Community Archaeology Workshop
18th-20th of November, Târgu Mureș
FRIDAY, THE 18TH OF NOVEMBER
18:00–18:30 Opening speeches (Small Hall, Palace of Culture)
Koppány Bulcsú Ötvös (Mureș County Museum, Târgu Mureș)
Szilamér Péter Pánczél (Mureș County Museum, Târgu Mureș)
18:30–19:00 Presentation (Small Hall, Palace of Culture)
Giving heritage back to the community: People-centric heritage management practices
Britta Burkhardt (Romania)
SATURDAY, THE 19TH OF NOVEMBER
09:30–11:30 Presentations (Tonitza Conference Room, Hotel Continental)
Moderator: Katalin Sidó (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
09:30–10:00 Let the music play! Local versus international expectations concerning ancient heritage preservation in the Middle East
Lóránt Vass (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary)
10:00–10:30 The concept and practice of Community Archaeology in Hungary
Tibor Ákos Rácz (Community Archaeology Association, Hungary)
10:30–11:00 Without glass showcases – Discovering antiquity and archaeology as public edutainment. Examples in the Roman south-west Germany
Thomas Martin (Rheinisches Landesmuseum and UNESCO World Heritage Roman Trier – Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany)
11:00–11:30 Training excavations as a chance. Interactions between visitors and excavators in archaeological parks
Christoph Lindner (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany)
12:00–14:00 Presentations (Tonitza Conference Room, Hotel Continental)
Moderator: Tibor Ákos Rácz (Community Archaeology Association, Hungary)
12:00–12:30 Public meets archaeology – An approximation using the example of the Archaeological Park in Nettersheim
Marie-Hélène Lindner (Germany)
12:30–13:00 If you didn’t take a photo and uploaded, it never happened. The use of social media for the promotion of heritage
Eszter Horváth (Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg, Hungary)
13:00–13:30 Ancient sites on the streets of Bucharest
Miruna Libiță (University of Bucharest, Romania)
13:30–14:00 (Re)construction of the image of the past. Imagination, interpretation and architecture in contemporary archaeological parks
Zoltán Major (University of Debrecen, Hungary), Péter Müllner (University of Debrecen, Hungary), Gergely Sági (Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary)
15:30–17:30 Presentations (Tonitza Conference Room, Hotel Continental)
Moderator: Lóránt Vass (Pázmány Péter Cahtolic University, Hungary)
15:30–16:00 Unholy alliance? Archaeology, public and re-enactment in Romania
Fábián István (G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, Romania)
16:00–16:30 From unwanted to guests. Interacting with the local community during the two years of rescue excavations at Sânpaul / Homoródszentpál
Katalin Sidó (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
16:30–17:00 Festival and festivities. Promoting the archaeological heritage of Călugăreni / Mikháza
Szilamér Péter Pánczél (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
16:30–17:30 The case of the young explorers. Archaeology camp at the Călugăreni / Mikháza Archaeological Park
Orsolya Szilágyi (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
18:00–19:00 Round table (Tonitza Conference Room, Hotel Continental)
The present and future of Community Archaeology
Moderator: Orsolya Szilágyi (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
SUNDAY, THE 20TH OF NOVEMBER
10:00–11:00 Guided tour (Museum of Ethnography and Popular Art)
People from the Mureș region in the trenches of the 1st World War
Curator: Szilamér Péter Pánczél (Mureș County Museum, Târgu Mureș)
11:00–12:30 Guided tour (Museum of History and Archaeology, Târgu Mureș)
Pauline Fathers
Curator: Ünige Bencze (Mureș County Museum, Târgu Mureș)
ABSTRACTS
Giving heritage back to the community: People-centric heritage management practices
Burkhardt Britta (Romania)
The presentation discusses the different concepts and problems pertaining to public outreach, as well in theory as in practice, with examples limited to Romania. Culture plays an important role in the formation of society, and, subsequently how a community refers to its cultural heritage determines a community. This is also why involvement of society into matters of heritage preservation and further into educating our society on these important issues, is really important.
Let the music play! Local versus international expectations concerning ancient heritage preservation in the Middle East
Lóránt Vass (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary)
Cultural heritage in general is usually related to the cultural identity of one community and very often it fuels or contribute to the formation of national identities too. Sites, monuments, regions from antiquity are treated as symbols of western civilizations, reminding the community to the advanced culture their real or imaginary ancestors had from the earliest time. According to the western heritage preservation standards, a monument or site is carefully examined and conserved while the access of the public to them is strictly controlled, monuments of great relevance can be admired usually from a distance. Furthermore, a series of special educational or entertainment activities organized by local museums or specific institutions have the goal to raise awareness, to create connection with local communities, and to overcome the artificial, physical barrier between the monument and admirer. In most of the cases, these activities are strictly related to the function and the specific historical period of the given monument (e.g., re-enactment shows, ancient crafts, parades, gladiator fights etc.). However, is this well-established common practice the only way to actively involve local groups? Should it be applied without revision in each case, regardless of the local specifics? Does this really meet the needs or expectations of local populations? During the presentation I try to explore the possible answers to these questions focusing on a well-delimited cultural and geographical region, the Middle East, mostly today Syria and Lebanon.
