Archaeological Field schools: Teaching Heritage Management. An Example from Menorca

Summary

The archaeological field school is a traditional means of training students in the practical skills of survey, excavation, recording, and artifact processing. Recent discussions about field schools have emphasized the need to approach fieldwork from a holistic perspective and incorporate the theory and practice of archaeological stewardship: preservation, interpretation, management, and public outreach of archaeological resources. In this paper we describe our experience in the development of a heritage management component for Boston University's Archaeological Field School held on the island of Menorca (Spain) from 2000 through 2014. For the past five years we have developed different projects that combine archaeological fieldwork and heritage management at different sites in Menorca that range from prehistory to the 19th century. We have also trained students in the complexity of an island that is both a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and a candidate for World Heritage status. We ultimately view the incorporation of the values of heritage management and stewardship into our field school as important as teaching traditional subjects like excavation and recording, and as a means of approaching Archaeology in a holistic way.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage