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James Doeser: Communicating Archaeology

A year in the life of an IfA placement

Wednesday 18th January 2010

Book Cover It’s a new year, so it must be about time for a new blog post.

Since the last entry (posted all of, ahem, four months ago) I have spent even more of time cavorting with the meedja types mentioned previously. I took a two month break from the CBA to return to work in the world of BBC Specialist Factual Development.

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York Minster stoneyard You can keep up-to-date with the work of the CBA with this set of blogs and Twitter feeds.

Participating in the Past: Appendix 4 – The CBA's Stakeholder Survey

Appendix 4: The CBA’s Stakeholder Survey

Summary and Conclusions

This summary outlines the results of work undertaken by the CBA examining the needs and means of promoting the involvement of voluntary sector historic environment stakeholders in strategic land-use planning (and other policy issues) in England.

Participating in the Past: Appendix 3 – The Text of the Survey Enquiry Letter

Appendix 3: The Text of the Survey Enquiry Letter

The CBA is undertaking a short examination of the current extent of public participation in British archaeology.

Participating in the Past: Appendix 2 – Members of the Working Party and CBA Officers Involved

Appendix 2: Members of the Working Party and CBA Officers Involved

Members:
- Don Benson
- Tony Blackman
- Mike Farley (Chair)
- Jill Harden
- Kevan Fadden
- Adrian Tindall
- Tim Schadla-Hall
CBA Officers:
- Don Henson
- Mike Heyworth
- George Lambrick

Participating in the Past: Appendices

Appendices

Appendix 1: Bibliography

All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group (APPAG) 2003 The current state of archaeology in the United Kingdom; first report of the All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group. Available online at http://www.sal.org.uk/appag/report/report.htm
Council for British Archaeology (CBA) 2003 Stakeholder participation in strategic land-use planning for the historic environment.

Participating in the Past: The Council for British Archaeology

6.17 The Council for British Archaeology

The working party has noted above a number of areas in which the CBA might be involved.

Participating in the Past: Universities

6.16 Universities

Some disappointment was expressed by respondents at the general lack of involvement that archaeologists in British university departments had with the public as a whole. It was noted that a number were more likely to carry out fieldwork abroad than in the UK.

A proposal that universities should provide sessions on public archaeology has been earlier discussed.

Recommendation 41: Universities should be encouraged to take a more active role in British archaeology through community-based or regional research projects.

Participating in the Past: Metal Detecting

6.15 Metal Detecting

Links between archaeologists and metal detectorists have been transformed in England and Wales through the establishment of the Portable Antiquities Recording Scheme, although the scheme’s long-term future still remains in doubt. The membership of detector clubs is substantial and many other individuals operate independently of these clubs. Detecting can be viewed as a particular form of public participation.

Participating in the Past: Non-Excavation Opportunities for Fieldwork

6.14 Non-Excavation Opportunities for Fieldwork

A number of respondents noted that their local society functioned only on a diet of lectures, which affected the structure of the group. In contrast groups providing some field activities usually had little difficulty in drawing on an active and diverse membership. There are numerous opportunities for local fieldwork, apart from excavation. A number of these have been noted above and it is hoped there may be some unfamiliar ideas there which can be utilised by local groups who are interested in developing their own field programmes.

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