The Castles in Communities Model: An Integrative Approach to a Field School, Research Project and Community Collaborative in Ireland

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Castles in Communities: Medieval Ireland Past to Present (CIC) is a multi-year project in Ballintober, County Roscommon, Ireland, with a trifold identity of an archaeological and anthropological field school, a research project focused on medieval Ireland, and a community collaborative focused on heritage preservation and celebration. The underlying premise of CIC is that the construction of knowledge about the past and its use as heritage today is best served through both excavation and ethnography, and with a firm commitment to the ethics, methods and theoretical implications of community-engaged archaeology. After four field seasons, CIC is beginning to see the results of our integrated model, and specifically how our work is being integrated into the construction and utilization of a local heritage narrative, a narrative which took center stage in Ballintober’s 2018 bid for the national Pride of Place competition, and a narrative which is emerging as a potentially attractive one in tourism initiatives such as Ireland’s Hidden Heartland. This paper will share highlights of our model along with some of the successes and challenges to date of our integrated and community-centered approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25871