Analysing the Contributions and Longevity of Community Archaeology in the Context of Maritime Cultural Heritage Projects

Makanani Bell,Lucy Blue

doi:10.1007/s11457-021-09318-9

Abstract

Scholars readily agree community archaeology offers a way to engage non-professional archaeologists in the archaeological process. However, few analyse whether community archaeology projects achieve their goals and contribute positively to involved stakeholders. This article proposes a framework for analysing the contributions and longevity of community archaeology in maritime environments. The framework consists of three sections: the influencing factors, intended and actual contributions, and longevity. The influencing factors highlight the most common elements that impact the contributions of a project. The intended and actual contributions compare the project’s goals with their results. The longevity section proposes a number of prompting questions to assess the longevity of the outcomes. Three case studies provide a closer look at each project’s influencing factors, contributions and longevity. Synthesizing the case study’s results reveals several overall conclusions and areas for improvement within community archaeology.

Highlights

Theoretical advances in the last thirty years have broadened the field of maritime archaeology to include the cultural landscapes of lacustrine, riverine, and maritime environments (Westerdahl 1992: 5; Ford et al 2013: XIV; Meide 2013: 12)
This paper proposes a methodology to analyse community archaeology projects
Evaluating community archaeology projects would help determine if the work is effective in determining its goals for all stakeholders including the archaeologists and community at large

Summary

Introduction

Theoretical advances in the last thirty years have broadened the field of maritime archaeology to include the cultural landscapes of lacustrine, riverine, and maritime environments (Westerdahl 1992: 5; Ford et al 2013: XIV; Meide 2013: 12). These advances encourage incorporating physical and cognitive landscapes and the inclusive documentation of all peoples, heritages, and knowledge sources. This values and records both tangible and intangible heritage. The information gained tells a more complete story of the past through incorporating details frequently missed, such as the elements that instil in people their sense of place and identity (Little 2009: 117; Greer 2010: 53; Nero 2011: 12; UNESCO 2011)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion