What have we learned from this process at El Boga? That archaeology, beyond being a disciplinary field, is a lived experience.
Casa Taller El Boga became a social laboratory and was our home.
El Boga bore witness to an exceptional human process of coexistence among researchers, students, and the community.
The house was not only the site of the excavations: it also became the “home.” There, people slept, cooked, conversed, and above all, built everyday relationships with the people of Mompox.
Casa Taller El Boga became a social laboratory, a space where histories intertwined, findings were contrasted, and new questions emerged, always in dialogue with the community. There, the practice of anthropology became communal, building knowledge between people and the spaces they inhabit.
Since 2024, the research at Casa Taller El Boga has gathered stories, experiences, and memorable moments for our team. The research process has been both enriching and challenging. Here we share in photographs part of what this journey has been:
The undergraduate research group is a formal academic space within the Anthropology program at Universidad de los Andes, in which students may enroll and receive one academic credit upon fulfilling the hours and commitments established for each session.
Students participated both in fieldwork during the conducted seasons and in the washing and classification of materials in the laboratories.
During the 2025 field season, students from the Anthropology program at Universidad Javeriana also participated under the coordination of Felipe Gaitán, and likewise received academic credit for their participation.
Diseño por: Sthefany Vélez
Cover of the special issue of El Etnógrafo (2025)
The 2025 Special Issue of El Etnógrafo was organized by students with reflections drawn from their experiences during the field season at El Boga between January and February of 2025. Given its autonomous student-led nature, this volume is a testament to how and in what ways the research at El Boga has contributed to the training of professionals in anthropology and archaeology, while also sharing how that experience is valued by the students themselves.