Public Archaeology Research Articles

Private property, public archaeology: resident communities as stakeholders in American archaeology

In the United States, archaeological sites on private lands have few legal protections, and are thus at risk of damage or destruction. To alleviate these risks, archaeologists must engage thoughtfully with private property owners and develop strategies to promote site stewardship. In this article, I identify the resident community – those people who live on archaeological sites, regardless of their ancestral ties to those sites – as an important stakeholder in archaeology. Based on recent fieldwork experiences on a privately owned site in the south-eastern US, I discuss the unique challenges of engaging a resident community in archaeological research, and the potential of such engagement for fostering archaeological stewardship. Specifically, I use theories of place attachment derived from environmental psychology to explore how resident communities may be encouraged to empathize with and protect the archaeological records of past people.

Do you even know what public archaeology is? Trends, theory, practice, ethics

Archaeology is a discipline influenced by emerging cultural trends, especially with regard to theoretical approaches to interpretation and practice. Public archaeology is a relatively young approach, still finding its feet, and loose definitions of it have opened the door to multiple perspectives and opportunities. When research agendas include the issue of public engagement, we need to approach our practices critically from the beginning, and consider the consequences of ‘doing’ public archaeology. Moving beyond an understanding of the theoretical backdrop to our work, we first need to situate our work socially, politically and economically. This article will bring necessary critique to some current trends in public archaeology, proposing that commitment to sustainability, inclusivity and ethics are the basis for a responsible practice.

‘The Minister will tell the nation’: the role of the media for archaeology in Mauritius

This article presents four short case studies detailing the breadth of media engagement with archaeology on the island of Mauritius. Beyond exemplifying the varied roles of the media for an archaeological agenda, these case studies are used to discuss how to better garner media attention, how it may be possible to benefit from those who use archaeological data, why archaeologists should do this and the value of being better managers of our media image. Ultimately, the article advocates greater control over our side of the archaeology–media relationship, and questions whether archaeologists are taking advantage of the power of the media to advance public archaeology.

Public archaeology, knowledge meetings and heritage ethics in southern Africa: an approach from Mozambique

What do researchers and heritage practitioners do when their concepts of place do not coincide with those held by local communities? Discussing a case study from Mozambique against its wider southern African backdrop, this article argues that professionals cannot overlook the fact that many rural communities in this part of Africa do their version of ‘archaeology’ by reconstructing the past via their ancestors. The primary focus is to establish a ground for epistemic levelling between ‘scientific’ and ‘other’ knowledges and an ensuing heritage ethics from which to articulate a set of key tenets for future engagements with local communities and public archaeology. In order to develop an approach that is inclusive and within the scope of ‘a truly engaged archaeology’, we explore the potential of encounters between different epistemologies, between those of professional practitioners and those of the public they engage with.

Data from Archaeology for the People? Greek Archaeology and its Public: An Analysis of the Socio-Political and Economic Role of Archaeology in Greece

The interview transcripts and survey data in this dataset originate from an investigation of the role of archaeology in local communities in Greece today. The communities of Krenides (Kavala), Dispilio (Kastoria) and Delphi (Phokida) were used as case studies. Members of these communities, local archaeologists and archaeologists of the central services of the Ministry of Culture were interviewed while the local populations were surveyed using structured questionnaires. The data is stored in textual and tabular formats and it is likely to be of use to anyone who is interested in public archaeology, heritage management or socio-anthropological and sociological research regarding perceptions about the past, archaeology and heritage.

The Role of the Public in Public Archaeology: Ten Years of Outreach and Collaboration at Fort St. Joseph

Public outreach and community involvement are increasingly common aspects of archaeology, developed to ensure relevancy, support of the discipline, and inclusivity in archaeological interpretations. The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project (FSJAP) is an example of how active community participation promotes a symbiotic relationship: community members offer knowledge and logistical assistance while professional archaeologists from Western Michigan University provide expertise and institutional support. Forums including training camps, Open House events, social media sites, and public appearances create opportunities for non-specialists to share their knowledge, contributing to the empowerment of the community. While the FSJAP has experienced considerable success in making the past accessible to a broad public, differing visions have sometimes surfaced between archaeologists and non-academic stakeholders. In this paper we present a critical examination of the project’s origins, growth, and challenges that all agents have experienced in their efforts to realize their hopes for the project.

The Formation of the Alexandria Archaeological Commission: Connecting Citizen Activism, Archaeology, and Local Government in Alexandria, Virginia

The city of Alexandria, Virginia, USA, has often been recognized as an innovator in public archaeology circles. But one major aspect of the city’s relationship with archaeology has never received sufficient attention. The 1975 formation of the Alexandria Archaeological Commission (AAC) created a model for combining archaeology with grassroots community activism. This article explores the political environment that facilitated the creation of the AAC, emphasizing the years between 1964 and 1980. It also explores how this collaborative arrangement has institutionalized citizen and community involvement in the process of developing archaeological information, and how this framework could be of use to other communities.

