Community Archaeology in Proto-Historical Tel Bareqet,Israel: School Children and Agency for Active Public Engagement in Cultural Heritage Projects

Abstract

Community archaeology has become very popular over the past decade, and community archaeology projects are yielding interesting results in many regions around the globe (Merriman, 2004). These projects seem to be gaining academic importance as well, and are considered by some people to be vital to the survival of archaeology as a whole (Marshall, 2002: 218).

Still, community archaeology projects often stir debate regarding their importance, role, and existence. A major theme of these discussions is the role played by the community. In particular, the question is often raised of what role, if any, should be given to non-professional local populations in a project's scientific decision-making.

The current article aims to present the controversy between two types of archaeological practices, 'archaeology from above' and 'archaeology from below' (Faulkner, 2000) through the examination of a community archaeological project in which schoolchildren constitute the community participants. The site of the excavation is Tel Bareqet, a 5000-year-old (Early Bronze Age II, c. 3050–2700 BCE) urban settlement located in central Israel. On the one hand, the excavation strives to maintain the highest scientific standard; on the other hand, it depends upon the participation of unskilled young people in the excavation process.

This article presents obstacles that have been encountered in this excavation, and describes the methodological framework that has been developed in order to overcome these obstacles and continue carrying out a successful community archaeology project.     

Administration of parks with rack art: A symposium and workshop in Jujuy Argentina,December 2003

Abstract

Visits to archaeological sites, within school, a history or archaeology club, or a family group, are the main means for young people to engage with the archaeological historic environment. The majority of archaeological sites easily accessible for such groups are those that have been 'sanitized' for public consumption. These are often devoid of explanation of the archaeological process which made them accessible. This paper looks at the contribution that working archaeological sites can make to young people's understanding of archaeology, with particular reference to visits made by branches of the Young Archaeologists' Club, based in the UK.     

Evaluating Community Archaeology in the UK

Abstract

Does community archaeology work? In the UK over the last decade, there has been a boom in projects utilising the popular phrase 'community archaeology'. These projects can take many different forms and have ranged from the public face of research and developer-funded programmes to projects run by museums, archaeological units, universities, and archaeological societies. Community archaeology also encapsulates those projects run by communities themselves or in dialogue between 'professional' and 'amateur' groups and individuals. Many of these projects are driven by a desire for archaeology to meet a range of perceived educational and social values in bringing about knowledge and awareness of the past in the present. These are often claimed as successful outputs of community projects. This paper argues that appropriate criteria and methodologies for evaluating the efficacy of these projects have yet to be designed. What is community archaeology for? Who is it for? And is it effectively meeting its targets? Focusing on the authors' experiences of directing community archaeology projects, together with the ongoing research assessing the efficacy of community archaeology projects in the UK, this paper aims to set out two possible methodologies: one of self-reflexivity, and one of ethnoarchaeological analysis for evaluating what community archaeology actually does for communities themselves.     

Editorial

Abstract

A recent online article in The Daily Beast listed archaeology as one of the thirteen most useless undergraduate degrees. The article failed to identify transferable job skills gained while engaged in archaeological work. Further, archaeological field programmes and labs offer an alternative learning environment that benefits some students. This article reviews two archaeological projects that used archaeology as a form of social activism to provide employment and education to an under-served community as a fundamental aspect of its goals. The Hopedale Archaeology Project is an archaeology field project based in a north-east Canadian community that provides education and work opportunities for Inuit students. The Veterans Curation Program based in the United States provides temporary employment to recently discharged military veterans in an archaeological and archival curation lab. These programmes assist individuals to re-establish themselves within the workforce and add to their academic and professional growth, as well as incorporate a public outreach component that makes archaeology and history more accessible to the public.     

News and Commentary on the Illicit Traffic in Antiquities

Abstract

In this review article, Dan Hicks works through the approach to “the archaeology of improvement” adopted in the book The Archaeology of Improvement in Britain, 1750–1850 (2007) by historical archaeologist Sarah Tarlow. Tracing the Interpretive Critique of traditional British post-medieval archaeology, the review considers the implications of the book's approach to archaeological practice, especially in relation to materiality, historiography, and geography. Using the volume as a point of entry for taking stock of the significance and limitations of this Interpretive Critique, Hicks calls for a decentring of the Britishness in British historical archaeology.     

CONTEMPORARY AND RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY IN PRACTICE

Abstract

The archaeology of the 20th century has been studied since the 1960s, but it is only more recently that explicit theoretical and methodological issues have been explored by the wider archaeological profession. This paper explores some of those issues in the contexts of developer-funded archaeology and community archaeology. Ways in which the archaeology of the more recent past may both help and hinder the discipline are considered, together with the relevance of archaeology to society at large.     

