Power to the Public: The Community's Role in Collaborative Archeology

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the 1970s, the emergence of public archeology, a discipline within archeology aimed to engage the participation of the public, led many to raise questions about the public’s role in the proper stewardship of cultural materials. The public is encouraged to not only be viewed as the audience, but as equal partners alongside archeologists. With final reporting, analyses, and curation of objects requiring specialized skills, broad participation in the final stages of projects has been limited. Generally, archeologists are viewed as the arbiter of significance in the collections management process and the public’s role is challenged as their participation does not often lead to meaningful input into our understanding of the site or material. Using a post-processual theoretical framework, this poster will present an analysis of the conflicting interpretations of significance and questioning of authority in relation to cultural materials encountered in Texas Historical Commission (THC) affiliated public archeological projects.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• 2025 SHA Poster Submissions

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow