Free Access 14: Over 20,000 articles free to read

Now through April 26th, ALL online content, including 2015 issues for every single journal we publish in archaeology, conservation and heritage is 100 percent free to download. No sign ups, no registration, no strings attached: just free content from us to you. 

Free Access 14 (FA14) is our way of showing our appreciation for the amazing community of scholars and researchers who are dedicated to advancing knowledge in this exciting, ever-changing field. 

FA14 gives you access to research in 18 subject areas, including underwater archaeology, museum studies, field archaeology, conservation and more. The archives date back over 100 years to 1869. Click here to dig in and start enjoying your free content. 

Some of the most popular journals featured in this special promotion include: 

• Medieval Archaeology
• Studies in Conservation
• Museums & Social Issues 
• Environmental Archaeology
• Levant 
• European Journal of Archaeology
• Journal of Field Archaeology 

We're also excited to include some of our new titles for 2015: 

• AICCM Bulletin
• PaleoAmerica
• Southeastern Archaeology

Tired of all the free content? We didn't think so. You can enter to win online subscriptions to all 43 of our journals for an entire year when you Tweet using the hashtag #idigthisjournalbecause and mention @ManeyArchaeo 

Just let us know what makes your favorite journal so special, and you could be rich in archaeological research! Three runners up will also win an online subscription for the journal of their choice for a full year.  

It's California Archaeology Month!

Ah October, the time of autumn leaves, Halloween and ... archaeology?? 

Yes that’s right it’s California Archaeology Month!

Sponsored by the Society for California Archaeology (SCA), this October various historical societies and state federal government agencies around California will celebrate Californian archaeologists and all things archaeology!

So what is California Archaeology Month?

Observed in October, to integrate with California’s school curriculum on Native American and California history, California Archaeology Month is dedicated to promoting the preservation of the country’s heritage.

Exhibitions and presentations will take place around the state in order to reach out to the public with information regarding the nature and sensitivity of cultural and heritage resources in California and their accomplishments and challenges.

It aims to show that archaeology is not only a way for people to learn about their place in history but can increase interest in education and environmental concerns.

Find out more about the Archaeology Month on the SCA web page

How can you get involved?

Each year, the SCA publishes an Archaeology Month Poster using contributions from state and federal agencies and member donations, and also makes available a comprehensive Archaeology Month Resources Guide. The posters are distributed to local, state, and federal agencies and private entities to help promote the preservation of California’s archaeological heritage. You can order the poster from their website.

Or why not make Archaeology Month a state-wide celebration by having an event or activity in your county that highlights the fascinating things we learn from archaeology?

You can find ideas or how to volunteer and participate here.

Not wanting to miss out on the celebrations, we’ve given you free access to Volume 4 issue 1 of California Archaeology which you can find here.

Happy California Archaeology Month from CUDI!

How do you protect what you can't see? The perils of preserving intangible cultural heritage

A recent announcement for the ICOMOS-UK conference on "Intangible Cultural Heritage in the UK: promoting and safeguarding our diverse living cultures" got me thinking about this complex concept and how one actually goes about ensuring the stories, oral histories and ritual traditions that make up a culture don't disappear over time.

An article in Heritage & Society from April 2011, written by Rosabelle Boswell and entitled 'Challenges to Sustaining Intangible Cultural Heritage' addresses the issues facing the conservators that take on this task.

"The 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)...refers to the role of intangible cultural heritage in in maintaining diversity, sociality, and understanding. It also notes the interdependence of tangible and intangible heritage and the role of the youth and indigenous people in heritage maintenance."

In this paper Boswell specifically addresses the difficulties of preserving ICH in Africa due to what she calls the "persistent social stratification and inequality" across the continent. She notes that ICH is "(1) dynamic (2) borne by different people and (3) part of living culture. In safeguarding and ultimately preserving ICH one risks ossifying culture, elevating 'specialist' holders of knowledge in the society and neglecting the role played by other 'managers' of heritage."

In the article, Boswell references countries in the Indian Ocean Region, namely Zanzibar, Mauritius and Madagascar, but it seems the issues addressed - such as "commercialization, the potential ossification of culture via preservation and the issues of ambivalent heritage"- have a broader relevance to ICH across the globe.

Read the full article for free >

#Bannockburn700

Today marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, a landmark in Scottish history and a key victory in the First War of Scottish Independence.

Robert Bruce, King of Scots, battled the English army led by Edward II. Edward, keen to retain the stronghold of Stirling Castle, had led a huge army through Scotland to lift the Scots’ siege of his garrison at the Castle. Achieving this was vital to Edward’s hopes of re-establishing his weakening grip on the country, but he was stopped short by the army of Robert Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn.

To commemorate the occasion we have made 'Protecting a Bloodstained History: Battlefield Conservation in Scotland' from the Journal of Conflict Archaeology, and written by the journal's editors Iain Banks and Tony Pollard, free to read:

"Scotland’s battlefields gained legislative protection in March 2011 with the publication of the Inventory of Scottish Battlefields. The background to the Inventory is explored, with a consideration of how similar issues have been approached in other countries. The paper then goes on to examine the approach taken in the creation of the Inventory, looking at the issues that arose and the solutions adopted.

Introduction
In 1995, English Heritage established a register of the battlefields of England. This was the first time there had been any form of official interest in battlefields as components of the cultural resource or the historic environment in the UK. It was not until 30 April 2008 that a consultation on an Inventory of Scottish Battlefields was announced, which led to an announcement on 28 July 2009 that work would proceed with an Inventory. The first part of the Inventory is now in the final stages of production, and will see battlefields of national significance becoming a material consideration in the planning process, with more to be added should they meet the criteria. Creating the Inventory has been a complex process, and although there is still some way to go the following article will map this journey."

Read the full article for free >

Learn more about the Battle of Bannockburn >

CALL FOR PAPERS: Museums and Politics

Museums and Politics

9 - 12 of September 2014, Saint-Petersburg, Russia

ICOM Russia, ICOM Germany, ICOM USA Joint Conference

 

In the last few years, museums in our countries have changed dramatically and many now have larger social and territorial responsibilities. The preservation and safeguarding of tangible and intangible cultural heritage is considered the most relevant function of museums and should not be neglected. However, contemporary museums have wider goals. They offer public services and social activities, as well as culture and knowledge. They serve new audiences, use new languages and new media. Innovative museums foster public awareness, promote understanding of heritage and offer educational services. They strengthen cultural identities, support social cohesion and develop intercultural mediation - activities which are fundamental in times of crisis. Museums produce public values and improve regional assets in a global world. They provide facilities and resources for local, regional and national communities. They generate not only knowledge and education, but also income and employment. Museums and monuments are among the most appealing factors for the tourism industry, a vital economic sector in all our countries. Investing in museums, their activities and their professionals, is the best way to develop and improve the quality of cultural tourism.

 

During the last decades, museums have become institutions that form identity of cities, countries and nations with a reasonable political impact. At the same time, the funding of museums has undergone a major alteration, facing cuts from public authorities and the need of finding more and more sponsors whose interests complement museum development. Additionally, museums are increasingly invited to assume and complement educational tasks in the public sector suffering from the training of soft skills and creative competences.

 

Some museums have become more and more influential within their society and the politics in the countries that pay attention to them. Is this growing influence good for museums or not? Could museums become a plaything for politics or should museums use politics to realize their main purposes?

 

The conference languages will be Russian, English and German.

 

The purpose of this joint meeting is to share knowledge and expertise within the museum community. All contributions should be of high quality, originality, clarity, significance and impact and not published elsewhere.

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

The papers must not exceed 20 minutes. A publication of the papers is planned.

 

Abstracts should contain a maximum of 400 words and include the presenter's name, place of employment, position and title of paper.

 

Abstracts should be sent to: Mr. Vladimir Tolstoy (icom.russia@gmail.com) and Johanna Westphal (icom@icom-deutschland.de).

 

Abstract Submission Deadline 28th of February 2014

 

What we're looking forward to at Museums 2013

This week we are exhibiting at Museums 2013, the annual conference and exhibition of the Museums Association, in Liverpool, UK and in this week's post Laura Bradford, one of our Publishing Executives, shares her thoughts on the programme...

"This is my first Museums Association conference and judging by the flurry of announcements about themes and keynote speakers, it’s not going to disappoint. In a time of on-going turmoil for the museums and heritage sector, the range of sessions and topics here promise to address the challenges organisations face today and question how they can adapt to survive and flourish. The Museums Association provides a vital resource for news and commentary on the museums sector and I’m sure their conference will once again set to inspire and encourage delegates to tackle the challenges facing museums and heritage organisations today.

Museums 2013 aims to address the matter of wellbeing. Liverpool is leading the 2012 Decade of Health and Wellbeing national campaign and so is perfectly placed to ask these questions. Can museums play a part in improving the wellbeing of their audiences? Should museums concentrate on engaging with audiences rather than protecting their collections? How can museums do this whilst building foundations for the future?

Three key themes set the structure for the conference; ‘The Therapeutic Museum’ asks how museums can play a part in improving mental health and wellbeing. Sessions will look at the partnership and funding opportunities between museum organisations and health and social care providers; engaging and empowering older people to take an active role in museums; and ensuring museums publicise the difference they make to encourage more organisations to follow. Research at the New Walk Museum in Leicester did just that—they studied frequent and infrequent visitors to the museum, and conducted interviews and self-reported data using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Participants reported a reduction in their levels of anxiety after visiting the museum. The full study was published in the peer reviewed journal Museums & Social Issues.

‘Tomorrow’s World’ aims to address how organisations can learn from the challenges we face today in order to plan for a sustainable future—not just for the short term, but changes that could shape the museums experience for our grandchildren and great grandchildren. In a time of severe cuts in funding and depleting resources, museums have had to become savvy to new sustainable measures and money saving techniques. Sessions on this theme will explore how to implement new and perhaps leftfield ideas, looking at the unconventional ways in which museums can engage with audiences. The International Museum of Women (IMOW) for example is an online-only museum which has harnessed online technology to create a new way of engaging. Journal of Museum Education has dedicated an issue to the growing use of digital technology in museums and one article by Katherine Whitney explores how the IMOW specifically has used technology to accomplish their aims.

‘The Emotional Museum’ will run sessions addressing whether museums are doing enough to engage with their audiences. In recent years, museums have realised that they need to revolutionise their exhibitions in order to attract diverse audiences—reams of information just doesn’t cut it anymore. Audiences seek more interactive and empathetic information to allow them to engage with the exhibition and make it a memorable experience. Sessions focus on case studies including how some museums have challenged social attitudes relating to prejudices and discrimination, and how other museums have tried to adapt their exhibits to make them more engaging. Journal of Museum Education published a special issue recently on this topic, entitled ‘Protecting the Objects and Serving the Public: an On-going Dialogue’, which seeks to discover how museums can prioritise the visitor engagement whilst maintaining the exhibition of artefacts.

I’ve only looked at the key themes and already run out of space! There is so much to explore at this year’s conference including keynote speeches from the director at the Museum of Memory and Human Rights Ricardo Brodsky, shadow culture minister Helen Goodman, and TV presenter Lucy Worsley; networking events and tours around Liverpool’s top cultural hotspots; workshops on all aspects of museums engagement, as well as CV building workshops and internship management advice. Last but not least, don’t forget to visit the Museums 2013 Exhibition for your chance to meet and network with the world’s leading suppliers and consultants. It’s going to be a busy one!"

The Return of Aesthetics to Archaeology



Ancient Egyptian funerary mask at the
Oriental Museum, Durham University

Why is ‘aesthetics’ a dirty word in archaeology? Can its archaeological study be reinvigorated, particularly with the help of philosophers and anthropologists?

 

Come and join the discussion at a workshop to be held at the University of London’s Senate House on Thursday 28^th and Friday 29^th November 2013.

 

The workshop is organised within the framework of an AHRC-funded Research Network Group project focused on ‘The Ethics and Aesthetics of Archaeology’. 

 

This wider project brings together philosophers, archaeologists and museum and heritage practitioners in order to focus on the relation between ethics and aesthetics, and explore how this relation shapes the understanding and practice of archaeological stewardship. The main premise underlying our multidisciplinary project is the idea that research into the ethics of stewardship (including moral obligations, duties and respect) will be enhanced significantly by an increased understanding of the role played by the aesthetic character of historical objects in influencing the moral relations we have with them and their makers.

 

The project is directed by two members of staff from Durham University: Dr Elisabeth Schellekens Dammann (Department of Philosophy) and Dr Robin Skeates (Department of Archaeology). They are assisted by Dr. Andreas Pantazatos (Co-Director of the Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage).

 

The London workshop is generously sponsored by the University of London’s Institute of Philosophy. It is open to all, free of charge. Visit our project website for further details.

 

If you intend to attend, do please let us know, by sending an email to Dr Elisabeth Schellekens Dammann.

Embrace the Margins: Adventures in Archaeology and Homelessness

Following the news this week that the 2013 Homeless World Cup is to be held in Poznan, Poland with the hope of using the "social power of football to change homeless people's lives and fight their exclusion" I was reminded of an article published in Public Archaeology in 2011 entitled 'Embrace the Margins: Adventures in Archaeology and Homelessness' in which Rachael Kiddey and John Schofield explain their efforts to not only "conduct an archaeological study of contemporary homelessness that broke new ground in several ways" but also to find out "whether participation in the archaeological project offered genuine and tangible benefits for the communities and individuals concerned."

