| Understanding the public value of archaeological heritage in heterogeneous settings is the general goal of this research. Since 1993 important archaeological sites have been registered inside ARIE JK, an environmentally protected area in the hub of a highly urbanized area in Brazil, referred in this work as the Park. In different occasions archaeologists have identified Paleoindian and historical archaeological sites within the Park, and at least three of these occurrences were determined to be quarry-based lithic sites, also significant for uncovering the early human presence in South America. The Park is surrounded by three satellite-cities: Taguatinga, Ceilândia, and Samambaia, in what is today likely the most prominent urban region in the Brazilian Federal District after Brasilia itself. Approximately one million people inhabit the vicinity, and all three cities were developed in different occasions during the last 50 years.;In these settings varied responses towards the local archaeological heritage safeguarding have come up over the years from diverse institutions and stakeholders, with singular discourses towards ownership and civil rights. Nonetheless, why would people care about heritage when it is not directly a representation of their own past? Why do recent migrant communities care about ancient quarry sites?;To reach an understanding I used a qualitative methodological framework within an interdisciplinary approach that includes urbanism, cultural heritage management, and heritage tourism, tested on data collected during walking surveys throughout designated areas in and on the outskirts of the Park; archival and online research on documents, technical reports, and newspaper articles followed by text analysis; and semistructured open-ended interviews, followed also by text analysis. The hypothesis was that non-descendent public care most about archaeological heritage because it can be strategically used due to its institutional and instrumental values. However, the conclusions point out that the scientific relevance of the local sites due to probable antiquity is the main appeal for public attention, followed by an expected response from local institutions, increasing the local archaeological heritage public significance due to a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic heritage values. |