Memory as Archaeology: An Experience of Public Archaeology in the Atacama Desert

Conducting archaeological projects in areas inhabited by Indigenous Communities who dislike both excavations and archaeologists leads to an ethical conundrum, one requiring a reconsideration of the research methodologies utilized in these settings, and a turn toward Public Archaeology as a means to find alternative pathways. This article describes a research project conducted in the Indigenous Atacameño Community of Peine, in the Atacama Desert, Chile, where, through a principal methodology of Participatory Action Research, it became possible to explore the past of this community in ways that were both meaningful and valid for its members. The results drawn from this experience differ markedly from traditional archaeological approaches (i.e. excavations, analysis of material culture), both in terms of the nature of the knowledge recovered and the temporal depth achieved. In this particular instance, collective remembrance and embodied memory featured prominently in accounting for the past of Peine.

Patrimonial Education and Cultural Rights: The Contribution of Archaeological Heritage to the Construction of Collective Memories

The aim of this paper is to present our experiences as members of the Public Archaeology Program (PAP) — based at the Museo de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC) — which focuses on north-east communities in Córdoba, Argentina, where we have performed several archaeological rescue excavations and educational activities based around the protection of regional archaeology and heritage. Since we recognize and respect the cultural rights of these communities in relation to the archaeological heritage, we conducted a scheme of activities to encourage people to participate in archaeological rescues, lectures, and workshops about the lifestyle of the indigenous people that inhabited Córdoba, on the basis of knowledge generated from material culture recovered in these sites. Our methodology derives from concepts framed by Heritage Education, which aims at yielding greater insights into identity and collective memory, in view of the way members of these communities interpret the past.

Small Works, Big Stories. Methodological approaches to photogrammetry through crowd-sourcing experiences

A recent digital public archaeology project (HeritageTogether) sought to build a series of 3D ditigal models using photogrammetry from crowd-sourced images. The project saw over 13000 digital images being donated, and resulted in models of some 78 sites, providing resources for researchers, and condition surveys. The project demonstrated that digital public archaeology does not stop at the 'trowel's edge', and that collaborative post-excavation analysis and generation of research processes are as important as time in the field. We emphasise in this contribution that our methodologies, as much as our research outputs, can be fruitfully co-produced in public archaeology projects.

Crowd-sourcing archaeological research: HeritageTogether digital public archaeology in practice

Archaeologists are increasingly working with crowd-sourced digital data. Using evidence from other disciplines about the nature of crowd-sourcing in academic research, we suggest that archaeological projects using donated data can usefully be differentiated between generative projects (which rely on data collected by citizen scientists), and analytical projects (which make use of volunteers to classify, or otherwise analyse data that are provided by the project). We conclude that projects which privilege hyper-local research (such as surveying specific sites) might experience tension if the audience they are appealing to are 'cyber local'. In turn, for more 'traditional' archaeological audiences (when the primary motivating interests may be the tangible, physical nature of portable material culture or the archaeological site itself), then intangible, digital simulacra may not provide an effective medium through which to undertake digital public archaeology

CONSCIÊNCIA HISTÓRICA CRÍTICA E ARQUEOLOGIA CLÁSSICA NA ESCOLA: PENSANDO ABORDAGENS A PARTIR DE NOVAS PERSPECTIVAS SOBRE O IMPÉRIO ROMANO

Resumo: Proporemos, neste artigo, pensar de que maneira a interdisciplinaridade entre Arqueologia e História pode propiciar conhecimentos que reflitam sobre a pluralidade do passado romano. A partir do estabelecimento de diálogos entre a academia e a escola, o objetivo deste artigo é defender o potencial desse saber arqueológico para que os alunos possam compreender a diversidade de sujeitos, relações e culturas de maneira mais temporalizada e multifacetada, tendo em vista a relação entre o passado e presente. Pretendemos refletir sobre a possibilidade de inserir os estudos recentes sobre a cultura material do início do principado romano, no século I d.C., nas salas de aula, aliando o referencial teórico de Jörn Rüsen referente à “consciência histórica crítica” à proposta da Arqueologia Pública de estabelecer relações mais profícuas e menos hierarquizadas entre o conhecimento acadêmico e as escolas.

Public Archaeology in the National Park Service: A Brief Overview and Case Study

Archaeologists are integral in National Park Service (NPS) culture. Some archaeologists “wear the hat” and the authoritative uniform symbolizing the park service, yet non–park service archaeologists can work at the parks with research permits under the Archaeological Resource Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA permits [Neumann et al. 2010]) or with a cultural resource contract award. Both endeavors provide information to help individual parks meet their management and interpretative goals. An added benefit for these archaeologists is working at some of the country's most beautiful, always intriguing, and often endangered archaeological sites. NPS cultural resources range from southwestern pueblos to Revolutionary battlefields, urban historic sites, and coastal lighthouses. Most national parks contain spaces and places with varied, large, and vocal constituencies, including archaeologists. To promote, regulate, conserve, preserve, and certify public enjoyment—these ideas reverberate a century after the park service's founding and are detailed in its national strategies (Everhart 1983; NPS 2011). A brief review of NPS history and of some of its leaders illustrates how archaeologists influenced this often-romanticized public organization. An example of how interdisciplinary archaeological research works at a national park follows that discussion.

Crowd-sourced Archaeological Research: The MicroPasts Project

This paper offers a brief introduction to MicroPasts, a web-enabled crowd-sourcing and crowd-funding project whose overall goal is to promote the collection and use of high quality research data via institutional and community collaborations, both on- and off-line. In addition to introducing this initiative, the discussion below is a reflection of its lead author’s core contribution to the project and will dwell in more detail on one particular aspect of MicroPasts: its relevance to research and practice in public archaeology, cultural policy and heritage studies.

Public Archaeology and Critical Histories: Collaborative Archaeology in Southern Illinois

This article considers how historical archaeologists and scholars of African-American heritage can work to decolonize existing historical narratives about our communities. I discuss an archaeological and historical work on a farmstead in rural southern Illinois, occupied by my African-American ancestors from the early nineteenth century onward. This project’s goals are multi-faceted. I seek to contribute to the often-invisible histories of Black pioneers, and to undertake an excavation open to the public, aided by community participation, and centered on community members’ questions about the area’s past. While my professional research questions focus on examining the material residues of changing processes of racialization in the nineteenth century, as a stakeholder and community member my research goals focus on making archaeological history accessible to a rural community.

Archaeology, Local Development and Tourism—a Role for International Institutes

AbstractThe growing influence of Public Archaeology from within the discipline and the agendas of government, international organizations and funders from outside it mean there are increasing expectations that archaeologists will mobilize archaeological resources and knowledge to directly benefit present and future generations. As a result, archaeologists are encouraged to contribute to development agendas and are becoming increasingly involved in projects featuring local economic benefits and tourism. Such projects usually require skills and perspectives which go outside archaeologists’ traditional education, and are often challenging undertakings. International institutes, including the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) in Jordan, are well placed to respond to these challenging requirements in their role as facilitators of research and researchers. International institutes are fundamental in helping archaeologists to realize the potential of their work to support these agendas while main...

A Regional Perspective on Government, Archaeology, and Economic Development: The Americas

This paper considers archaeology, economic development, and government through a critical approach. It discusses the role of democracy, the rule of law, and the relationship between economic development and public policies aimed at improving the lives of ordinary people. It is argued that diminishing social inequalities are a shared concern and public policies are set up by democratic states to cope with this goal. The paper then turns to archaeology as a practice resulting from economic development and public policies. For the first century and a half, the discipline has been scholarly, elitist, and often colonialist. More recently, archaeology has been increasingly considered as a socially relevant endeavour in the Americas. Economic development, democracy, and the rule of law have been related in the last few decades. The paper concludes by stressing the role of public archaeology for a progressive role for archaeology in economic development in the future.

Socialização do conhecimento arqueológico: Uma perspectiva interdisciplinar

O artigo objetiva levantar discussão acerca da importância de uma perspectiva interdisciplinar na realização e análise dos processos que envolvem a socialização do conhecimento arqueológico. Tal proposição fundamenta-se a partir do desenvolvimento da tese de doutorado Ações Educacionais no contexto da Arqueologia Preventiva – uma proposta para Amazônia estudo que procurou discutir a partir das áreas da Educação Patrimonial, Arqueologia Pública e Musealização da Arqueologia um modelo de desenvolvimento de ações educacionais no contexto amazônico.

Materializing Appalachian Kentucky Coal Towns: Public Archaeology as Applied Anthropology in the Coal Camp Documentary Project

The Coal Camp Documentary Project1 is an ongoing, Web-based collaborative documentary effort between the University of Kentucky's (UK's) Appalachian Center, scholars, and community members from company coal towns across Kentucky's Appalachian region. Its Website is designed as a place for sharing information about coal community life, and includes stories, pictures, videos, and other resources about over 400 company coal towns shared by community members and scholars.

CONSTRUÇÕES DE DIÁLOGOS E COMPARTILHAMENTO DO CONHECIMENTO – ALGUMAS REFLEXÕES ACERCA DA DIVULGAÇÃO CIENTÍFICA, EDUCAÇÃO PATRIMONIAL E ARQUEOLOGIA PÚBLICA

This article aims to present some thoughts about Scientific Dissemination, Heritage Education and Public Archaeology. Often treated as synonymous, such terms refer to distinct practical and theoretical fields which substantially dialogue with archaeological practices. With that in mind, and not intent on exhausting the topic, the article will seek to trace the emergence of such proposals in Brazil and internationally, and to render a brief presentation of the concepts by investigating their uses over the past decades in countries where they were coined, as in the United States and Great Britain.