This paper serves a dual purpose. First it is an introduction that aims to frame a set of papers that describe and discuss the process of co-creation in a variety of archaeological projects. We discuss the challenge of community engagement in public archaeology and offer co-creative practice as a method for improving our relationships with descendant communities and the general public. We begin by providing a definition of public archaeology and a brief overview of its evolution over the last few decades. Second, we discuss co-creation’s origins and utilization in the museum and business sectors, where the process is applied to address challenges similar to those archaeologists face. We then demonstrate how co-creation fits into the public/applied archaeological framework. We argue that co-creation must be both co (that is, share power in some way) and creative (that is, not just do the same things better, but do something new). Within this framework, we discuss how co-creation aligns with and informs current trends in public archaeology practice drawing from the case studies included in this issue. We conclude that co-creation has an important place on the collaborative continuum and can help our discipline become more responsive to the needs of our many publics.

This paper evaluates attempts over the past seven years to address two archaeological challenges at the C.H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa. The first challenge was the proper curation of 50 years of accumulated collections from a wide array of sources by a staff one-third the size of when the collections were acquired. Second, the Museum faced the challenge of becoming a viable and socially relevant public institution in the twenty-first century. Ultimately, the C.H. Nash Museum embraced a co-creative approach to face the challenges. Co-creative processes resulted in a renewed and expanded base for public engagement, allowing the Museum to maximize the potential for preservation, research accessibility, and the exhibition of cultural materials curated at the institution.

Since opening its doors in 1998, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center (MPMRC) has had an identity as both a tribal center and a museum committed to challenging the public’s conventional understandings of Native history in New England. Over a 15-year period, museum staff and the tribal community learned to work more collaboratively in an effort to document and illuminate Pequot survivance—the histories of Mashantucket families living and working in and against the modern world. A review of recent museum projects clarifies the benefits of collaboration while revealing how new exhibits and programs are impacting visitor experiences and understandings. Another kind of museum space is envisioned in which visitors, staff, and tribal members actively co-create exhibits and programs centered on Pequot survivance, using content informed by ongoing archaeological studies. In that space, co-creation practices would encourage social interaction—a collaborative pushing-and-pulling of ideas and stories in a shared search for new understandings of survivance at Mashantucket and beyond.

This paper outlines several outreach initiatives that the Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológico Regional Ancash (PIARA) established to address the challenges of heritage preservation at the prehistoric archaeological site and rural community of Hualcayán, located in rural highland Ancash, Peru. We discuss three projects—a heritage festival, a textile enterprise, and an oral history project—that were designed and executed through a collaboration between PIARA and the Hualcayán community. We find that these “co-creative” projects encourage local stakeholders to discover and define for themselves the value of both their ancient and modern heritage. Reflecting on the outcomes from these projects, we discuss the co-creative approach as an effective strategy for improving the preservation of archaeological remains and enhancing the livelihood of the modern community.

Simon (2010:187) notes that the purpose of co-creative community projects is “to give voice and be responsive to the needs and interests of local community members; to provide a place for community engagement and dialogue; and to help participants develop skills that will support their own individual and community goals.” This paper explores the role that co-creation currently plays in digital public archaeology and discusses how co-creative methods can inform broader archaeological digital engagement efforts. It begins by placing co-creation in its proper context in order to demonstrate its unique characteristics, its value, and how it complicates approaches used in other types of archaeological engagement projects, such as Open Access initiatives. The discussion then turns to evaluating its impact and the broader need to measure success in digital public engagement projects. A discussion of research from the archaeology and the cultural heritage sectors provides examples of evaluation metrics and methods for assessing digital public archaeology projects. The paper concludes by suggesting that all digital engagement projects can benefit from incorporating some of the principles that are inherently part of co-creative methods but that not all archaeological digital engagement projects should strive to be completely co-creative.

