Community Archaeology on the Edge…

Last week Gabriel, Sarah and Tina went to Nordic Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) in Reykjavik, Iceland.  The theme of the conference was Borders, Margins, Fringes: Archaeology from the Edge.

 

Sarah organised a session with Suzie Thomas (University of Glasgow), entitled ‘Community Archaeology and the University’.  The idea of the session was to explore the role of universities in community archaeology and to encourage participants to think about some of the issues involved.  We are really grateful for all the thought provoking papers contributed and the responses that we had from those attending.

 

The session began with a paper called ‘How (not) to research community archaeology’ by Gabriel.  In this paper, he discussed the development of community archaeology and the models which are used to understand it at present.  He suggested that the principles of participatory action research could be used to help plan and understand community archaeology.

 

The next two participants presented papers discussing two very different projects, both based in Manchester.  Hannah Cobb presented the Whitworth Park Community Archaeology and History Project and demonstrated how the University of Manchester, as a strong presence in the area, acts as a part of the community.  Adam Thompson discussed the Dig Greater Manchester project, in which, by contrast, the University of Salford aims to engage with communities in 10 local authorities in Manchester.  The papers usefully contrasted projects which differ in both scale and approach.

 

Next up, Sarah gave paper on Dig Where We Stand looking at some of the ways in which the funding framework has affected the way in which the project has worked.  Sarah raised the question of altruism in community archaeology, asking whether the motivations of universities have to be linked to funding, research outcomes and impact.

 

Tom Dawson explored the interaction between the University of St Andrews and local communities on Scotland’s coastline.  Researchers monitoring coastal erosion are engaging the public in editing and updating the records of sites at risk via an interactive website and mobile phone app.  Tom raised important points about the need to incorporate community work into research frameworks.

 

Suzie drew the session to a close by presenting the new Journal for Community Archaeology and Heritage, to be launched in 2014 by the academic publishers Maney.  The journal will provide a new platform for community archaeologists of all backgrounds to share their research.  The journal will feature academic papers.  One of many innovative features will be the ‘Reflections’ section, in which community participants will be invited to reflect on their experiences of community archaeology and heritage projects.  We certainly hope to contribute in the future!