For this assignment, I viewed a number of archaeology blogs to understand the goals of blogging archaeology and how these authors reach out to their audience. Overall, I found that the most effective and engaging blogs were the ones that were the most personal. For me, the blogs that discussed the author’s opinions about archaeology and their own research projects were the most exciting. Two blogs that definitely captured my interest were Terry Peterkin Brock’s blog, “Dirt,” and Mick Morrison’s blog, “Mick Morrison: Archaeology and Heritage in Australia.”

Mick Morrison is a professor at Flinders University in Adelaide. He is an archaeologist with a background in cultural heritage management, focused largely in northeast Australia.  Morrison began his blog in 2009 hoping to encourage a greater representation of Australian Archaeologist bloggers on the internet.  He only posts about fifteen to twenty times a year, but his updates are interesting and diverse, ranging from discussing his experiences in the field to writing grant proposals.  His posts are generally comprised of text along with images that work together to make the piece complete.  Morrison allows his audience a window into his life as an archaeologist in Australia through his blog.  I also really appreciate Morrison’s eagerness to engage with his audience to have an open dialogue about archaeology.

Terry Peterkin Brock is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Michigan State University.  He is interested in historical archaeology especially in Historic St. Mary’s City, Maryland.  His blog serves as a space for him to discuss and write about a number of topics that interest him related to archaeology ranging from the inclusion of his dissertation project on slavery to issues relating to gender violence and sexual assault prevention.  Brock often discusses the use of blogging and multimedia in relation to archaeology, which I found very interesting.  He not only discusses his own personal experiences with blogging and Twitter but also brings the opinions of others into his posts.  Using links within his posts to other articles allows for the audience to look up a topic that Brock mentioned but did not fully explain, giving the reader an opportunity to really get a handle of the discussion at hand.  Brock’s use of other multimedia, internet resources, and images, adds to the accessibility and depth of his posts and site overall.  His posts are also very interesting as he often points out how archaeology is relevant to a number of current events.  Discussing the changes in the internet realm with Twitter, blogging, etc… also gives that audience the opportunity to see how Brock is adapting to these changes to continue and improve his discussions of archaeology.  One of my favorite posts was about advice about digging during the winter time.  He gives advice about what clothes to wear and how to stay warm.  My favorite advice for digging in the cold: Grow a beard.  “For those of you genetically pre-determined to be able to grow facial hair, get on it.”  He adds humor to his page and gives it a personal feel while still maintaining his goals of creating an accessible space to learn about and discuss archaeology.

Ancient Bodies, Ancient Lives is a blog by Rosemary Joyce, based on her book of the same title. She is an anthropology professor at UC Berkeley with a PhD in anthropology. The detailed list of her past education, work experiences and publications, in the “About Me” section gives her great authority in this area, and situates her research within a context. Joyce is very interested in collaborative work and her blog is intended to analyze how gender and sex are materialized within the archaeological record. Though heavily focused on women, her audience appears evenly split between men and women, and is targeted at the general public, students interested in her research, and fellow colleagues. Her stories inform readers on a wide range of topics, from Ancient Roman brothels to Neanderthal-Human sexual relations to erotic motifs on seventeenth century Chinese vases, and each have a captivating title that hooks the reader without misrepresenting the story, such as “Bone Deep: Sex and the Skeleton,” or Evolution as Fight Club.” Her posts are written in a very accessible, informal style, but offer offer commentaries and critical examinations of past research through the lens of gender, and often critique media representations. I believe her blog is extremely successful at highlighting interesting stories, which may help readers to approach history with a new, gender conscious viewpoint, and to have a healthy skepticism towards media portrayals of archaeological stories. One possible improvement could be the use of images to make the site itself more lively and engaging, and illuminate some of the topics she discusses.

Middle Savagery was created by Colleen Morgan, an archaeology Ph.D. candidate at the UC Berkeley. Her blog is aimed at the general public, and seems to attract many people who know nothing about archaeology but are very interested in learning or reading about the field. It also seems to target a more youthful audience and other students engaged in the field. One of the greatest assets of this site is her use of photography and digital media. Her artistic photos romanticize archaeology but in a way that still portrays they daily life and less exciting aspects of excavation (such as taking notes, measuring etc). Her use of videos, such as that “Windy Qatar,” draw the viewer’s senses into the world of archaeology, allowing them to experience what the climate is like at a particular site. The posts themselves are written in a very descriptive, yet informal way, that is both accessible for readers, and makes them feel like they are actually in her shoes, feelings every cut and scrape she gets or her dehydration and the dryness of the air. She has a remarkable ability to sensationalize the field, not by descriptions of adventure or treasure, but by her lively detail and the personalized nature of her writing, describing how it feels to be in the field and under such harsh conditions.  The ability is best exhibited by a comment by one of her readers: “I just spent a hour going through your posts and I know nothing of archeology, but damn I am enthralled and have seriously enjoyed it.” Thus her blog seems more descriptive than analytical, but does an excellent job of interesting people in the field, both textually and visually recreating the field experience for the reader.