In this inaugural Usable Pasts Forum, we make the case that archaeology has a critical role to play in reframing approaches to food security in the African continent. Readers who are unfamiliar with archaeology may find this an odd pairing, since the field is more often associated with characters like Indiana Jones than with anything “useful” in our modern world. After all, Dr. Jones’ missions involved capturing ancient objects of great beauty and were largely irrelevant to the practical concerns of modern populations (besides, of course, the destruction he wrought in securing those antiquities!). Yet, this view of archaeology is an outdated, colonial one in which exotic objects were mined by outsiders to fill the curiosity cabinets of Europe (Andah 1995a). In post-colonial settings, archaeologists have responded to this troubled history and changed their goals and approaches to incorporate the concerns of local stakeholders, especially in Africa (Lane 2011). “Usable pasts” is an approach that explores how the past can bemade relevant for the present. Bassey Andah, one of the first Africanist archaeologists to use the term, defined usable past as “a past that does not merely instill pride but also helps Africans build sociopolitical units equipped to fight ‘cultural poverty’ and negotiate justice at both national and international levels...” (Andah 1995b, p.151). In Andah’s formulation, usable pasts were explicitly political, in the sense that pursuing more “authentic” African histories meant modern-day Africans could be equipped with historical knowledge helpful to their own positions. This formulation of usable pasts has often been used in nationalist discourses that appeal to unique and impressive African capabilities, as is the case with the monumental remains of Great Zimbabwe and Mapungubwe (Pirikayi 2009). Usable pasts have also been construed more broadly, as those pasts “which can be exploited by all interested parties, be they Afr Archaeol Rev https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-019-09347-9

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可用历史论坛：批判性地参与粮食安全

在这个首届可用历史论坛中，我们证明考古学在重新制定非洲大陆粮食安全方法方面可以发挥关键作用。不熟悉考古学的读者可能会发现这是一个奇怪的配对，因为该领域更多地与像印第安纳琼斯这样的人物联系在一起，而不是与我们现代世界中的任何“有用”的东西联系在一起。毕竟，琼斯博士的任务涉及捕捉美丽的古代物品，并且在很大程度上与现代人口的实际问题无关（当然，除了他为保护这些文物而造成的破坏！）。然而，这种考古学观点是一种过时的、殖民主义的观点，在这种观点中，外来者开采了异国情调的物品来填补欧洲的好奇心（Andah 1995a）。在后殖民时代，考古学家对这段艰难的历史做出了回应，并改变了他们的目标和方法，以纳入当地利益相关者的关切，尤其是在非洲（Lane 2011）。“可用的过去”是一种探索如何使过去与现在相关的方法。Bassey Andah 是最早使用该术语的非洲考古学家之一，他将“可用的过去”定义为“过去不仅可以灌输自豪感，还可以帮助非洲人建立社会政治单位，以应对“文化贫困”并在国家和国际层面上就正义进行谈判......”（安达 1995b，第 151 页）。在安达的表述中，可用的过去显然是政治性的，从某种意义上说，追求更“真实”的非洲历史意味着现代非洲人可以获得有助于他们自己立场的历史知识。这种对可用历史的表述经常被用在民族主义话语中，以诉诸非洲独特而令人印象深刻的能力，例如大津巴布韦和马彭古布韦的巨大遗迹（Pirikayi 2009）。可用的过去也被更广泛地解释，因为那些“可以被所有相关方利用的过去，无论是 Afr Archaeol Rev https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-019-09347-9