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European Journal of Archaeology
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Can You Hear Me At the Back? Archaeology, Communication and Society

Cornelius Holtorf

University of Kalmar, Sweden, cornelius.holtorf{at}hik.se

Archaeologists often enjoy the role of giving the people what the people want, at least, so long as that is information about the past. But besides the ambition to enlighten people about the past, there are at least two alternative approaches concerning the way archaeology communicates with its publics in society. One considers archaeology a business and sees people as potential customers who need to be persuaded to buy the products of archaeology. Another approach advocates democratic participation of people in archaeology and wishes to accommodate people's own preferences regarding archaeological studies. The point of this article is not to choose between these different models of communication but to ensure that future debates about the relations between archaeology and society will be informed by a better understanding of some fundamentally different approaches concerning the aims and character of archaeology's communication with various public audiences. Hopefully this discussion will also benefit very specific, future projects in public archaeology and thus ultimately serve both the archaeologists and their publics.

Key Words: archaeological communication • archaeology and education • archaeology and society • public archaeology • public understanding of science • science and society

European Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 10, No. 2-3, 149-165 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1461957108095982
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