In October, the second edition of PCMA Seminars will focus on methodologies and practice of collaborative archaeology with case studies from Italy, Egypt and Poland. The first lecture in the “Heritage Month” series will be “From onlookers to devotees: Exploring dynamics of participation in Vignale, Italy” presented by Dr. Francesco Ripanti (Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin).
Abstract: “From the involvement of citizens as excavators and re-enactors to the co-organisation of research campaigns and outreach activities, public participation in archaeology has become a well-represented practice, fully incorporated into European and national cultural policies. Encounters between archaeologists and citizens are considered as the basic unit of participative dynamics. Each encounter differs from the other: it can happen at the excavation fence and develop there, next to trenches, pits and walls. Or it can happen as a formal meeting between archaeologists and members of local institutions, in an official venue.
Encounters may end when the time is up – once concluded a guided tour – or eventually turn into long-lasting collaborations and even friendships. This paper will unfold the participation dynamics of long-lasting encounters that shaped the project ’Uomini e cose a Vignale’ (People and Things at Vignale), a community archaeology project tied to the ongoing excavation at the Roman site of Vignale (Tuscany, Italy). The contribution proposes an original evidence-based operational workflow to facilitate the evaluation of the dynamics of participation in ongoing excavations. Based on a flexible set of tools, analyses, and visualisation boards, the workflow can provide a broad range of information about public participation, informing the daily practice of fieldwork and the development of community projects.”
The seminar will be held on Thursday, 6th October, at 11.00 am CET on Zoom. To obtain links, please write to Dr. Tomomi Fushiya: t.fushiya@uw.edu.pl
The next lecture in the series – Thursday, 13th October, 11:00 am CET
– Learning by doing: engaging with communities through heritage in Egypt – Dr Fatma Keshk, Institut français d’archéologie orientale & Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw
HERITAGE MONTH program (download as PDF)