By Tristan Boyle And Gregg Griffin
Public Archaeology outreach has transformed from an offshoot of digging work into its own branch of study. It's of benefit to the community in which the excavation is being done but also important for practitioners to reflect and observe the meaning of this past for the public. However, it is all too easy for this outreach to become a box ticking exercise, a façade of show and tell, not show and learn. In order for the public to have a say in the creation of the past and thus imbue it with a sense of being shared and communicated, the archaeologist must not gate-keep aspects of generating knowledge. If the final outcome is not in some way changed by including the public, how can that be any different than excluding them in the first place?
Obviously, there are things we must be careful to exclude and challenge, racism, sexism and the desire for simple, comfortable history that ignores suffering and oppression. However the rejection of these ideas need not always come from the archaeologists; communities themselves are diverse in thought and feeling, not guided by a single set of rules. There are disagreements, compromise, democracy, all which build up a navigatable space of understanding, the boundary at which stands the heritage professional.
I am not pessimistic about the current field, only that I have seen examples of attitudes that perpetuate stereotypes about the roles of archaeologists as teachers and arbiters of history. More importantly, these same attitudes often remove the archaeologist from the public, never allowing the practitioner to sit back and take part in the practice of archaeology without being considered an expert or looked to for answers.
There is no shortage of examples of dissemination of knowledge being diversified and made available to new audiences on new platforms. Even before the changes to everyday practices due to COVID19 pandemic, a number of archaeological sites have already been very progressive in how they interact with the public and share what they have found and how they go about interpreting the implications of their discoveries. One organisation at the forefront of this is EXARC, with an open access source for journal articles, instructional material, and other content to comprehensively present experimental archaeology to academics, hobbyists, and novices alike. They have expanded their offerings to include live stream conferences and weekly discussions on different ancient crafts and skills, available on Discord.
The Knowe of Swandro Coastal Archaeology Trust that operates a field school in the Orkney isles and run by the University of Bradford is a good example of accessible outreach in archaeology. The dig operates throughout the summers and hosts multiple open days with Neolithic and Viking reenactors demonstrating crafting and cooking on site. In addition, they also put on larger events that showcase the research and post excavation work to the general public. This dig makes the knowledge available, accessible, and engaging for all ages and experience levels. People who are really interested in trying their hand at archaeology can also volunteer to dig on the site. These two examples are just a few of the organisations that are working to make sure the knowledge of the past and passion for archaeology are reaching the masses.
There are good examples of public outreach, and especially in these trying times, institutions have either chosen or been forced to migrate into digital presentations shared around the world. However it is not enough, simply to do, we must be ever ready to adopt new practices and rethink current paradigms.
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Please contact tristan@archaeologypodcastnetwork.com for more information