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Touching the Past to Remember the Past

Applying Archaeological Theory to Public Archaeology Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2020

Meghan J. Dudley Open the ORCID record for Meghan J. Dudley [Opens in a new window]  and
Jenna Domeischel
Meghan J. Dudley*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, 455 W. Lindsey St., Dale Hall Tower Room 521, Norman, OK73010, USA
Jenna Domeischel
Affiliation:
Blackwater Draw Museum, Eastern New Mexico University, 1500 S. Ave K – Station 53, Portales, NM88130, USA
*
(meghan.dudley@ou.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

Although we, as archaeologists, recognize the value in teaching nonprofessionals about our discipline and the knowledge it generates about the human condition, there are few of these specialists compared to the number of archaeologists practicing today. In this introductory article to the special section titled “Touching the Past to Learn the Past,” we suggest that, because of our unique training as anthropologists and archaeologists, each of us has the potential to contribute to public archaeology education. By remembering our archaeological theory, such as social memory, we can use the artifacts we engage with on a daily basis to bridge the disconnect between what the public hopes to gain from our interactions and what we want to teach them. In this article, we outline our perspective and present an overview of the other three articles in this section that apply this approach in their educational endeavors.

Aunque nosotros, como arqueólogos, reconocemos el valor de enseñar a los no profesionales sobre nuestra disciplina y el conocimiento que genera sobre la condición humana, hay pocos de estos especialistas en comparación con el número de arqueólogos que practican hoy en día. En este artículo introductorio a la sección especial, titulado “Tocando el pasado para aprender el pasado”, sugerimos que, debido a nuestra formación única como antropólogos y arqueólogos, cada uno de nosotros tenemos el potencial de contribuir a la educación pública de arqueología. Al recordar nuestra teoría arqueológica, como la memoria social, podemos usar los artefactos con los que nos involucramos a diario para salvar la desconexión entre lo que el público espera obtener de nuestras interacciones y lo que queremos enseñarles. En este artículo, describimos nuestra perspectiva y presentamos una descripción general de los otros tres artículos en esta sección que aplican este enfoque en sus esfuerzos educativos.

Keywords

Public archaeologyarchaeology educationarchaeological theorysocial memorycollectionsArqueología publicaeducación en arqueologíateoría arqueológicamemoria socialcolleciones
Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , November 2020 , pp. 389 - 397
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for American Archaeology.

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