4th November 2005, 02:05 PM
To be fair, having open days of the type you describe is only going to work on select sites. I work in a predominantly urban area, which means the excavation work is on construction sites, and no one in their right mind is going to insist a local amatuer society comes along for a site tour. Seen it happen once, elderly lady took a tumble, bad scene. But beyond that, some archaeology is just plain not exciting to look at, difficult to interpret on site, and not welcoming to a visitor.
In our briefs (yes, I do occassionally write them [:p]) there is a section of public access or involvement, and I do generally expect to see this for all excavation WSIs submitted. However, public engagement does not have to be limited to open days and site tours.
Simple things such as: cutting viewing holes in hoarding; putting up signs or posters explaining what you are doing (also is good publicity for the developers and cuts down on people pestering jard working diggers from the street); I also like to have open days after the fact - where a lecture is given to the local group after the dig is complete, including artefact handling. Wessex Archaeology has had a web-cam on site, as did English Heritage at the Chester Amphitheatre excavations. Visiting schools.
All good ways of getting the message out there, that are not hampered by site constraints.
ML
In our briefs (yes, I do occassionally write them [:p]) there is a section of public access or involvement, and I do generally expect to see this for all excavation WSIs submitted. However, public engagement does not have to be limited to open days and site tours.
Simple things such as: cutting viewing holes in hoarding; putting up signs or posters explaining what you are doing (also is good publicity for the developers and cuts down on people pestering jard working diggers from the street); I also like to have open days after the fact - where a lecture is given to the local group after the dig is complete, including artefact handling. Wessex Archaeology has had a web-cam on site, as did English Heritage at the Chester Amphitheatre excavations. Visiting schools.
All good ways of getting the message out there, that are not hampered by site constraints.
ML