210 BC. the conquest of Akragas. A case of archaeological popularization in Sicily, in 23rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Maastricht 2017. Trans- and Metadisciplinary Approaches in Archaeology. (original) (raw)
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Archeostorie, Journal of Public Archaeology 2, pp. 47-60, 2018
PastActivity is a young cultural association of archaeologists and educational experts that organised in May 2017 their first project: a big re-enactment event in Sicily. The scenario was the World Heritage Site Archaeological and Landscape Park of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. The context was the conquest of Akragas in 210 BC. Both secondary school and university students, as well as local and national Roman and Punic re-enactors, young professionals, and small enterprises of the territory were all involved in the management and development of the project. Use of social media was crucial for involvement of the public during the months before production. The main aim of the project was to put into practice a new way to communicate history to the public, utilizing tools of living history, guided tours, and didactic activities. The results were positive and the objectives were achieved: for the first time, more than 13,000 people (3,400 on Saturday and 9,700 on Sunday) accessed the Park during a single weekend. The visitors behaved in a tidy manner by promenading through the Greek ruins and meticulous reconstructions of the past; the team developed new skills about popularization and communication and learned how to build bridges between academic groups and the community.
The Poggibonsi Archaeodrome is an ongoing project which aims at the creation of an openair museum based on a full-scale reconstruction of a Carolingian Age village, excavated by the University of Siena on the same hill. This paper traces an extensive profile of this experience, discussing its conceptual basis within the framework of Public Archaeology and stressing its innovation and the ground-breaking effects within the local and national panorama of cultural assets management. A close synergy between scholars, local administrators and citizens creates a fertile ground for a greater awareness and a more mature approach to heritage promotion. Keywords: Middle Ages, open-air museums, living history, storytelling, heritage promotion
Journal of Public Archeology, 2019
Cultural heritage visitors are not a public of mini art historians or bonsai archaeologists. This is exactly why each and every cultural heritage destination can and should become a place for emotions and learning experiences, helping the values of tradition to become part of a people’s identity, reinforcing it, making it solid and anchoring it firmly in the bay of knowledge. Today, more than ever, where traditional cultural institutions are experiencing a slump never seen before, where the language of advertising has become such a part of our rationale that, in the west, it has deleted our hypothetical, deductive approach to dialectics, cultural destinations -especially in peripheral locations- are central to an area’s development, like a kind of frontier. What they need is a new way to draw in an increasingly general public, so as to cease being just a place for specialists. They need a strategy, a direction in line with the territory, as well as the necessary expertise. Decisions behind a territory’s cultural growth are political rather than just technical. This means that we need a ground-up review of the relationship between culture and society, making sure we have competent structures able to work in an international setting. We need more than mission statements if we are to change things; only the work of the right people can do this.
in BAR International Series 2302, Experiments with Past Materialities, a cura di Gheorghiu D., Children G.
This contribution intends to introduce some new aspects on experimental archaeology in Sardinia. This project involving the University of Sassari and a private agrituristic business, was borne because of the necessity for the agrituristic company to diversify its own tourist offer and for the University to realize a laboratory of experimental archaeology. The product of this collaboration is the reconstruction of a prehistoric village and its different handcrafts activities. The choice of the location, strictly connected with the important extensive wetland at Cabras, is very important because during the Prehistory it has been much frequented. A big contribution is given by the current ethnographic data, as for the use of vegetable essences in the architectural techniques and for the activities connected to the wetland (fishing, molluscs gathering). The objectives of the project are several: scientific (creation of an experimental archaeology laboratory); educational (formation of undergraduate, graduate and doctorate students as well as primary and secondary school pupils); tourist / economic (offer of tourist packets for visiting the prehistoric village and its experimental archaeology products); occupational (creation and employment of specialized staff -not simple tourist guides -able to introduce the public to practicing experimental archaeology and prehistoric research).
Italian Archaeology: heritage, protection and enhancement
Internet Archaeology, 2021
Italy has a long tradition of cultural heritage management, which has been framed in an art historical context. This paper outlines the challenges to public archaeology, as it is often seen as a cost rather than as a benefit. Examples are provided showing how museums and heritage sites can be made more inclusive and welcoming to all members of the public, using a combination of private funding and public regulatory frameworks.