Public Archaeology and the Cultural Resource Management Industry in Ontario (original) (raw)
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Public Archaeology and the Cultural Resource Management Industry in Southern Ontario
The growth of the archaeological consulting industry in Ontario has drastically changed 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 thesis will investigate the public role of consulting archaeologists in Ontario, with reference to a recent survey undertaken among archaeological practitioners in the province for the purposes of this study. The results suggest that the current system of cultural resource management in this province is lacking in policies and practices that permit meaningful communication with the public.
ArchNotes, 2012
In the face of chronic instability in economic, environmental and political climates, almost every industry has had to reconsider its long-term sustainability. Massive reorganization, critical re-examination of value and viability, and the ability to predict and envision future avenues in a volatile world have become critical to survival. Archaeology has in no way been sheltered from these challenges. Major transformations in heritage legislation connected to urban development have in many ways provided a boom in demand. Nonetheless, practical, ethical and theoretical concerns continue to underline these questions of long-term viability and the quintessential issue of balancing economic, research, educational, and public heritage value of archaeology in Ontario. While the root of this issue is surprisingly simple – that is: what to do with all the collections recovered through archaeological survey and excavation – the solutions are complex, contentious and intensely challenging.
Ontario's Archaeological Curation Crisis - Twenty Years Later
Archaeological collections are cherished for future educational opportunities, cultural or spiritual reasons and archaeological research. With the ongoing destruction of archaeological sites, the information stored in these collections is quite valuable as it becomes the only remaining evidence of past life. Unfortunately, in Ontario, archaeological collections are at risk of becoming lost, destroyed or misplaced because they are stored privately without specific management guidelines. After interviewing five professional Ontario archaeologists, it was made clear that financial restrictions within the heritage sector limit the adequate care of archaeological collections, suggesting that traditional solutions remain challenging. Over the last decade, improper care has rendered many collections unusable for archaeological research. For these reasons, archaeological collections with remaining research potential must be prioritized and curated appropriately over collections with no remaining archaeological value. Preventative measures such as avoidance and legislation should be adopted to prevent future curation problems in the province. Importantly, this study has identified that future research is needed to determine the specific archaeological potential in Ontario’s privately stored collections and to discuss our current options responding to this problem. This research is important to archaeologists and to anyone else who appreciates the shared value in Ontario’s archaeological past.
Archaeology and the public cultural conscience in Canada: The federal story
Revista de Arqueología Americana, No. 21, ARQUEOLOGÍA, PATRIMONIO ARQUEOLÓGICO Y CONSERVACIÓN EN MESO Y NORTH AMÉRICA (2002), pp. 45-51, 2002
L'archeologie et la conscience culturelle du public au Canada - la situation au niveau federal. Le gouvernement federal est responsable pour une tres grande superficie de territoire au Canada. Cependant, la majorite des ressources archeologiques canadiennes sont sous juridiction des provinces ou territoires. L'absence d'une prise de conscience de la part du public d'un probleme de protection des ressources archeologiques sur les territoires federaux n'a pas donne d'encouragement aux legislateurs pour prendre des mesures legales pour proteger ces ressources qui n'ont meme pas ete inventoriees. Un nouvel effort en ce sens est presentement en cours et son succes depend largement sur une vision commune partagee entre la communaute archeologique et les autochtones.
We will do two things in this introductory essay. First, we describe the framework and methods that we used to select the papers for this reader. Second, using this same framework we review how public archaeology, as a subfield of archaeological practice, has evolved over the past few decades. This review focuses on the development of public archaeology within the publications of the Society for Historical Archaeology, in particular, the journal Historical Archaeology and the quarterly SHA Historical Archaeology and the quarterly SHA Historical Archaeology Newsletter. It is outside our scope here to examine the trends, approaches, theories, research questions, and debates in public archaeology that have emerged in other discourses (for example, Americanist prehistoric archaeology or global heritage movements). However, we will do so to the extent that they have either appeared (or not) in the context of historical archaeology scholarship (see Little 2009b for a useful review).
When doing public archaeology, efforts are usually focused on engaging what we understand as the general public, or those outsiders who have some kind of relation with an archaeological asset. However, one of the publics usually forgotten is archaeology and heritage professionals. Although funding applications are slowly changing the trend in academic research practices, public archaeology can still be considered an emerging discipline within a wide archaeological arena. Wider if we look at the periphery; those regions and countries where archaeology has been a colonial practice, and public archaeology can become a game-changing perspective for the emancipation of local archaeology. Since the foundation of AP: Online Journal in Public Archaeology in 2010, we have addressed many important topics (e.g. illicit trade of antiquities, education, training, community work, technology, etc.), but overall we try to offer an open resource for sharing best practices in public archaeology with a focus on countries and professionals outside the anglo-saxon mainstream. This paper, presented at the 3rd International Conference in Heritage Management in Elefsina, Greece, on 2 October 2016, offers some insights into our experience so far. It also describes the challenges we face as well as the solutions we are putting in place, with some examples from the past few years and ideas/plans for the future. Because public archaeology is also a tool to improve archaeology and heritage management practice, and we should not forget this significant part of the public.
The Political Economy of a Commercial Archaeology - A Quebec Case - Study
Capitalist logic, its impact on the practice of archaeology, and on the professional lives of those who participate within its political economy are the subject for this analysis. I have chosen as my unit of analysis commercial archaeology in Quebec, Canada. This context was chosen because of its progressive transformation from a semi, state-regulated archaeological system to one that is competitive and comparable to those found in the UK and the USA. Commercial archaeology, as governed by a neoliberal economic system, has fundamentally altered how archaeology‟s contributions are brought about, maintained and disseminated. But what about those who produce archaeology, has their relationship to the profession changed as a result of neoliberal economics? The objective of this thesis is to address and evaluate the argument against neoliberal economics and contribute to current critiques regarding capitalist economics by posing the following question: does the implementation of a neoliberal economy in archaeology sustain the accomplishment of a meaningful and valuable archaeological activity for archaeologists and the public? Within this dissertation, an ethnographic approach to data collection permits the exploration of the experience of socioeconomic changes upon the lives of archaeologists, experience which is articulated in their own discourses. I also employ qualitative demographic and economic data, and participant observation. The characteristics of the archaeological network in Quebec are further illustrated through a comparative analysis with the system of commercial archaeology in the UK. Research results demonstrate that the present market economy is harmful to the development of archaeological products, primarily because of the alienation of the product from the archaeologists and the public. Alternatives to the current economic system have been developed. However, these options suffer from under -funding. I propose that new models of practice for archaeology must be explored and given credence, if there is to be a perpetuation of the profession within the cultural landscape of western societies.