Remember a Day: Community and Public Archaeology

DOCUMENT Citation Only Alexandra Jones.

Archaeology programs conducted daily by archaeologists make a difference in how citizens perceive their cultural heritage and science. Through educational programs and outreach, archaeologists are inspiring new generations to explore the many fields of archaeological study.  Education programs, which introduce students to archaeology through an informal education model, tend to capture the attention and the interest of students. This approach rests upon the idea that when presented with...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul Belford.

Telford was created as a 'new town' in the 1960s in a former industrial area, partly to regenerate what was perceived to be a derelict landscape. The new town initially had a divisive effect on long-established local communities. This paper describes an ongoing project which seeks to heal some of these divisions by working with local communities and other stakeholders to explore some of the area's neglected archaeology and heritage. The project has evolved from a 'top down' approach to a more...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Charles Ewen.

Archaeologists in the United States have been horrified by the debut of new reality shows featuring treasure hunters looting sites for fun and profit.  Most troubling was that one of these shows, "Diggers", was the brainchild of the National Geographic Society, long time supporters of archaeology.  Meetings with National Geographic have shown them willing to compromise to make the shows more ethical if they could still be profitable. However, the real question is, how willing are...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Mary C Petrich-Guy. Jeff Marks.

Cultural Resource Management, or CRM, accounts for most of the archaeology conducted in the United States but due to a number of varying factors such as budget, time, location, and legal constraints, public engagement initiated by private archaeological firms remains the exception and not the norm. The scope of work is often limited to adhering to the legal mandates prescribed to firms by federal and state governing bodies. CRM companies can take approaches to ensure that the public is informed...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael B Thomin.

Geocaching is a world-wide scavenger hunt game where players try to find hidden containers by using GPS coordinates of their location posted online. Activities like geocaching offer organizations a great opportunity to promote cultural resources and provide interpretation to players. In 2011 the Florida Public Archaeology Network created a geocaching trail, or geotrail, highlighting historic and archaeological sites in Northwest Florida as a way to promote heritage tourism in the region....

DOCUMENT Citation Only Erica A. D'Elia.

This paper examines the benefits of using archaeology to enhance children’s education. I use the children’s  programs run by the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project as a case study to explore the relationship between archaeology and the development of critical thinking skills. In the United States education Standards and the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act have been widely criticized by educators who argue that it has led to shallow coverage of topics, one size fits all education, and teaching...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Timothy Baumann. Sara Clark. Angie Krieger. G. William Monaghan. Nathan Johnson. Matthew Pike.

This presentation will highlight the preliminary findings of the 2012 archaeological excavations conducted as part of the German Ridge Heritage Project, a joint venture between Hoosier National Forest and Indiana University to document the lives and culture of early settlers in the German Ridge community of Perry County, Indiana.   German Ridge was first occupied by American settlers in the 1830s and then by German immigrants in the 1850s.  These people lived on the edge as they attempted to...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas E. Emerson. Miranda L. Yancey-Bailey. Joseph M. Galloy.

The inconspicuous Mississippi River town of Brooklyn, Illinois was the first black town in the USA. Located just north of East St. Louis, Brooklyn was founded around 1829 as a freedom settlement by several enterprising African-American families that emigrated from Missouri. The most remarkable settler was a former slave named "Mother" Priscilla Baltimore, who was a major figure in the AME movement. Today, despite serious economic hardships, Brooklynites display tenacity, resilience, and a strong...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Susan Furness. Fiona Jackson.

The ‘Highland Clearances’ is an evocative term used to refer to the dramatic depopulation of the Scottish Highlands in the late 1700s and early 1800s, in the aftermath of the failed Jacobite rebellion. Although there is good evidence for forced and likely brutal evictions in many areas, the movement of people out of small rural settlements in other parts of the Highlands was less dramatic and more organic. The High Morlaggan Project is a community-led heritage and archaeology project that has...