Public archaeology and football: the case of Club Atlético Platense

Abstract

This work intends to socialize the work carried out by Arqueoterra Ltda. a cultural and scientific work cooperative (registration number 54463), together with Club Atlético Platense in the year 2022. A little more than 50 years ago, under the de facto government of the military and dictator Alejandro Lanusse, the Club Atlético Platense was forced to move from the neighborhood of Saavedra in the City of Buenos Aires, a place where it lived for more than half a century and developed not only sports activities but also social events with the community. In 2017, the current authorities of the club presented a bill before the Buenos Aires Legislature with the intention of obtaining the concession of this disputed space, today commercially exploited by a private entity. In this context, towards the end of 2021 the Arqueoterra Cooperative was summoned to initiate an archaeological project, which we called “Jornada Calamar”, to expose and disseminate the history of the club, making visible its territorial claim sustained by the socio-cultural identity anchored to the neighborhood. Our work was carried out from the perspective of public archaeology, understanding archaeological research as a situated social activity with multiple historical, political, economic and institutional contexts (Salerno, 2013).