An Unexamined Archaeological Project Is Not Worth Continuing: Critical Considerations for the Multidisciplinary I-10 Mobile River Bridge Archaeological Project

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The general public and bureaucratic decision makers rarely see the value of publicly-funded archaeological projects. The on again-off again I-10 Mobile River Bridge Archaeological Project (MRBAP) investigating 13 archaeological sites in the City of Mobile, includes ongoing artifact analyses, oral history interviews, historic map georeferencing, archival research, and public outreach. Recognizing limits of prior histories, such as Mobile: The New History of Alabama’s First City (2001) that includes statements requiring examination such as “because there never were enough white women” (page 315) and “Mobilians in good times and bad have managed to build a resilient and humane legacy” (page 321). The I-10 MRBAP does just that, while advancing archaeological method and theory, bringing to bear new evidence and synthesizing previous work to write a novel history of the region, enlighten and engage the public with our findings, and honor the People of Mobile Bay.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• 2024 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow