Resources

Ideas and Suggestions

The following are a few suggestions that you could use for inspiration for your coming engagement with the public. We are constantly looking for more ideas, and we are eager to hear what people have done with success. If you want to tell us your story or share an idea for engagement, please contact us at engage@archaeologists-engage.org

• Write an article for a popular science / history / archaeology magazine / local newspaper

• Guide an organised group on an active archaeological site

• Give a talk for an open public event / school / local education  or youth group

• Organise a demonstration of an historic craft or skill

• Volunteer for a day at your local museum, or heritage centre/site

• Create a social media account where you can share your work

• Involve the local community in your archaeological site/project

How to Engage

Various experts and organisations are  involved in archaeological public engagement. We have collected some of them below for more information and inspiration.

• The EXARC Journal provides free excerpts of their articles online and is a useful source of inspiration for the Open Air Museum, Bushcraft and experimental archaeology world. Take a look  at it here: http://journal.exarc.net

• The SAA, the Society for American Archaeology, have  developed a range of resources for public engagement here:

  https://www.saa.org/education-outreach/public-outreach/outreach-skills-strategies

• Robert Connolly is directly engaged with public engagement in the museum environment. Read about his experiences here: https://rcnnolly.wordpress.com

• An interesting article about Public Archaeology in Britain, and an interesting read elsewhere, too, is provided by the University College London here: http://www.pia-journal.co.uk/articles/10.5334/pia.431/

• Sarah Colley has asked archaeology students at the University of Sydney about what matters to the wider public, and this was published in Australian Archaeology 2007 vol 65. Check it out here.

Start a local initiative

We are currenlty developing information packs to support groups or individuals starting a local initiative. If you want to start a local initiative under the ArchaeologistsEngage banner, please contact us at engage@archaeologists-engage.org

Links

We have assembled links that we consider useful for our project of engaging with the public. If you have a suggestion that you think we should put on this page, please  provide us with the link by emailing us at engage@archaeologists-engage.org.

• EXARC: The organisation for Open Air Museums and Experimental Archaeologists in Europe: http://exarc.net

• The Engaging Researcher (pdf) is a booklet produced by Vitae that is a useful collection of various approaches to and considerations for engaging with the public: http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/the-engaging-researcher-vitae-2010.pdf
• Archaeodeath: Archaeology, Mortality and Material Culture (blog) by Prof. Howard Williams: https://howardwilliamsblog.wordpress.com/