Kiddey and Schofield chose to conduct their study at Turbo Island, a tract of private land in the Stokes Croft area of Bristol, UK with the intention of "developing a socially engaged and socially active form of archaeology."

The reasoning behind the experiment is explained in the article's introduction:

"Archaeology has a broad base, and offers a range of intellectual possibilities. Its close attention to material culture and place, and to interpreting traces of evidence for past human behaviour, embraces the full range of human experiences, from the deep past to the very latest depositions, and is inclusive of everyone in society. Archaeology also provides a range of possibilities for public participation and engagement, not only with the archaeological process but also with intellectual content. During our
wanderings in Bristol we often discussed archaeology, and one recurring theme was the similarities between survival strategies of contemporary homeless and earlier hunter-gatherer societies, in terms of food gathering, social cohesion and compassion, and in the locations chosen for settlement."

The authors reference the work on archaeology and the homeless that preceded their study but also stress the one big difference:

"Sociologists and anthropologists have increasingly sought to explore the culture of homelessness and its impact, while homelessness has also started to receive archaeological attention. However, this project was always going to be different in that it sought specifically to engage homeless people directly in fieldwork and in the presentation of findings"

The majority response to the project from local authorities, the police and the homeless people involved was overwhelmingly positive. The authors conclude with the following:

"This project allows us to map places that traditionally are ignored and overlooked. For example, in most interpretations of Stokes Croft, Turbo Island is described as a ‘gap site’ — a non-place where ‘nothing’ exists. Throughout our excavation and working in partnership with socially excluded, marginalized people we learnt about rituals and patterns of behaviour of which we previously knew very little...Throughout this project archaeology has contributed to understanding a community felt by many, even within the professions engaged to work with homeless people, to be ‘unreachable’. It was also an experience which our homeless co-workers greatly enjoyed and appreciated."

>> Read the full article for free

>> "UEFA support for Homeless World Cup"
 

'We will either save both people and heritage or save neither': What can be done about corporate and government led destruction of archaeological sites?



Following the news that a construction company in Belize has destroyed the Noh Mul temple, one of the largest Mayan pyramids, when gathering gravel to expand the country’s road system I took a look in the Maney Publishing archive to see what has been published on the corporate destruction of archaeological sites and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Noh Mul, the Mayan temple in Belize was thought to be over 2,300 years old

'Commitment, Objectivity and Accountability to Communities: Priorities for 21st-Century Archaeology’ by Maggie Ronayne was published in a 2008 issue of Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites. It argues that the destruction of archaeological sites by governments and corporations has to be confronted and uses case studies from Ireland, Turkey and Mexico to show how “professionals can learn to work in a mutually accountable way with communities opposing destructive development, and together seek alternatives to development which threatens lives, livelihoods, culture, and environment”. In the following extract the author proposes a plan:

“It is no longer possible to ignore the unprecedented levels of destruction resulting from development projects imposed by multinational corporations and governments. The projects are often backed by multilateral agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank or large non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Their size often ensures that many thousands of people and sites can be affected. The norm is little or no consultation and few if any benefits. Thus many communities find they must struggle to establish their right to survive. In this context, it is important to address the role archaeology and related professions such as heritage management play from the perspective both of the threat to physical heritage and our relationship with affected communities.

I am not a heritage manager but rather an academic, a teacher of archaeologists, whose research and teaching focuses on the development of a public archaeology in which professionals can learn to work in a mutually accountable way with communities opposing destructive development and together seek alternatives to development which threatens lives, livelihoods, culture, and environment. This approach has developed out of work in different countries over the last 14 years. The work has included investigating and documenting the ways in which archaeological excavation and management practices may be facilitating developments that are detrimental to the survival of communities and cultural heritage, and working out alternatives with communities.”

The author concludes with the following observation:

“I am not suggesting that it is up to archaeologists to solve energy generation, food security or any other aspect of development, but I am saying that as professionals we cannot afford to be ignorant of what communities want, need and are entitled to in order to develop and flourish. Archaeology and people’s cultural roots are not separable from these questions. They are not new questions: in 1968 Julius Nyerere, first president of independent Tanzania, in turning his country away from market-led development towards development based on the self-activity of communities, warned us of the mistake we are always in danger of making: ‘What we were doing, in fact, was thinking of development in terms of things, and not of people’. This, too, is our cultural heritage. It sets a standard that we professionals must run — and urgently — to catch up with. It is the starting point of saving our species by respecting every individual of it, and thus respecting the heritage we have produced. We will either save both people and heritage or save neither.”

