Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic

Part of: Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic," at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the last few months of 2019, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) began its inexorable march across the globe. Many cultural resource organizations and institutions temporarily closed or transitioned to working-at-home to reduce the risk of COVID-19’s spread. While archaeological fieldwork, lab work, research, teaching, and public outreach are generally ongoing in this time of social and physical distancing, the methods and means for doing that work have dramatically changed. This symposium seeks to bring together experiences from varying perspectives to document and share the implications of this most recent global pandemic on the practice of archaeology. Papers will touch on the challenges of team-based work, practical and theoretical impacts on organizational objectives, the viability of working at home, and the transition to virtual platforms for task completion. The experiences collected during this symposium will also serve as a means to inspire creative solutions to the new reality of archaeological practice.

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  • Documents (7)

Documents
  • Balancing the Blessing and Burden of St. Augustine’s Local Archaeological Preservation Ordinance during a Global Pandemic (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Katherine M. Sims. Andrea P. White.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. St. Augustine is one of the few local governments in the United States that has an archaeological preservation ordinance to protect its buried heritage. Since the ordinance was enacted 32 years ago, the development booms of 2018 and 2019 marked the greatest number of projects conducted by the City...

  • Beached: A Survey of Scientific Diving’s Response to COVID-19 (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicole Bucchino Grinnan. Joseph Grinnan.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In early 2020, scientific diving programs in the United States and elsewhere all but ceased operations as a novel coronavirus spread across the global community. While some programs were required to halt fieldwork, others were forced to eventually adapt to new personal health and safety needs to...

  • Fanning the Flames: Responding to Covid-19 as an Endangered Public Site (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Adrianne S. Walker.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The impacts of Covid-19 are innumerable for sites and museums and a serious conundrum resulted for places already in jeopardy from factors like budgetary cutbacks and limited resources. A case study for this conundrum is presented with Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site in Milton, Florida. Owned by...

  • Honoring America’s World War II Battlefield in a Virtual World (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Tane R Casserley. David Alberg.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Beyond NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary’s (MNMS) current boundaries off North Carolina lie waters associated with nearly 500 years of western maritime history and includes shipwrecks representing the American Civil War, U.S. naval aviation, World War I, and most prominently World War II...

  • Jamestown at Home: Enhanced Digital Outreach amidst the Pandemic (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa E. Fischer. Cynthia J. Deuell. Caroline E. Gardiner. Erica G. Moses.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant changes to daily life, forcing many cultural organizations that rely on public visitation to reorient their engagement efforts amidst site closures. Suddenly, communicating with audiences through the web and social media became even more vital. At the same...

  • Public Programs and Covid: Response from Participant Programs at James Madison’s Montpelier (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew Reeves. Mary Furlong Minkoff. Terry Brock. Chris Pasch. Hannah James. Taylor Brown.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Montpelier Archaeology Department has a long tradition of publicly engaged participant programs that feature hands-on learning. At the time of writing this abstract, we had decided to move forward with our week-long public programs. We adapted by changing our field procedures to ensure proper...

  • Rewriting the Narrative: Collections Management in the Time of Pandemic and Global Transition (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Meghan M Mumford.

    This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. As the general population learns to adjust to the “new normal,” the University of West Florida (UWF) Archaeology Institute Collections Management team has adapted to face new and old challenges alike. The initial closure of the UWF campus and subsequent limited access to curational facilities...