Collaborative Archaeology, Oral History, and Social Memory at Timbuctoo, New Jersey

This article discusses ongoing research concerning the African-American community of Timbuctoo in Burlington County, New Jersey. Through the course of this work, a group of community descendants, Temple University archaeologists and vested community members utilize a collaborative approach to the history and archaeology of the town. Along with analysis of archaeological and written sources, researchers interviewed former residents and community descendants in an effort to better contextualize the past. Joining a growing movement of community-based archaeology projects, this work seeks through collaboration to complicate histories and interpretations of Timbuctoo. This collaborative approach seeks to better understand the past of Timbuctoo and to facilitate discourse on the constructions of race, class, and power in the present.