CFP: Actors, not spectators

Actors, Not Spectators. Community Representation in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in the 21st century

A session at the 28th EAA Annual Meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 31 August - 3 September 2022

Call for papers - Session: #424

Theme: 1. Archaeologists and Archaeology Here and Now

Session Format: Regular session

Title: Actors, Not Spectators. Community Representation in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in the 21st century

Session Abstract

A shift in public and community archaeology and the way communities are engaged has resulted in numerous publications on how to actively involve various citizens in the entire research process. Despite the increased focus on participatory archaeological research and citizen science worldwide, projects are still often aimed at the “comfortable” audience. The dutiful spectator that obliges with “official” definitions, legislations, and heritage practices, such as “responsible” metal detectorists in many countries. Yet, detectorists and other parts of the public are still routinely by-passed in the citizen scientist realm because of the way they choose to engage with heritage; often hands-on, not within the museum setting nor in the passive role as a spectator. Due to this, they are frequently denied access to the archaeological field, and painted as a potential threat. In addition, there are the individuals who do not always conform with the normative views of an archaeological participator: the non-white, disabled, Indigenous, neurodivergent, LGTBQ+, those of ethnic and religious minorities. Specifically, people who are commonly denied access to their past and to be an actor in this narrative.


Across the world, individuals, communities, stakeholders, knowledge keepers and other members of the public are demanding to be allowed to not only view the end process of archaeology. They want to have access; to be actively involved in the heritage-making process and have a say in how the archaeological heritage is displayed and used. This session welcomes those who seek to challenge our view of what true participation can or should be. We particularly encourage individuals from the LGTBQ+ communities, citizen scientists, Indigenous persons, and people who can present on case studies, offer practical examples or theoretical approaches to these exclusionary practices in archaeology and heritage studies.

Keywords:

Representation, Heritage-making, Community, Public archaeology

Organisers

Main organiser: Kiara Beaulieu (Canada), University of Antwerp


Co-organisers: Suzie Thomas (Belgium), University of Antwerp
Irmelin Axelsen (Norway), University of Oslo
Jordan Jamieson (Canada), Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation





Email for informal inquiries: kiarabeaulieu@gmail.com or use our contact form.

To submit an abstract: go to the EAA website.

Community archaeology

A press-release from the Council for British Archaeology:

CBA Report Reveals Voluntary Archaeology Has Doubled in Twenty Years

A new report highlights the sheer scale of voluntary archaeology in the
UK, and makes important recommendations about how these activities
should be supported in the future. Over 200,000 individuals are involved
in a community archaeology group or local society, carrying out
activities as diverse as excavation, marine archaeology, recording a
historic building or volunteering for a Young Archaeologists' Club
Branch. This figure has more than doubled since a similar survey was
carried out in 1987.

The reasons for this increase are varied. Interest in archaeology is
widening, with a greater range of television programmes, websites and
publications available than ever before. It may also relate to a real
expansion in voluntary activity of all kinds, with a recent report
indicating that 43% of adults had volunteered formally within the last
12 months. It is also significant that increased funding opportunities
for local archaeology groups have become available over the past decade,
especially from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Council for British Archaeology (CBA) report, Community Archaeology
in the UK: Recent Findings, brings together a UK-wide research project
that surveyed, consulted and interviewed voluntary groups to gain a
clearer understanding of the nature and scale of voluntary involvement
in archaeology. Professional archaeologists and outreach workers were
also consulted to assess how the activities of voluntary archaeologists
could be better supported and recorded.

Key findings from the report are that:

* There are at least 2,030 voluntary groups and societies active
in the UK that interact with archaeological heritage in a wide variety
of ways. This represents approximately 215,000 individuals with an
active interest in archaeological heritage.

* Relationships between voluntary archaeologists and the c 7500
professional archaeologists in the UK are mostly good, but some problems
can be identified. Thus there is a case for more training for
professional archaeologists to equip them better to work with and
support volunteers.

* Group activities, even levels of expertise, are significantly
influenced by local conditions, such as relationships with professional
archaeologists, legislation, and availability of grants.

* The dramatic decline in continuing education departments and the
closure/down-sizing of many archaeological organisations continues to
have an impact.

* Sustainability is a key issue that emerged throughout the
research phases, and more research is needed into the means by which
bottom-up, community-led archaeology projects may work to ensure
sustainability.

* There is a need for training, but this varies from area to area,
and from group to group. Hence any training programmes must be tailored
to specific regions or groups, and must have an emphasis on practical
rather than passive sessions. Increased use of online learning models
will enable learners to choose material appropriate to their needs.
However, online provision cannot substitute for face-to-face
interaction, which is still considered to be of most value.

* Some community archaeology groups are very good at broadcasting
and publishing their work, others less so. 11% of groups that responded
to the survey claimed not to publish or broadcast their work at all.

The Council for British Archaeology will be acting on these conclusions
with ambitious plans to train a new generation of professional community
archaeology facilitators to help groups make the most of their
activities. The CBA will also be expanding its suite of advice and
guidance facilities, and focusing on raising the standard of work
carried out by volunteers.

Full report, and further details on our community archaeology work

New toolkit for heritage

Community Heritage Toolkit Now Live on CAF

A new resource for community archaeology and heritage groups has just
been made available via the CBA's award-winning Community Archaeology
Forum (CAF).

The Community Heritage Toolkit was created by Rosie Crook of Working
Heritage and derives from a workshop titled 'Whose Heritage is it
Anyway?' which was co-organised by the CBA and English Heritage in
Castleford in 2005. The Heritage Toolkit contains numerous step-by-step
suggestions of fun, interesting and affordable ways of engaging groups
and communities with their local heritage, including using oral history
and film, exploring old photographs and even excavating molehills!

The Toolkit, which forms part of the suite of Advice and Guidance pages
available through CAF is just the latest addition to the growing
website. As well as providing advice and signposting visitors to
potential sources of funding, CAF is also a place where groups can
publicise their own projects and activities by creating their own pages.

With 49 projects already listed, ranging in geographical location from
the North of Scotland Archaeological Society and the Unst Archaeological
Group to the St Newlyn East Excavations in Cornwall, this section of the
website is also constantly growing, with recent additions including
pages from the South Somerset Archaeological Research Group, and the Ram
Hill archaeology project in South Gloucestershire. Users can add their
own material to the site after a simple registration process that can be
accessed via CAF's homepage. In addition, there is an email discussion
list for those with an interest in community archaeology, which can also
be joined via the homepage.

The layout of CAF will be modified and improved later in the year, as
part of the intended outcomes of research currently being carried out
into how the CBA can support community archaeology across the UK.
Details of this research can be found at the Community Archaeology
Research page and via the Community Archaeology Support Officer's blog.

Existing projects and resources will be migrated to the new website, so
please don't be put off adding information now if you have something you
wish to tell us.

Archaeology in your area

BAJR have produced a map of where you can find all the local and active fieldwork archaeology societies in Britain (using a Google Maps mashup).

Check it out to find a local society in your area. It's also worth visiting the CBA Community Archaeology Forum, which has pages of information about each group's activity.