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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology pp 2498–2507Cite as

Ethics of the Archaeological Record

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Introduction

Why Digging Could Be Seen as a Problem in Archaeology

“Archaeologists dig; whatever the variation in methodology, at least archaeology involves digging.” Ian Hodder already objected to this notion because of the complexity of the digging process (Hodder 1999: 18). That process is indeed complex on its own, and within the present day situation of it being subdued to the context of heritage management, we pose the question: Why dig at all? What is the goal of archaeology, and are we reaching it by digging?

Some scholars have already stated that digging is not necessarily synonymous with archaeology (Lucas 2001: 2). However, the daily reality is different as it is also reflected in how staff and students view the role of fieldwork in their academic curricula (Croucher et al. 2008). Archaeologists are intervening more, being more present during fieldwork, preserving more in situ, and digging “better” (according to the current logic of professionalization and of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, Media and Music, Inholland University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Nynke Moens

  2. Faculty of Social Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Nicolas Zorzin

Authors
  1. Nynke Moens
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  2. Nicolas Zorzin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nynke Moens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Moens, N., Zorzin, N. (2014). Ethics of the Archaeological Record. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_177

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_177

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0426-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0465-2

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