Stewards of the tangible past are increasingly embracing technologies that enable digital preservation of rare and fragile finds. The Virtual Curation Laboratory (VCL) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) partners with museums, cultural heritage locations, and collections repositories to create three-dimensional (3D) digital models of artifacts from archaeological sites distributed across the globe. In the VCL, undergraduate VCU students bring a fresh perspective unburdened by archaeological orthodoxy as they use a laser scanner to record artifact details, edit the resulting digital models, and print plastic replicas that are painted to resemble the original items. The 3D digital models and printed replicas allow for new ways of visualizing the past, while preserving the actual artifacts themselves. These forms of archaeological visualization enable the broader public and not just a narrow band of researchers to dynamically and meaningfully interact with rare and fragile objects in ways that would otherwise not be possible, empowering their own contributions to interpreting, understanding, and reimagining the past. We must embrace co-creation through virtual artifact curation and recognize that, while we sacrifice some control over the stories that are told about the past, more stories will be told and shared as pieces of the past become more accessible.

For two decades, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office has worked with archaeologists to co-create knowledge about the past and document contemporary values associated with heritage sites. Much of this work has been accomplished within the framework of research mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act. Here we describe a case study that illustrates the processes of this community-based participatory research, including research design, implementation of fieldwork, peer review of research findings, and reporting. The case study is a project conducted in 2014 by the Hopi Tribe in partnership with Anthropological Research, LLC, to investigate traditional cultural properties associated with an Arizona Public Service Company transmission line. The Hopi Tribe’s collaborative research with archaeologists provides intellectual benefits for the management of archaeological resources and the humanistic and scientific understanding of the past.

In 2012, the Archaeology Department at James Madison’s Montpelier began an experimental program with Minelab Americas to encourage metal detectorists to become more involved in the scientific process of archaeological research. Specifically, the program is designed to be a week-long experience in which archaeologists and metal detectorists work together to identify and preserve archaeological sites at the 2,700-acre Montpelier property. In the process, the metal detector participants are taught the importance of site preservation through background lectures and hands-on field training in which they use their metal detectors as a remote sensing device. Participants learn how gridded metal detector surveys are conducted and the importance of proper context and curation of recovered objects. The team-based approach of our program has resulted in a co-creation process whereby metal detectorists bring to the table their skills in using their machines to identify subtle metallic artifact signals and archaeologists bring the skill of systematic survey techniques to map and record archaeological sites. In the end, teamwork encourages open and frank discussions regarding the interface between metal detecting and the archaeological communities and has gone a long way toward reconciling differences between these two groups who have a long history of strained relations.

Preservationists and archaeologists often assess cemeteries for their research value as cultural resources of communities. Cemeteries hold significant interpretive and educational value because they serve communities as outdoor museums (Meyers 1996). The Cemetery Resource Protection Training (CRPT) workshop, developed by the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), engages the public by providing an archaeological perspective and hands-on experiences for local communities to aid them in addressing the real-world problem of neglected historic cemeteries. After completing over 36 workshops in 28 different communities, the CRPT workshop template has proven to be a highly transferable means to provide education and outreach to underserved communities and sites, as directed in FPAN’s mission. This paper considers cemeteries as participatory museums using Nina Simon’s (2010) co-creation framework. Following a brief summary of cemetery training programs and a review of the larger cemetery crisis in Florida, the rationale for creation of the CRPT program and building blocks of the workshop are provided for other public archaeologists to adapt for training cemetery stewards. Finally, the creation of training opportunities for nonprofessionals as an advance in public archaeology practice is discussed.

The Urban Archaeology Corps is a United States National Park Service (NPS) work program that invites youth to reflect on archaeological stewardship through digital media. Youth from communities surrounding urban national parks engage in interdisciplinary research, then create short digital movies and video diaries about their experiences. Emphasis is placed on connecting untold stories with the youth and local people. This paper is a case study in building capacity in youth programs for co-created archaeology work experiences and digital products that enable the NPS and the communities it serves to share in archaeological stewardship.

Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum worked with a local high school class to conduct an analysis of artifacts from a nineteenth-century privy excavated more than 30 years ago. The project filled a specific request from the school system, which asked for help in creating an in-depth endeavor that would allow the students to develop new skills and expand their understanding of local history. For the Museum, it completed one small piece of a decades-old project and allowed us to live out our mission in a compelling way. Students and staff produced a community exhibit, posters, and the final research report on this feature. This paper explores the dynamic that empowers the co-creative process to construct not only a good end product but also demonstrable gains for those involved. It establishes that the strength of the co-creative process lies in the purposeful sharing of power and authority for the betterment of our community members.