An Archaeological View of Political Repression in Uruguay (1971–1985)

TL;DR

López Mazz argues that archaeology can serve as a tool for decolonization, memory, and justice by studying the material record of Uruguay's 1971–1985 political repression, including human remains, clandestine graves, prison architecture, and handmade toys. He proposes typologies of death and of prison breaks as frameworks for a "liberty or anti-repressive archaeology."

Key findings

• Forensic work on remains recovered at Colonia del Sacramento cemetery could not identify Uruguayan disappeared prisoners, though the bodies may have reached the coast after being thrown into the ocean by Argentinean military airplanes; a "no-name" corpse at Castillos cemetery (Rocha) likewise could not be confirmed by DNA as a disappeared prisoner, and DNA analysis and digital juxtaposition of images produced differing results (Comisión para la Paz 2004).
• The Roberto Gomensoro case was an exception: most of the skeleton underwent a "second disappearance" at the hands of the intelligence service, but a physician preserved the skull, and DNA analysis plus digital juxtaposition identified the remains, which were returned to relatives.
• Eugenio Berríos, murdered in 1998 by a Chilean-Uruguayan command unit and buried on a beach near Montevideo, was identified by Forensic Institute technicians; a watch, chain, and medal (with a protective virgin of Chile motif) provided contextual evidence coincident with forensic data.
• In 1971, 111 political prisoners escaped from Punta Carretas; the 1972 El Gallo break involved 21 prisoners who used small cars to increase displacement speed in limited spaces, while El Abuso (1971) was planned by engineers and specialists and included light, air, and earth evacuation systems in its tunnel.

Methods

• Conceptual/archaeological synthesis combining Foucauldian genealogical analysis of disciplinary institutions with contextual analysis of material culture, applied to repression, resistance, and human rights.
• Case-based forensic evidence: osteological analysis of remains from Colonia del Sacramento and Castillos cemeteries, DNA analysis, digital juxtaposition of images, and contextual artifacts (e.g., Berríos' watch, chain, medal).
• Proposed typologies: a typology of death under repression (nine categories, from bodies returned to relatives to secondary burials at Battalions 13 and 14) and a prison-break typology considering number of prisoners, strategies (simulation, tunnel, wall jump), energy invested, risk, duration, and beneficiaries; toy production analyzed by materials (paper, fabric, leather, bone, wood) and timing (Christmas, Epiphany, Children's Day, birthdays).

Limitations

• Stated: the "complete lack of evidence regarding clandestine cemeteries" has seriously questioned the results of the Comisión para la Paz (2000–2004); a pact of silence and repressive technologies made it almost impossible for anthropologists to find meaningful remains of disappeared prisoners; contradictions exist among identification techniques; and handmade toys are now hard to find, having been lost in drawers and house removals.
• Evident from the text: much of the repression evidence rests on testimonies gathered by human rights organizations and secondary published sources rather than systematic excavation, and the author notes the archaeology of repression "is just beginning" and that a specific methodology still needs to be developed.