Why Do People Become Involved With Archaeology? Some Answers from Alabama’s Black Belt Region

This paper considers a question posed by the organizers of the Dynamics of Inclusion in Public Archaeology symposium: “Why do people become involved?” Based on my own quest for public involvement with Cahawba, a site in Alabama’s Black Belt region, I contend that people are most likely to become inv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchaeologies Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 538 - 553
Main Author Derry, Linda
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer US 01.12.2011
Subjects
Anthropology
Archaeology
Cultural Heritage
Social Sciences
Cahawba
Interpretive communication
Civic tourism
National Survey on Recreation and the Environment
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Summary:This paper considers a question posed by the organizers of the Dynamics of Inclusion in Public Archaeology symposium: “Why do people become involved?” Based on my own quest for public involvement with Cahawba, a site in Alabama’s Black Belt region, I contend that people are most likely to become involved when an archaeologist communicates interpretively. Furthermore, certain categories of people are just more likely to become actively engaged with archaeology than others. Who are they? What are their characteristics? Where can they be found? The National Survey on Recreation and the Environment has the answers.
ISSN:1555-8622
1935-3987
DOI:10.1007/s11759-011-9181-9