Bombarding the City of the Dead: who has a right to the past?

Abstract

This study focuses on the relationship between tourism and archaeology at Saint Louis Cemetery Number One in New Orleans. In the past two decades, the discipline of archaeology has been thrust into the gaze of the public. The Information Age has led to the increased accessibility of archaeological sites to anyone who may have an interest. Due to this increased accessibility, professional archaeologists have turned to public archaeology in order to satiate the public’s curiosity. Although public archaeology is a growing field, a good bit of the subject still deals mainly with legislation and preservation rather than direct contact with the public. Industries such as tourism have sometimes been seen as an adversary to archaeology because they can lead to the destruction of sites thus hindering the legislation archaeologists worked hard to have passed. By studying tours at a historic cemetery in New Orleans, archaeologists can get a clearer picture of how their research could benefit the public and in turn help archaeology. In doing this, archaeology can aid in disseminating accurate information to the public while the public can see the need for archaeology in the modern world. With this mutual understanding between the public and archaeology it can be deduced that the past belongs to everyone and the benefits are boundless.