The values of community archaeology : a comparative assessment
Does community archaeology work? Worldwide over the last decade, there has been a boom in projects utilising the popular phrase âcommunity archaeologyâ. These projects take many different forms, stretching from the public-face of research and developer-funded programmes to projects run by museums, archaeological units, universities and archaeological societies. Many of these projects are driven by the 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. They are also motivated by the desire to secure adequate funding for archaeological research. However, appropriate criteria and methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of these projects have yet to be designed. This thesis sets out a methodology based on self-reflexivity and ethnology. It focuses on community excavations, in a range of contexts both in the UK and US. It assesses the values these projects produce for communities and evaluates what community archaeology actually does. It concludes that community archaeology frequently fails to balance the desired outcomes of its stakeholders. It suffers from its short-term funding and, therefore, often
Simpson, Faye Alexandra
Community archaeology ; Value
The values of community archaeology : a comparative assessment. Does community archaeology work? Worldwide over the last decade, there has been a boom in projects utilising the popular phrase âcommunity archaeologyâ. These projects take many different forms, stretching from the public-face of research and developer-funded programmes to projects run by museums, archaeological units, universities and archaeological societies. Many of these projects are driven by the 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. They are also motivated by the desire to secure adequate funding for archaeological research. However, appropriate criteria and methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of these projects have yet to be designed. This thesis sets out a methodology based on self-reflexivity and ethnology. It focuses on community excavations, in a range of contexts both in the UK and US. It assesses the values these projects produce for communities and evaluates what community archaeology actually does. It concludes that community archaeology frequently fails to balance the desired outcomes of its stakeholders. It suffers from its short-term funding and, therefore, often
value community_archaeology comparative assessment community_archaeology work worldwide boom project utilise popular phrase community_archaeology project take many_different form stretch public face developer_funded programme project run museum archaeological unit university archaeological society many project drive desire archaeology meet range perceive educational social value bring knowledge awareness past_present also motivate desire secure adequate funding archaeological_research however appropriate criterion methodology evaluate effectiveness project yet design set base self reflexivity ethnology focus community excavation range context assess value project produce community evaluate community_archaeology actually concludes community_archaeology frequently fail balance desire outcomes stakeholder suffers short_term funding therefore often