Archaeology in Society

The practice of archaeology has many different facets: from academia, to government, to cultural resource management, to public media.

Considering the place of archaeology in society means understanding the roles that archaeology has in the present day and a sense of the contributions that it can make in each of these areas, both now and in the future. Archaeologists come to the field to pursue a variety of interests: teaching, examining history, preserving the environment, or studying a specialized time period or interest. The outside world has a number of other expectations of archaeology: preservation, tourism, and education, to name but a few.

From a broad and varied background, the editors have compiled a rare group of contributors uniquely qualified to address questions about the current state of archaeology and its relevance in society. There is no single answer to the question of how the field of archaeology should develop, and what it can do for society. Instead, the authors in this volume lay out the many ways in which archaeology is relevant to the present day - considering, for example, climate change, energy exploration, warfare, national identity, the importance of stories and how they are told, and how and why opportunities to engage with the past through museums, digs, television, classes, and the print media have the forms they currently do - creating a state-of-the-art tool for archaeologists, policymakers and the public alike to understand the work of many in the field and address the challenges we all face.