United States archaeologists often appear to function as part of society's progressive fa... more United States archaeologists often appear to function as part of society's progressive faction. Their interests and efforts stem from a nexus of social and economic elements regularly cursed in conservative circles. This article describes the implications of the wars in terms of public archaeology, especially public archaeological practice that intersects with public education in the United States. It explains the reasons that these culture wars are important in terms of formal education in the United States and discusses why archaeology is relevant to social studies as it is practised in the formal education sphere. The study also examines the negative attitudes that US archaeologists have about outreach to formal education in general, and describes some recent shifts within professional archaeology societies which indicate that some of these attitudes may be changing. Finally, it argues that archaeology's lack of engagement with education's needs has served to work against those promoting a more inclusive democracy.
The application of digital technologies to culture history preservation and interpretation is a r... more The application of digital technologies to culture history preservation and interpretation is a rapidly growing field that has captured the imagination of many. In this work, we explore the application of image classification systems for use in the reconstruction of archaeologically excavated ...
Public Outreach in archaeology generally operates with a disciplinary lens calling for stewardshi... more Public Outreach in archaeology generally operates with a disciplinary lens calling for stewardship—namely the preservation of archaeological sites through enhanced public awareness. This disciplinary-based goal, while important and relevant, represents the minimum role that archaeology can play in formal school education. An alternative approach for school outreach advocates the use of archaeology for education’s needs. Notably, this approach is in
The NSF-grant funded, 3D Philadelphia Project—Digital Restoration of Thin-Shell Objects for Histo... more The NSF-grant funded, 3D Philadelphia Project—Digital Restoration of Thin-Shell Objects for Historical Archeological Research and Interpretation (NSF no. 0803670), brought together computer scientists, a computer engineer, a media researcher, and archaeologists to work on computer vision technologies in aid of a vast assemblage of mass-produced, industrial age ceramics excavated from Independence National Historical Park—a prominent, urban, cultural history unit within the US Department of the Interior National Park Service. The overall research aims for the project involved community participation, collaboration, and outreach beyond both the federal agency and the field of archaeology to advance development of novel computer vision technologies that would allow machine-based reconstructions of 3D objects. Such technology promised to be a boon for archaeologists in terms of collections management and interpretation needs—once fully developed and accessible. But in the short term, it directly contributed to other research communities active in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area: a team of computer scientists and engineers and a team of media arts researchers. For the media arts community, the computational image data produced in the collaborative study could be leveraged as digital assets useful for populating virtual environments being developed as academic research and training projects. For the computer scientists and engineers, the research engaged with artifact shapes and designs useful for their needs of writing mathematical algorithms central to computer vision and pattern recognition development needed for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) (namely decision tree learning, inductive logic programming, clustering, reinforcement learning, and Bayesian networks used in mimicking of the biological structure of the brain). The project was not something done in collaboration as we (archaeologists) knew it, but rather represented the emergence of a new creative space created beyond the realms of all the participants’ disciplinary (and federal agency) silos. The resulting entirely new community space was possible only through non-archaeologist participation in the planning and carrying out of the research project’s design. Here we examine the interplay of these differing, contributing, knowledge communities in a case study in heritage studies that both refines our understanding of the concept of heritage while reminding us of the necessity and benefits of sharing archaeological knowledge through engagement with “others.” We draw upon Pierre Levy’s ideas of “Collective Intelligence” and Henry Jenkins’ notion of “Convergence Culture” to explore the relationships, communications, learning, and opportunities that evolved in this “collaboration” between archaeologists and non-archaeologists applying computer vision technology to cultural heritage.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century
The construction of an archaeological identity within the US archaeological profession has long d... more The construction of an archaeological identity within the US archaeological profession has long determined how significance is constructed as part of US preservation law and regulatory policy. In this chapter, this codified framework guiding professional practice is set aside to examine instead a determination of significance by a living community, and their construction of common memory at and with an archaeological site overtime. This study involves local public involvement with the ruins of the President’s House Site, 1790–1800, located in Independence National Historical Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), which are central to a commemoration memorializing the story of freedom and slavery at the birth of the USA. The public’s activity with and at the site begs heritage resource specialists to more broadly interpret professional guidelines so as to account for that which society may value as significant rather than what the heritage profession privileges.
