Local Contexts, Global Application - A Comparative Analysis of Collaborative and Community Archaeology Projects in Western Australia, British Columbia and Alaska.

Summary

Collaborative heritage management projects requires adaptation to local customary protocols, local structures, and local community goals, and so necessitates a uniquely, localized focus. At the same time, developing, formalized approaches to collaboration that have universal elements – structures and processes - that are applicable in any context, is a goal in the continual evolution and development of a fully integrated collaborative, community archaeology. This means identifying those structures and processes that operate to overcome the specific barriers and/or opportunities that exist within a local community context. The differences (and similarities) between one local context and another are due to contrasting restraints/opportunities derived from government regulations, historical contexts, social structures, land tenure/access, industry impacts, academic agendas, and prevailing land management regimes, among other factors. Using several case studies of projects currently underway in Western Australia, British Columbia, and Alaska, the paper outlines the challenges, opportunities, and outcomes when undertaking collaborative and community archaeology projects operating within different socio-political contexts. The goal of this analysis is to identify the similar mechanisms established that transcend the contrasting, external barriers and opportunities. In so doing, the paper explores the wider applicability of developing a formalized, structural model of collaboration in cultural heritage management.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage