Public Archaeology and the Cultural Resource Management Industry in Ontario (original) (raw)

According to John Carman, "We study the contemporary practices of archaeologists in order to understand what doing archaeology does " (2000: 304). The growth of the archaeological consulting industry in Ontario has drastically changed the face of how archaeology is done in this province. This new public context has raised questions about accountability, and it has been suggested that archaeologists have an obligation to public education and outreach. This paper will discuss the public role of consulting archaeologists in Ontario with reference to a recent survey undertaken among archaeological practitioners in the province. It will examine how consultant archaeologists contribute to the general knowledge of the Ontario's past by non-archaeologists, what limitations and opportunities are created by the consultant's position between the material resource, legislative structures, clients and a variety of publics, and discuss general attitudes towards public archaeology as a component of consulting and how this is reflected in dayto-day practice.