Tag Archives: archaeology blogs

Blogging Archaeology

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The Bamburgh Research Project’s Blog is a blog dedicated to “bringing the past to life for everyone” by documenting and sharing the archaeology of Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, England. During the excavation season, updates focus on the aforementioned castle, during the off-season the focus shifts to proximal projects like Bradford Kaims Wetland Heritage Research Project. The blog is authored by the collective forces behind the Bamburgh Research Project (BRP) and a link to the organization’s formal website identifies the bloggers as staff and students. The blog is targeted towards locals, those with a cursory interest in the project (or archaeology as a whole), and potential volunteers. There are a copious amount of entries, and while there are not very many comments, the blog’s counter indicates that the BRP Blog currently has 411 followers (and keep in mind, those followers are only those who have a blogging account, enabling them to formally register their followership.) I found the blog’s set up very accessible and engaging, providing fairly detailed methodology and historical context for those who desire it (with links to even more thorough end-of-season reports), while peppering entries with maps and photos. In between site reports, bloggers answer questions from readers, write entries about relevant topics that interest them, and explore the history of the site. I imagine theirs is more of a silent readership, perhaps older, that enjoys the constant stream of informative content.

I include Sídhe Screamed because of its mosaic approach to archaeology, and because it is authored by a college student (from the University of Illinois-Chicago, I might add, lest I be accused of shameless self-promotion.) The author, Cameron Sídhe, a Poetry major with a minor in Anthropology, summarizes his blog as “Neolithic Scotland. Outer Hebrides. Archaeology. Mythology. Biology. Pathology. Photography. Anything-that-catches-my-fancyology.” It is this eclectic approach, I believe, that makes his blog so accessible. His entries consist of “reblogged” international archaeology articles and artifact-, excavation site- or paleopathology-themed photographs. As this is a tumblr blog, public interest is gauged by the amount of “notes” on each entry; a quick survey of Sídhe Screamed shows that Sídhe’s entries are never without notes (both articles and photos), indicating an active and engaged readership. While entries range from the quirky to the paleobotanical, I found that the switches between light/somber, visually attractive/textually informative kept me reading Sídhe Screamed much longer than the BRP’s blog. Thus, I would argue that this blog—while not the most academic—successfully generates a public/”mainstream”/far-reaching appreciation for the aesthetic of archaeology and historical exploration, and public interest is a most excellent starting point for public engagement.

Blogging Archaeology

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Archaeography is a photoblog started in 2004 by Michael Shanks, a Classics professor at Stanford. Since the project began, around 75 new media experts, archaeologists, and photographers have contributed posts. Each post contains at least one photograph, and is accompanied by descriptions of the depicted scene in varying degrees of detail. Some posts link to other blogs where a project is explored more in depth. This blog explores connections between photography and archaeology, following the assertion that we are all archaeologists in some way, and that photography is inherently archaeological. It aims to question how we document events, what we leave out, what we choose to include. For some viewers the tone may be a bit too clouded in the abstract, but overall it is a beautiful site that has potential to appeal to a lot of people.

Indiana Jen is the blogger identity of Jennifer Carey-Lockett, an educator with a passion for history, archaeology, and the use of technology in the classroom. She posts about current happenings related to archaeology and historical preservation, and updates about her experiences teaching high school students. Her blog is fairly straightforward aesthetically and organizationally, which makes navigation simple. She has active viewers — every post is commented on and often shared via Facebook, Twitter, Google, or StumbleUpon. Her audience includes students, fellow educators, archaeologists, and general public with no background in the subjects she discusses. Her posts utilize text, images, audio, and video, and she includes links to all sorts of different blogs and online publications. She does an excellent job of making archaeology totally accessible, and her analysis of current happenings through her unique lens can provide even the stuffiest academic with a new tidbit of understanding.

Archaeology Blogs

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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.

Blogging Archaeology

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AlunSalt: Ancient Science and the Science of Ancient Things

This blog is written by Alun Salt, a published archaeoastronomer based in Britain, who is currently working on another blog and on educational material for the Center for Interdisciplinary Science. Alun’s blog posts include responses to archaeological papers and news stories, posts about his own relevant interests (like photography) and personal matters as well. He has a particular interest in the intersections between astronomy and archaeology, so there are many posts related to both of those topics. The tone of his writing is casual and often playful, but is also critical and informative. I found the aesthetics of the blog to be a bit jarring, but the text is still readable and there are plenty of pictures to illustrate his posts. I would give this blog a rating of 7 out of 10. The blog allows comments and is authored by someone who is very willing to engage in a conversation with his audience and the archaeological community (through his posts and by replying back to comments). Unfortunately, sometimes his posts are hard to read because of awkward grammar. However, the overall experience is positive. Alun seems knowledgable and passionate, and his posts critically engage with the topics he is discussing. His audience includes both archaeologists and people interested in archaeology.

Bones Don’t Lie: News and Commentary on Bioarchaeology and Mortuary Archaeology

The second blog that I would like to mention is written by Katy Meyers, a graduate student of mortuary archaeology at the University of Michigan. What is most interesting about this blog to me is that the author is arguing for her blog to count as a scholarly publication. To this end, she has a “works cited” section at the end of every academic post and a page specifically requesting reviews and comments from her scholarly peers. From the comments, the audience of this blog seems to consist of archaeologists, teachers, students of archaeology, and people who are just interested in archaeology. Katy focuses on her specialties–mortuary and bioarchaeology–and writes informative, well-written, reflective posts about news and archaeological papers. This website is the more visually pleasing to me that AlunSalt, with well spaced and formatted text, a clean background, and a good use of color. She also uses plenty of pictures. I would give this blog a rating of 8 out of 10. I appreciated Katy’s effort to make her blog a scholarly endeavor, for example, by using research papers to discuss topics in the context of current and past archaeological work. I found everything about this blog to be pleasant and informative. And even though she cites scholars, Katy’s writing is plain and clear enough that people besides archaeologists and archaeology students should also be able to learn from it.