>> Read the full article

>> “Mayan pyramid in Belize destroyed 'for gravel'” on the BBC

Small but perfectly formed: the Herculaneum Conservation Project

Following last week’s BBC documentary ‘The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum’ and the successful exhibition at The British Museum, ‘Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum’, I had a root around in the Maney Publishing archives for an expert perspective on Pompeii’s less famous but equally fascinating neighbour.

Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites published a special issue in 2006 on the Herculaneum Conservation Project, set up by David W. Packard. The aim of the project was to assist the Italian government in the preservation of this small village which was encompassed in volcanic material by the same eruption of Vesuvius that blanketed Pompeii in ash and pumice pebbles in AD 79.The editors explain the importance of both preserving the site for archaeological record and also of the project as an example of what can be achieved by the cooperation of privately funded institutions and government. This collaboration seems to have only strengthened over the years with the spotlight now deservedly shining on this perfect snapshot of life two thousand years ago.

The following is an excerpt from the editorial of the special issue:

“The Herculaneum Conservation Project – the subject of all the papers in this issue – is notable for a number of reasons. The site of Herculaneum, together with its larger neighbour Pompeii which has tended to overshadow it in tourist itineraries and in the popular imagination, is extraordinary for the degree of preservation of its Roman townscape. Few sites are able to evoke the sensation of exploring the streets of 2000 years ago in the way that Herculaneum does. Remarkable sites deserve remarkable projects of investigation and preservation, and this site has been no exception. Herculaneum was first explored in the 18th century, mainly by means of tunnelling horizontally through the volcanic ash deposits that had buried the site to a depth of many metres. This was itself a technical feat at that time even if discouraged nowadays as an excavation technique. Then, in the 20th century, the work of Amedeo Maiuri has become a classic example of a long-term excavation campaign in which the restoration of well-preserved excavated buildings proceeded in tandem with their exposure. There are striking parallels with Arthur Evans’ work at Knossos in the 1920s and 1930s that deserve further study. In both cases, restoration was justified on the grounds that the buildings, though well preserved, would have collapsed once exhumed from their surrounding deposit. Moreover, on both sites similar ‘cutaway’ techniques were employed to show to visitors the upper storeys of buildings while making it evident that they were partially restored.

And now, equally remarkable, is the current initiative of the Packard Humanities Institute in undertaking the long-term campaign of site preservation that is reported in this volume. The initiative was stimulated by the very poor condition of a site that had been, and deserved to continue to be, a principal visitor attraction and locus for archaeological research. The public–private partnership that sustains the project brings together the regional public body that is responsible for Pompeii and its neighbouring sites and the private Packard Humanities Institute based in the USA. It is the first of its kind in Italy, having been made possible thanks to recent changes in Italian heritage legislation. It deserves to be a model for all situations in which slow-moving bureaucracies and management systems ill-adapted to the 21st century tend to create obstacles instead of embracing the flexibility and innovation that is needed in site management. The papers in this issue describe the success of a private foundation in introducing flexibility into a rigid state system while keeping in mind the long-term aim of facilitating the sustainable management of the site by those authorities that remain officially responsible for it.”

>> Download the entire special issue for free until Tuesday 16th April 2013

>> ‘The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum’ on the BBC

>> ‘Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum’ at The British Museum

NEW EVENT: ArcLand Conference

From Known Knowns to Unknown Unknowns: Remotely Detecting the Past

9th - 10th May 2013

Wood Quay Venue, Civic Offices, Dublin

Over the past few years the extent and quality of information available from satellites, airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) and aerial photography has grown exponentially. These techniques, collectively referred to as remote sensing, have had an enormous impact on our ability to reveal past landscapes and disseminate knowledge about those landscapes. The results of this work can be both visually exciting and intellectually engaging.

This two day conference brings together a series of speakers to showcase these techniques and the uses to which they can be put. This conference will specifically explore how remote sensing and its results can be used within the sectors of:

•           Heritage management and legislation

•           Education including: secondary, third level and continual development

•           Community heritage and citizen science

Book a place at the K2U2 event

ArchaeoLandscapes Europe offers a small number of bursaries/grants to support students and young scholars to participate in ArcLand-related events and activities. Forms for grant applications can be found on the ArcLand webpage and should be sent to the project leader via email by 5th April 2013.