United States archaeologists often appear to function as part of society's progressive fa... more United States archaeologists often appear to function as part of society's progressive faction. Their interests and efforts stem from a nexus of social and economic elements regularly cursed in conservative circles. This article describes the implications of the wars in terms of public archaeology, especially public archaeological practice that intersects with public education in the United States. It explains the reasons that these culture wars are important in terms of formal education in the United States and discusses why archaeology is relevant to social studies as it is practised in the formal education sphere. The study also examines the negative attitudes that US archaeologists have about outreach to formal education in general, and describes some recent shifts within professional archaeology societies which indicate that some of these attitudes may be changing. Finally, it argues that archaeology's lack of engagement with education's needs has served to work against those promoting a more inclusive democracy.
The application of digital technologies to culture history preservation and interpretation is a r... more The application of digital technologies to culture history preservation and interpretation is a rapidly growing field that has captured the imagination of many. In this work, we explore the application of image classification systems for use in the reconstruction of archaeologically excavated ...
Public Outreach in archaeology generally operates with a disciplinary lens calling for stewardshi... more Public Outreach in archaeology generally operates with a disciplinary lens calling for stewardship—namely the preservation of archaeological sites through enhanced public awareness. This disciplinary-based goal, while important and relevant, represents the minimum role that archaeology can play in formal school education. An alternative approach for school outreach advocates the use of archaeology for education’s needs. Notably, this approach is in
The NSF-grant funded, 3D Philadelphia Project—Digital Restoration of Thin-Shell Objects for Histo... more The NSF-grant funded, 3D Philadelphia Project—Digital Restoration of Thin-Shell Objects for Historical Archeological Research and Interpretation (NSF no. 0803670), brought together computer scientists, a computer engineer, a media researcher, and archaeologists to work on computer vision technologies in aid of a vast assemblage of mass-produced, industrial age ceramics excavated from Independence National Historical Park—a prominent, urban, cultural history unit within the US Department of the Interior National Park Service. The overall research aims for the project involved community participation, collaboration, and outreach beyond both the federal agency and the field of archaeology to advance development of novel computer vision technologies that would allow machine-based reconstructions of 3D objects. Such technology promised to be a boon for archaeologists in terms of collections management and interpretation needs—once fully developed and accessible. But in the short term, it directly contributed to other research communities active in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area: a team of computer scientists and engineers and a team of media arts researchers. For the media arts community, the computational image data produced in the collaborative study could be leveraged as digital assets useful for populating virtual environments being developed as academic research and training projects. For the computer scientists and engineers, the research engaged with artifact shapes and designs useful for their needs of writing mathematical algorithms central to computer vision and pattern recognition development needed for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine-learning (ML) (namely decision tree learning, inductive logic programming, clustering, reinforcement learning, and Bayesian networks used in mimicking of the biological structure of the brain). The project was not something done in collaboration as we (archaeologists) knew it, but rather represented the emergence of a new creative space created beyond the realms of all the participants’ disciplinary (and federal agency) silos. The resulting entirely new community space was possible only through non-archaeologist participation in the planning and carrying out of the research project’s design. Here we examine the interplay of these differing, contributing, knowledge communities in a case study in heritage studies that both refines our understanding of the concept of heritage while reminding us of the necessity and benefits of sharing archaeological knowledge through engagement with “others.” We draw upon Pierre Levy’s ideas of “Collective Intelligence” and Henry Jenkins’ notion of “Convergence Culture” to explore the relationships, communications, learning, and opportunities that evolved in this “collaboration” between archaeologists and non-archaeologists applying computer vision technology to cultural heritage.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century
The construction of an archaeological identity within the US archaeological profession has long d... more The construction of an archaeological identity within the US archaeological profession has long determined how significance is constructed as part of US preservation law and regulatory policy. In this chapter, this codified framework guiding professional practice is set aside to examine instead a determination of significance by a living community, and their construction of common memory at and with an archaeological site overtime. This study involves local public involvement with the ruins of the President’s House Site, 1790–1800, located in Independence National Historical Park (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA), which are central to a commemoration memorializing the story of freedom and slavery at the birth of the USA. The public’s activity with and at the site begs heritage resource specialists to more broadly interpret professional guidelines so as to account for that which society may value as significant rather than what the heritage profession privileges.
Outreach at the President's House site (INHP, Philadelphia, PA) has generated intensive public in... more Outreach at the President's House site (INHP, Philadelphia, PA) has generated intensive public interest including blog entries, discussion threads, and news headlines that allow for qualitative Public Archaeology evaluation. These developments present a point of entry for examining meanings ascribed by our publics after the archaeological message is delivered-as it moves through different hands into different uses and contexts. Exploring how material culture transforms and constructs everyday life is, of course, the purview of archaeology. This presentation will argue that this principle should hold for evaluation in public archaeology as well.
Uploads
Papers by Patrice L Jeppson