This paper explores the utility of conviviality thinking for archaeological theory and practice. It first situates calls for convivial analysis as a response to the excesses of late capitalism and the existential challenges of the global Anthropocene polycrisis. The paper then highlights the critical, ethical and interpretive potentials of the concept to re-think human–animal coexistence, to frame new approaches to ecological conservation and to creatively reimagine shared multispecies futures. A suite of examples from hunter-gatherer archaeology and archaeological museums is offered to illustrate how conviviality thinking helps to challenge traditional representations of the past and contributes to an engaged, post-critical approach to museum and heritage practices fostering a fruitful dialogue on the diversity of species co-living. Conviviality constitutes a powerful lens through which to integrate theory and practice and to draw on the empirical strengths of archaeology, while recognizing the need to speak to a critical moment in planetary history.