Archaeology and British television

Abstract

The years at the turn of the millennium were a period of high synergy between archaeology and British television, as terrestrial broadcasters struggled to maintain their identity in a more competitive, multi-channel environment. Responding to the public's growing appetite for both history and science, these channels, notably BBC2 and Channel4, rebranded the image of their factual output by investing heavily in archaeological programmes, building on the success of mid-1990s series that had established a healthy core audience for TV archaeology. The broadcasting of archaeological documentaries was to increase threefold between 1998 and 2002, with over 650 transmissions in five years. An analysis of the locations, time periods, subjects and styles of presentation of 590 of these demonstrates that the archaeology that was being presented was largely UK-based, but wide-ranging in periods and subject matter, and that the formats most used were ones that focused on the process of archaeological work. The study concludes that, seen as a whole, TV's portrayal of archaeology in these years was less sensationalized than has previously been acknowledged.     

Post-medieval archaeology in Portugal

Abstract

Portuguese post-medieval archaeology corresponds to the period between the early 16th century and the late 18th century, identified in the archaeological record through several distinct artefact categories, of which ceramics are the most abundant. New products such as thin-walled moulded coarsewares and faience are found together with imports from different European countries, China and other Eastern lands. Although sites and finds are mentioned in Portuguese archaeological and art-historical literature from the late 19th century, it only became a scientific discipline in the 1980s. This paper aims to provide a general view of investigations in post-medieval archaeology for more than a century, focusing on contexts and finds, but also looking towards the discipline’s future.     

Digital Support for Archaeology

Abstract

We describe an interdisciplinary approach in which computer scientists develop techniques to support archaeology. In the Reading Images for the Cultural Heritage (RICH) project, a variety of methods have been developed to support archaeologists in the visualization, categorization, and characterization of archaeological objects, such as medieval glass, coins, ceramics, and seeds. The methods are based on image processing and machine learning algorithms that are tailored to the task at hand. We describe the algorithms and illustrate their application on archaeological datasets. The virtues and pitfalls of the interdisciplinary approach to archaeology are discussed.     

Battlefields as cultural resources

Abstract

The category of 'historic battlefield' is a relatively new one in archaeology. As a place of activity in the past, a battlefield is most often considered to be a 'historic place', rather than an 'archaeological site', although the attention of archaeologists over the past few decades has done much to indicate the archaeological potential and significance of such places. As a site of attention by heritage agencies in the present, battlefields are subject to a range of different treatments not only in different territories, but often also different manners of treatment under the same management regime. Neither of these sets of approaches has resulted in any kind of debate about the nature of the historic battlefield as an object — the discourse remains locked in a set of unexamined assumptions that are worthy of review. Accordingly, this paper reviews, from the perspective of archaeology, the current state of the category of 'historic battlefield' internationally. In particular, it considers the historical development of battlefield studies in archaeology and examines the ontology of the historic battlefield from three key perspectives: the definition of 'battle'; battlefields as places; and the manner in which they are given value as part of management regimes.     

Framing the past: situating the archaeological in photographs

Archaeology continually reproduces its own images. Speaking archaeology’s visual language is one way we prove membership in the discipline. Many aspects of this visual language have become so naturalized within archaeological representation as to be almost unquestionable: the cleaning of the site, the use of scale, and particular framings and perspectives. How, then, is the production of particular photographic images of archaeology related to the practice of archaeology? Does archaeology look a certain way (in photographs) or are archaeologists reproducing an archaeology according to the way it is thought it should look? Using examples of early photographs from Latin American archaeological expeditions, this article investigates not only photography as an applied technology for scientific recording, but also its power to situate archaeological knowledge. Drawing on recent reflective and critical developments in both the history of archaeology and visual anthropology, it uses five focal points – trace, objectivity and authenticity, sight/site, still lifes, and still lives – to argue that early-twentieth-century archaeological photographs of Latin America participated in the generation of an ‘authentic’ past rather than simply paid testament to it.     

Public Archaeology in a Nascent Nation State: Two Decades of Independence in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Moldova celebrated twenty years of independence in August 2011. This article gives an overview of the path to independence and the steps which have been taken since by successive Moldovan governments to establish an identity for the state and its population. Public history and archaeology have played a prominent role in state-sponsored nation-building. Two case studies are discussed: that of the state's leadership icon, the medieval prince Stephen the Great; and Moldova's premier archaeological landscape, Orheiul Vechi. Complexities in the interpretation of these examples are due both to historical factors and to the contemporary economic difficulties facing Europe's poorest country. The article sees nation-building in Moldova as reflective of modernist accounts of nationalism, and of socio-political expediency.     

