A Crisis of Unpublished Cities: An Epoch of Incredulous Belief

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Urban Archaeology is often treated as something that is either people explicitly studying the urban or as the result of inevitable 'grey' archaeology that happens through mandated CRM. It is often treated very differently than the rest of archaeology - this is seen in no better way than in the approach to the (lack of) publication of Urban Archaeology. While grey literature is important, the fact that it is what dominates excavation and finds in an urban context (at least within the modern, in particular post-1850s, city) is troubling as it puts the information garnered from these digs or archival research at a disadvantage. The ultimate result is it communities it represents at a disadvantage, something even more concerning given many of these digs are done on the backs of unpaid community members.This paper will discuss the ethical pitfalls of the othering of Urban Archaeology and its wider effect.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Urban Preservation Challenges in a Global Perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow