Creating Effective and Sustainable Public Archaeology: An Analytical Roadmap

Abstract

Archaeology is the study, and by extension, the story of cultures, and everyone deserves access to their stories and those of their ancestors. The better one understands archaeology, culture, and history, the better one understands themselves and those around them. Thus, this thesis seeks to identify what approaches are needed to create sustainable, effective, and engaging public archaeology programs. Due to the extreme importance of further efforts of inclusion, collaboration, and diversity within archaeology, which will be explained and explored within the following chapters, this analysis will quantify the myriad of ways in which public archaeology can be achieved and showcase that it is possible to provide impactful programs for a variety of communities and audiences, no matter how lavish or frugal one’s budget may be.Over the course of this thesis, six public archaeology programs will be examined through twelve metrics. The programs featured are The Estate Little Princess Archaeology Project, Archaeology in the Community, Nome Archaeology Camp, The Sugarland Ethno-History Project, the Texas Archeological Stewardship Network, and Project Archaeology. All six programs involve some level of collaboration with other archaeological and/or educational entities. The metrics were designed after careful consideration of the current public archaeology models proposed by Colwell (2016) and Atalay (2012). Colwell’s Collaborative Continuum and Atalay’s Community-Based Participatory Research models are more inclusive and diverse in their scope than Grima’s Multi-Perspective Model. All three models will be discussed in this thesis. Lastly, the metrics used are not meant to be rigid or to be used for “grading” each program on any sort of scale, but rather to highlight the methods required to create and sustain effective public archaeology. Each public archaeology program should be individualized to fit its specific audience, leaving participants with a greater respect or connection to the past, depending on where they fit within a given narrative. It is hoped that this thesis will inspire more to get involved in public archaeology and help to showcase that it can be achieved at any level.