Units of Archaeological Stratification

The excavating archaeologists’ methodological set ‐ excavation, recording, analysis and publication ‐ rests on the notions and principles of the stratigraphic succession of archaeological deposits. Since 1954 when Sir Mortimer Wheeler published Archaeology From the Earth, there has been a dearth of published discussion on the stratigraphie theory in archaeology. This paper examines some of the background of the stratigraphie notion in archaeology and a revised model for archaeological stratigraphy based on ‘units of stratification’ is presented. Re‐evaluations of stratigraphie configurations in archaeology arc perhaps long overdue and this article is an attempt to engender discussion on this fundamental archaeological tenet.     

A History of Archaeology in the Republic of Armenia

Abstract

This article traces the development of archaeological inquiry in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia, from its antiquarian roots in the 19th century, through the Soviet era, and into modern times. The resurgence of western attention in the region since the end of the Cold War has been driven by collaborative research projects from the United States, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, England, Russia, and Canada, that employ a variety of methods to understand the archaeological heritage of Armenia. Research problems are related to the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as to the Urartian, Achaemenid, and Hellenistic periods.

For those unfamiliar with Armenia, this article is meant as a primer to the history of the discipline as it has been practiced in the region. For those already engaged in archaeology there, it is our hope that this discussion will lend an added historical dimension to ongoing field projects.     

Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Population Trends in Northeastern North America

Abstract

The Seneca are an original member of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and one of several Northern Iroquoian societies that inhabited northeastern North America. This research explores their population history during the 16th and 17th centuries. Previous studies of Northern Iroquoian populations identified population increase until contact with Europeans, no evidence of pre-contact diseases, and drastic depopulation resulting from interaction with European societies. Similar patterns were expected in this research. Combining archaeological settlement data collected with non- and minimally invasive survey techniques and ethnohistorical information, this article estimates the population trends of the Seneca. The results show a highly complex population history that includes pre-contact population losses, in- and out-migration episodes, significant losses from Old World diseases, and rapid population recovery. The field methods employed here may have wider applicability for the demographic archaeology of other similarly adapted cultures.     

Wet-Site Excavation and Field Methodology at Butrint,Albania: The Roman Forum Excavations Project

Since the start of archaeological research at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Butrint (Bouthrotos/ Buthrotum) in southern Albania, archaeologists have allowed the water table to serve as a limit to archaeological excavation. From 2011 to 2013, the Roman Forum Excavations (RFE) Project conducted the first wet-site excavations at Butrint, reaching depths of up to 4 m below the water table in the ancient urban center. Well-preserved wood and other organic remains were recovered from waterlogged deposits, dating as early as the 7th century b.c. Major changes in RFE Project methodology emerged in response to wet-site archaeology. Unskilled local workers were trained to become local excavators. This significantly improved excavation techniques and recording procedures and enhanced the quality of the archaeological data, showing the high degree to which seemingly disparate elements of field methodology are intertwined.     

Of grizzlies and landslides: the use of archaeological and anthropological evidence in Canadian aboriginal rights cases

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the most contentious problems raised by the use of archaeological and anthropological evidence in aboriginal rights litigation in Canada. The first part of the paper deals with the general impact of archaeological and anthropological theories on law. The more specific problems related to the use of archaeological and anthropological evidence in aboriginal rights litigation are the subject of the second part. The final section deals with the reverse problem, that is, the question of the law's impact on the disciplines of archaeology and anthropology.     

Archaeological Site Management and Local Involvement: A Case Study from Abu Rawash,Egypt

Abstract

Local involvement is an essential element of successful archaeological site management. Recognition of the role of the local community could make a great contribution in improving the present critical situation of many archaeological sites worldwide. In Egypt, where internationally renowned archaeological sites attract both academic and tourism interests, archaeological sites and monuments are suffering from different issues. Amongst the various causes is the failure to recognize the relationship between the sites and the present society — both the local community and other stakeholders — and this has negatively influenced the sites. Not only have the local communities been given limited access to knowledge, and limited opportunities to become involved in the archaeology, but also their attempts to pursue a better standard of living have been restricted for the sake of protecting the national heritage. In this article I use a case study from Abu Rawash to explore strategies that could encourage local involvement in site management, through capacity building and communication with the government and other stakeholders. Although local involvement may not provide a drastic improvement of an individual site's condition, the principle of local involvement should contribute to a general improvement in Egypt, where conservation efforts largely focus on physical materials and little attention is given to the society surrounding the archaeological remains.     

Archaeological Applications of the Electra-Level

Abstract

The Electra-Level is a leveling device with applications in field archaeology. It offers advantages over the line level and optical leveling instruments in situations where visibility, obstructions, or shortage of personnel are factors. Some specific applications in archaeological fieldwork by Boston's City Archaeology Program are described.