http://digitaldirtvirtualpasts.wordpress.com/
Digital Dirt/ Virtual Pasts is written by a Ph.D. candidate at the Glasgow School of Art, aimed at other digital artists and archaeologists from the UK. The posts are accounts of the author’s projects as they progress, complete with pictures. Most recently, the author has been working on a 3D model of the St. Kilda Blackhouse. Technical terms about 3D modeling can make the blog difficult to approach and to comprehend fully, but the author uses her experiences to critically examine the process of archaeological illustration and reconstruction and how the creative process can affect interpretation. Though the reader may have to dig through narratives about unfamiliar people and places using unfamiliar terms, but the author’s commitment to reflexivity makes for a fresh perspective on how archaeology and media interact with each other, both for the archaeologist acting as a creator and for others acting as consumers.
http://badarchaeology.wordpress.com
Bad Archaeology is written by a group of British archaeologists and aimed at the general public. It has a large and varied readership with vigorous debate in the comments section. The blog takes an empirical stance on archaeology and attempts to dispel popular misconceptions about archaeology as well as theories he deems to be psuedoscience or unsupported by hard science. The blog emphasizes the importance of the archaeologist as a supreme authority on archaeological matters. Content includes explanations of why the authors believe dowsing, ley lines, biblical archaeology and “conspiracy theories” have no place in archaeology. The blog is an excellent example of public outreach from conservative academic archaeology; it uses those themes in archaeology to which the general public is most attracted (adventure, mystery, and treasure) in order to present archaeology as a hard science. The language is accessible to non-archaeologists and the posts are filled with pictures, making the posts entertaining as well as provocative, though the reader should remember that as an academic, the author has a motive, and the viewpoints he dismisses (particularly religious and indigenous viewpoints), can also be considered true representations of multiple pasts.
