Abstract
Public engagement is a significant feature of twenty-first-century archaeological practice. While more diverse audiences are connecting with the discipline in a multitude of ways, public perceptions of archaeology are still marred by stereotypes. Community excavations of ‘sites’ to discover ‘treasures’ which tell us about the ‘past’ overshadow other forms of public research output and hinder the potential of the discipline to contribute to contemporary society more widely. This paper proposes participatory augering as an active public engagement method that challenges assumptions about the nature of archaeological practice by focusing on interpretation at a landscape-scale. Through exploration of recent participatory augering research by the REFIT Project and Environmental Archaeologist Mike Allen, this paper demonstrates how the public can contribute to active archaeological research by exploring narratives of landscape change. Evaluation of the existing case studies reflects the potential of the approach to engage audiences with new archaeological methods and narratives which have the potential to transform perceptions of the discipline and, through knowledge exchange, drive community-led contributions to contemporary landscape management.
Highlights
Archaeology and heritage are more open and accessible at a local, national, and international level than ever before (Robinson & Silverman, 2015: 4)
Anecdotal evidence from Allen’s work suggests that augering is received with enjoyment as the experience of understanding the variation, time depth, and human impact on the landscape appears to be phenomenally rewarding in terms of ‘what you can get from a bit of dirt’. These projects clearly reveal the potential value of participatory augering as a public engagement technique that can explain landscape change and include additional public knowledge to feed into future landscape management
Evaluation from the Resituating Europe’s First Towns (REFIT) Project has shown the interest and accessibility of participatory augering in terms of its aims and methods
Summary
Archaeology and heritage are more open and accessible at a local, national, and international level than ever before (Robinson & Silverman, 2015: 4). Focusing on the known oppida landscapes of Bibracte (France), Ulaca (Spain), and Bagendon and Salmonsbury (UK), the project has been working with a range of stakeholders, from wildlife organizations to local residents, to position existing archaeological knowledge alongside the lesser-known perceptions and management approaches surrounding these landscapes, and to share best practice at a European level.
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