenance. More specifically, frequent references to economic and environmental history within these debates can be seen as partly a consequence of a continued interest in the potential utility of local resource exploitation strategies and, indeed, early advocates of this stance often contrasted the apparent longevity of local practices with the poor social and environmental record of large-scale modernisation schemes. This focus on 'Indigenous Knowledge' thus seems to demand input from both social anthropologists and archaeologists; the former playing the roles of recorders, translators, advocates or negotiators, whilst the latter provide long-term technical and palaeo-environmental data. With particular reference to the Pare mountains in northeastern Tanzania, this paper will argue that a combination of anthropological and archaeological perspectives can do much to qualify the social and historical assumptions at the heart of many developmental or conservationist narratives. However, the level of detail required to move beyond critiques and aid in the formulation of policy throws into sharp relief the extent to which all archaeological enquires rely on ethnographic and historical case-studies to provide social and technical details of local activities, and serves to highlight the lack of time-depth and precision offered by research based on local testimony and tradition.