Archaeological Heritage Management: The Last and Next Half Century (original) (raw)
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Public Archaeology and the Cultural Resource Management Industry in Ontario
Partners to the Past: Proceedings of the 2005 Ontario Archaeological Society Symposium Edited by James S. Molnar, 2007
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
2016
Indigenous engagement in Canadian archaeology encompasses jurisdictional variances, microcosmic colonial/resistance implications and the promise of mutually-beneficial heritage management practices. Drawing from literature commentary, primary document review, surveys and interviews, this dissertation explores consistency and uniqueness in the relationship between commercial archaeology and Indigenous peoples in Canada. Four Conditions of engagement and four Capital properties of engagement emerge and are theorized as constituting a framework capable of considering the diversity of engagement practice in Canada. Conditions include: Regulation, Capacity (Developer and Community) and Relationships. The regulatory heritage regimes governing engagement are considered across provincial/territorial boundaries together with a host of legislation, policy documents, treaty settlements, and other State/Indigenous agreements. The reasons for developers to instigate and maintain Indigenous commu...