Participating in the Past: Communicating and Sharing Good Practice

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6.10 Communicating and Sharing Good Practice

A number of respondents made comments on the quality of archaeological presentations, in all their various guises. Top of the list were personal presentation skills in which, it is perceived, the archaeological community do not excel, although there are obviously shining exceptions. The general presentation of archaeological reports was also raised as an issue (see also the recent CBA’s Publication User Needs Survey, Jones et al 2001). There was criticism also that the discipline of archaeology is itself not well presented, its projected image being unfavourably compared with that for natural history and other environmental interests. At a local level it was suggested that media opportunities are not well used and that some material intended for the public is of low quality. One suggestion to counter some of these issues was that a specific mechanism be established for disseminating ideas on good practice.

It is encouraging that the issue of presentation has recently been highlighted through the Awards for Presentation of Heritage Research scheme, sponsored by the Royal Archaeological Institute, English Heritage, Cadw, and Historic Scotland. This is much to be commended.

  • Recommendation 19: Archaeological organisations should establish mechanisms for peer review of their published output to ensure that acceptable standards are met and should seek professional training if it is found to fall short.
  • Recommendation 20: Archaeological organisations should designate individuals to maximise opportunities for presenting the archaeological case in the media and to the wider community.
  • Recommendation 21: Opportunities should be provided to review individual presentational skills and appropriate training courses be provided where necessary. A specific web-site section devoted to the encouragement of public participation in archaeology, with an emphasis on sharing good practice, should be established, perhaps linked in with the TORC web site.