The Pros and Cons of "Public Archaeology Days"

Summary

The Florida Public Archaeology Network is tasked with educating Florida's public about the state's rich archaeological heritage. One method that has been used to do so is what we call "Public Archaeology Days". These days mainly consist of identifying artifacts that the public has legally collected on private land, usually their own backyards or farms. There has been much debate surrounding this method of public outreach and much discussion on how to properly host these events. Often we partner with other educational venues to host these events. We strive to make them educational for the public and attempt to provide them with not only information about the artifacts they bring us, but also teach them about the laws, the importance of archaeological site context, the Florida Master Site File and also the ethics involved with collecting. Of course, this must be done in such a way as to not deter the public from approaching archaeologists with their finds or information about potential sites.Through trial and error, we are constantly working to enhance this program and ensure that it meets our goal of public education while remaining a positive experience for both the archaeologists and the public.

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

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Public Perceptions of Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage