Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the waste-antiquities and their presence in culture. It is based on ongoing ethnographic research in Sudan.

Paper long abstract:

In Sudan, since ancient times, the material remains of the past have served as a particular type of waste. They were sacred objects associated with cultural memory and group identity or reused for mystical rituals; they were brought back to life due to their practical use or sent outside the community's borders, treated as impure. We can also learn about these and other ways of treating and managing this type of waste from the "traditional" beliefs and customs of societies in today's Sudan. These methods, however, have had to change due to disruptions and crises caused by migrations, urbanization, political and ecological turmoils, and ecological disasters. The attitude of site communities towards remnants of the past can be significantly different, but it is far from indifferent. For urban migrants, women, youth and various wanderers, monuments are waste that is creatively reused in the doing and undoing of everyday practices.

The paper examines the relationship between people and ancient remains in modern Sudan. It focuses on waste-antiquities and their presence in culture. It is based on fresh material from ethnographic research linked to ongoing archaeological works in Soba – a city on the outskirts of Khartoum and in the village of Miseeda on the Third Cataract of the Nile. What can we learn from the examples from Sudan on waste management and conceptualization dynamics? Which epistemological, methodological and ethical challenges emerge? What benefits does it bring to build scientific bridges in multidisciplinary research on African waste management?