Engaging Communities in Archaeology on Private Property in Urban Neighborhoods: The Search for the First (1825-1829) Fort Vancouver, Vancouver, Washington

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Public and Our Communities: How to Present Engaging Archaeology" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Inspired to explore ways to increase the relevancy of archaeology to the public, I investigated ways in which archaeological and anthropological theory and methods can be used to engage with a community. Collaboration with residents of two Vancouver, Washington neighborhoods resulted in a search for archaeological evidence of the first Fort Vancouver built in 1825 by the Hudson’s Bay Company, adding to the history of the area and to the story of the fur trade. However, the project’s primary goals were to examine broader questions related to issues of place attachment, feelings about heritage, and attitudes toward archaeology amongst these community members and the wider public. In addition to archaeological excavation, I used interviews, ethnographic surveys, and public meetings to engage with neighborhood residents in a quest for ways to make archaeology relevant to communities of non-archaeologists.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• The Public and Our Communities: How to Present Engaging Archaeology

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 135