Abstract

An enduring legacy of colonial logics in archaeology is the collection and hoarding of archaeological objects and data. Many museums are working to return objects to their traditional owners, and many countries have legislation to support this. While norms of object repatriation are becoming increasingly widespread and concrete, we are still far from a consensus about how to address colonial practices in sharing archaeological data and methods. Many archaeologists hoard and refuse to share data, for bad reasons, and free from consequences. I describe how the use of Galisonian logic devices in archaeology provides an opening to adjust behaviours about data sharing. I analyse bibliometric data to show what devices are currently showing the most productivity as affordances to decolonize attitudes about data and method sharing. I review best practices on navigating options for making data and methods available, recognising that not all data is fit for openness, and that often archaeologists don’t have enough information to be the sole decision-maker about data and method availability.

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