Friday 22 September 2023

British Archaeology and its Ivory Tower

Archaeosoup raises some important points 26.5K subscribers:

"Head of the Council for British Archaeology Blocked me on Twitter... This is (or should be) WEIRD!
Neil Redfern blocked me on Twitter. This is NOT normal!
Every now and then I am reminded just how bizarre the behaviour of people at the top of Archaeology in this country can be..."
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Posted on You Tube by 'Archaeosoup' 26.5K subscribers Sep 18, 2023 [450 views ]

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From my own point of view, this seems quite normal for British archaeology if you start asking questions that people just don't want to think about - like on metal detecting. So I am blocked just about everywhere that anyone involved in the Portable Antiquities Scheme does their "public outreach" through social media. Blocking people from asking questions is a very one-sided way of interacting with a wider group, it is zero accountibility and transparency. That is what British archaeology is becoming.


But the PAS and its camp followers are quite happy to post crap like: "On this day the Roman Empire's first black emperor began his reign - here's a coin of his", or "This nice seal from the times of the Plantagenet kings shows a pelican - cute, eh?" that tells nobody anything about archaeology.

And yes, the CBA tends to steer away from searching questions about whether artefact hunting with metal detectors and collecting loose artefacts is really " involving people in archaeology", or something else entirely. Why? Is this not somethingwe should be discussing? 


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