Minding the Ideological Gap in Consulting Archaeology

Summary

This paper discusses recent results from an anthropological research program within a large archaeological consulting firm, highlighting some key ideological differences between consulting archaeologists and Indigenous archaeologists. Using interviews with a cross-section of archaeologists, the study combines results with previous research to illuminate the gap between these two groups with a focus on goals, practises and concerns. We attempt to shed light on areas for improvement and we challenge consulting archaeologists and their clients to move towards equitable partnerships developed through collaborative practises resulting in meaningful projects and deliverables. Acknowledging that the road is long, this paper seeks to move past discussing the issue by identifying the disparity between consulting archaeologists and Indigenous community members. This research provides a starting point to develop creative and sustainable relationships that meet the complex needs of large scale consulting archaeology.

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