Skip to main content

Activism from the Archives: Changing Narratives to Engage New Communities

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century

Part of the book series: One World Archaeology ((WORLDARCH))

Abstract

Archival resources are a key part of disseminating a vision of archaeological heritage that captures the public imagination, engages a wider audience, and dictates the narrative of disciplinary history. The successes of the TrowelBlazers project show there is tremendous scope to reset imaginations and the popular conception of archaeology. This chapter will outline how a completely voluntary, grassroots, community-sourced activist approach has been able to successfully draw out and publicize narratives from archival resources as well as oral and personal histories to engage community activism, public interest, and to encourage and support underrepresented groups to engage with archaeology and heritage.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ackerman, N. (2016). Forgotten women of science are remembered in a new exhibition at Burlington House. London: Evening Standard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, K., & Edwards, R. (2008). Archaeology labour market intelligence: Profiling the profession 2007/08. Reading: Institute of Field Archaeologists.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aitchison, K., & Rocks-Macqueen, D. (2013). Archaeology labour market intelligence: Profiling the profession. London: Landward Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apaydin, V. (2016). Effective or not? Success or failure? Assessing heritage and archaeological education programmes—The case of Çatalhöyük. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 22(10), 828–843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apaydin, V. (2017). Heritage values and communities: Examining heritage perceptions and public engagements. In A. Dakouri-Hild (Ed). Public Archaeologies of the Ancient Mediterranean. Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, pp. 349–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aronson, J., Quinn, D. M., & Spencer, S. J. (1998). Stereotype threat and the academic underperformance of minorities and women. Prejudice: The target’s perspective (pp. 83–103). San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clance, P., Imes, R., & Ament, S. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clancy, K. B. H., Nelson, R. G., Rutherford, J. N., & Hinde, K. (2014). Survey of academic field experiences (SAFE): Trainees report harassment and assault. PLoS One, 9(7), e102172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobb, H., & Croucher, K. (2016). Personal, political, pedagogic: Challenging the binary bind in archaeological teaching, learning and fieldwork. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 23(3), 949–969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conkey, M. W., & Spector, J. D. (1984). Archaeology and the study of gender. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, 7, 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowson, T. A. (2000). Why queer archaeology? An introduction. World Archaeology, 32(2), 161–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2012). Parliamentary question: Communication campaign: ‘Science: It’s a Girl Thing’. European Commission. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=WQ&reference=E-2012-006590&language=GA: EU.

  • Gero, J. M. (1994). Excavation bias and the woman at home ideology. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 5(1), 37–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, P. G. (2016). On the case: Method in public and community archaeology. Public Archaeology, 15(1), 5–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, S. (2014). Under-representation in contemporary archaeology. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 24(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassett, B. R. (2017). The TrowelBlazing women of archaeology. History Today, 67(2).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassett, B. R., Pilaar-Birch, S., Herridge, V., & Wragg Sykes, B. (2017). TrowelBlazers: Accidentally crowd-sourcing an archive of women in archaeology. In V. Apaydin (Ed.), Public participatory archaeology. Oxford: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herridge, V. L. (2013). A very incomplete network of early 20th Century pioneering women archaeologists. Figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.743657.v2

  • Holtorf, C. (2006). Studying archaeological fieldwork in the field: Views from Monte Polizzo. In M. Edgeworth (Ed.), Ethnographies of archaeological practice: Cultural encounters, material transformations (p. 81). London: Altamira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Insoll, T. (2007). The archaeology of identity: A reader (p. 23). London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Isherwood, R. (2009). Community archaeology. A study of the conceptual, political and practical issues surrounding community archaeology in the United Kingdom today. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimmings, B. (2013). Credible likeable superstar role model. London: Oberon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiser, B. (2017). Raising Horizons: Women in science reframed. Nature Blogs: Nature.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesko, B. (2006). Amelia Blanford Edwards, 1831-1892 Breaking Ground. Brown University: Jukowsky Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacPhee, D., Farro, S., & Canetto, S. S. (2013). Academic self-efficacy and performance of underrepresented STEM majors: Gender, ethnic, and social class patterns. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 13(1), 347–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, Y. (2002). What is community archaeology? World Archaeology, 34(2), 211–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moshenska, G. (2010). What is public archaeology? Present Pasts, 1(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moshenska, G., & Schadla-Hall, T. (2011). Mortimer Wheeler’s theatre of the past. Public Archaeology, 10(1), 46–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newitz, A. (2014). This incredible palaeontologist has been missing for decades. Io9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pell, A. N. (1996). Fixing the leaky pipeline: Women scientists in academia. Journal of Animal Science, 74(11), 2843–2848.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, S., & Beale, N. (2015). The social web and archaeology’s restructuring: Impact, exploitation, disciplinary change. Open Archaeology, 1(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilaar Birch, S. (2013). Mary Anning: Google doodle celebrates the missing woman of geology. The Guardian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, L. (2013). A digital public archaeology? Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 23(1), 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, L.-J., & Almansa-Sánchez, J. (2015). Do you even know what public archaeology is? Trends, theory, practice, ethics. World Archaeology, 47(2), 194–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robnett, R. D. (2015). Gender bias in STEM fields. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(1), 65–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schadla-Hall, T. (1999). Editorial: Public archaeology. European Journal of Archaeology, 2(2), 147–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmader, T., Johns, M., & Forbes, C. (2008). An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance. Psychological Review, 115(2), 336–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. (2016). What does it mean to be human? Tabun 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thelwall, M., & Kousha, K. (2014). Academia.edu: Social network or academic network? Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(4), 721–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trigger, B. (1980). Gordon childe: Revolutions in archaeology. Columbia: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trigger, B. (2006). A history of archaeological thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • TrowelBlazers. (2013a). Awesome, trowel-wielding women: WE SALUTE YOU! TrowelBlazers.

    Google Scholar 

  • TrowelBlazers. (2013b). Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, DBE (b. 1906 – d. 1978). TrowelBlazers.

    Google Scholar 

  • TrowelBlazers. (2013c). The dynamite discoveries of Dorothea bate. TrowelBlazers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Noorden, R. (2014). Online collaboration: Scientists and the social network. Nature, 512, 126–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehouse, R. (2013). Margaret Murray (1863–1963): Pioneer Egyptologist, feminist and first female archaeology lecturer. Archaeology International, 16, 120–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wragg Sykes, R. (2017). TrowelBlazers. Current Archaeology, 324, 50–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wragg Sykes, B., Herridge, V., Hassett, B. R., & Pilaar-Birch, S. (2013). A Splendid Regiment of Women: 20th century research networks among women scientists in archaeology, geology and palaeontology. In S. Charman-Anderson (Ed.), A passion for science. London: Finding Ada Project.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Y. J. (2008). Gender disparity in STEM disciplines: A study of faculty attrition and turnover intentions. Research in Higher Education, 49(7), 607–624.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brenna R. Hassett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hassett, B.R., Herridge, V.L., Wragg Sykes, R.M., Pilaar Birch, S. (2019). Activism from the Archives: Changing Narratives to Engage New Communities. In: Jameson, J.H., Musteaţă, S. (eds) Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century. One World Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14327-5_27

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14327-5_27

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14326-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14327-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics