Archaeological Pedagogy

The Aventinus Minor Project is a community archaeological excavation project focusing on one of the rare unexcavated areas in Rome in the
Aventine neighborhood, between the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla.

The April 2021 newsletter:
1. describes the Project's goals;
2. introduces the Project's investigators and partners;
3. updates the community on the remote 2020 research season;
4. and details plans for the inaugural on-site 2021 season.

________________________________________________________________ For over four decades, archaeological education in Nigeria has been confined to university education curricula with little or no attention paid to teaching the subject at primary and secondary school levels. This paper puts forward some viable concepts and methods needed for the introduction and teaching of archaeology at these levels in Nigeria. These include both formal and informal teaching methods. This paper highlights some problems or challenges that may arise during the implementation process and gives some recommendations. The paper concludes that archaeological education should not be for adults alone. It should also be made available to the young ones. ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: Depuis plus de quatre décennies, les e ´tudes archéologiques au Nigeria sont limitées aux programmes d'enseignement universitaire, et l'enseignement primaire et secondaire de cette matière suscite peu ou pas d'intérêt. Cet article présente quelques concepts et méthodes viables, nécessaires pour l'introduction et l'enseignement de l'archéologie a ` ces niveaux scolaires au Nigeria. Ceux-ci comprennent des méthodes d'enseignement formel et informel. Le présent article souligne certains problèmes ou difficultés qui pourraient survenir au cours du processus de mise en oeuvre et livre quelques recommandations. Il conclut que l'enseignement de l'archéologique ne devrait pas s'adresser aux adultes seulement, mais qu'il devrait e ´galement e ˆtre accessible aux jeunes. ________________________________________________________________

The Aventinus Minor Project is a community archaeological excavation project focusing on one of the rare unexcavated areas in Rome in the
Aventine neighborhood, between the Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla.

The November 2021 newsletter:
1. the results of the 2021 inaugural on-site season
2. student statements on their experiences from both AUR and SSS students
3. tentative plans for the 2022 season

Today, many general-education archaeology courses are large, lecture-style class formats that present a challenge to providing students, particularly non-majors, with opportunities to learn experientially. This laboratory-style manual compiles a wide variety of uniquely designed, hands-on classroom activities to acquaint advanced high school and introductory college students to the field of archaeology. Ranging in length from five to thirty minutes, activities created by archaeologists are designed to break up traditional classroom lectures, engage students of all learning styles, and easily integrate into large classes and/or short class periods that do not easily accommodate traditional laboratory work.

A queer theory inspired perspective is valuable not only for broadening the scope of archaeological interpretation and our understanding of past lived experiences, but also for informing an archaeological pedagogy which expands the diversity of authoritative viewpoints in the discipline. Field schools, as one of the most central aspects of archaeological training, have the potential to either reaffirm heteronormative structures which obscure non-conforming persons and viewpoints or to promote inclusive practices that can benefit the field by expanding the range of experiences, perspectives, and voices in the archaeological discussion. This paper will discuss specific ways in which an explicitly queer-informed field school acts to create a safe space where inclusion is based on analytic archaeological potential rather than correct conformation to perceived social norms.

Between 1995 and 2015, the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project (MVAP) excavated the Etruscan site of Poggio Colla. Poggio Colla is located about 35 km northeast of Florence, Italy at the juncture of the Mugello basin and the Val di Sieve. Twenty-one years of excavation at the site have revealed evidence of a hilltop sanctuary and associated settlement and industrial zones, likely inhabited from at least the 7th through 2nd centuries BCE. The Mugello Valley Archaeological Project (MVAP) has operated a long-running field school at Poggio Colla, and education is a core component of the project's mission. The field school has provided generations of students with instruction in archaeological fieldwork theory and methodology. The project has also been a valuable training resource for both conservators and allied cultural heritage professionals. Poggio Colla has offered pre-program and graduate level conservation students essential hands-on training in the field. Perhaps equally importantly, it has facilitated awareness of and promoted the value of archaeological conservation among the many non-conservation students who have participated in the project. By integrating conservation into the field school's academic program and facilitating collaboration between conservation staff and archaeology students, MVAP has helped to raise awareness of archaeological conservation, to model successful collaboration between conservators and archaeologists, and to advocate for the value of cultural heritage preservation. The culmination of 21 years of excavation at the MVAP field school presents an opportunity to reflect on the mechanics, challenges, successes and legacies of archaeological conservation education at Poggio Colla.