Preservation of ancient cultural heritage in Middle East was always a delicate issue. Not only because of the destructions of the ongoing civil war in Syria, and the unstable political regimes, but also due to a lack of common cultural or national identities in the region. Antiquity, although richer and more important than in the western part of world in the given time, is considerably unrooted, de-contextualized in current narratives. Local populations do not consider this extremely rich heritage as theirs, they are seemingly ignorant. Meanwhile, as a consequence of the colonial past, western authorities have appropriated this heritage as typical elements of the western civilization. Whose heritage is this then? Who owns antiquity here? What are the main strategies for raising awareness of the local inhabitants about the inestimable value of the ancient heritage here? Does the restricted access to sites, monuments and the several museum pedagogical activities really work here? Is it necessary bad if it does not? I will present some case studies related to UNESCO WH sites (Palmyra, Bosra, Baalbek etc.) in this concern and we can decide together whether an international festival, or a modern rave party at the sites are meant to endanger these monuments, or on the contrary, they facilitate inclusions of the population.
The concept and practice of Community Archaeology in Hungary
Rácz Tibor Ákos (Community Archaeology Association, Hungary)
Events where civilians participate in research or heritage rescue work, are nowadays frequent, but not customary, and still strongly debated among researchers. We launched our program for the integration of civilians into museum work in Pest County, Hungary in 2015. Successful excavations were organized in cooperation ever since which gained huge media attention and brought new civilian actors interested in the protection of cultural heritage values. Last year we opened the first community archaeology exhibition in Hungary, followed by a study volume and the first national community archaeology conference. This presentation deals with birth of the new phenomenon, the major problems it had to face so far and present challenges through case studies. I’ll try to reflect on the different positions of cultural heritage institutions, the differences registered on the national scene, and in addition to the extraordinary successes the shortcomings and concerns about further development and institutionalization.
Training excavations as a chance. Interactions between visitors and excavators
in archaeological parks
Christoph Lindner (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany)
Educational excavations are not only a good opportunity for students to expand their archaeological and methodological knowledge, but also to learn how to deal with both professional and interested lay audiences. Archaeological parks offer a particularly good environment for this, in which in addition to day visits also didactic programs can be offered. Both interested laypersons and scientists are seen among day visitors, who come to the excavation area and seek exchange. As an excavation leader, it is important to motivate the students to promote these discussions and then carry them out together. The existing infrastructure in archaeological parks can be used for excavation tours which should be carried out by the students under scientific supervision. Interested laypersons can also directly be involved in educational excavations as excavation helpers. If these are local residents, in addition to a good relationship with the population, this can also result in useful exchange for the scientist. Examples include educational excavations in the LVR-Archaeological Park Xanten, the Archaeological Park Cambodunum and more.
Public meets archaeology – An approximation using the example of the
Archaeological Park in Nettersheim
Marie-Hélène Lindner (Germany)
Nettersheim is a municipality in the Eifel (North Rhine-Westphalia), just under an hour’s drive south-west of Cologne, also easy to reach by train, and is to be held up as an example for the development of community engagement. With its rich cultural landscape, archaeological monuments and geological deposits, Nettersheim offers a good framework for the development and advancement of programs for schools, families and other groups of all ages. Through the successive expansion of nature and archaeology programmes in the surrounding area/in the village, Nettersheim has developed into the largest and most active nature centre in the region within 30 years and was able to open the Archäologischen Landschaftspark Nettersheim 8 years ago. The diverse programs such as “Forschen wie die Archäologen (Researching like the archaeologists)”, the walking tour “So lebten die Römer in Nettersheim (This is how the Romans lived in Nettersheim)” or the excavation camps address people from all age groups, from children to senior citizens. During the workshop, the example of Nettersheim will be used to show how public interest can be gained by interweaving the topographical advantages of a region, in the case of Nettersheim nature and archaeology.
If you didn’t take a photo and uploaded, it never happened. The use of social media for the promotion of heritage
Horváth Eszter (Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg, Hungary)
Social media has fundamentally transformed our pre-existing communication and social conducts which left us in a situation where we have to find a completely new form to convey, connect our research with the desired target audience.
Ideally, first we should approach the local community. To have a broader reach we should break down our audience by different age groups and investigate how do they perceive archaeology. For this, we do not need to conduct huge surveys, because we as archaeologists have our misunderstood pop culture persona for every generation.
In my presentation I would like to discuss how can we embrace this media phenomenon and approach the public in an educational, but enjoyable way with the social media algorithm on our side.
Ancient sites on the streets of Bucharest
Miruna Libiță (University of Bucharest, Romania)
There is an uncertainty around the Romanian public’s perception of Archaeology. Most people view it as an esoteric, poorly understood science that hardly ever appeals to the common sense of the populace. Preventive archaeology is seen as a barrier to investors of land developments rather than an opportunity. If the time spent for a systematical excavation means research, many still believe that an archaeologist’s work results in just a basic pile of stones without any real significance. This approach is a result of the government’ lack of interest in the cultural sector, which frequently gives the impression that the laws governing the protection of cultural heritage can be applied preferentially.
Disseminating one’s findings to the public is one of a scientist’s responsibilities. To promote Limes in Bucharest you need creativity and the city’s street topography in order to help you advertise Limes. The availability of various streets in the 6th Sector of the Romanian capital with Roman castra names, served as inspiration.
The presentation suggests using a team activity akin to a treasure hunt to promote the Roman borders throughout Romania. Beginning from Sarmizegetusa Street, the path involves going via the Latin passage, stopping by the National History Museum’s Atrium, and then to Sector 6th‘s streets, where participants can engage in a variety of entertaining activities to learn about the Alutan Limes’ fortresses on Valea Oltului Street. The team with the most points at the finish line, which is The Roman Square, will win a whole archaeological site experience.
The goal of this event is to make a favorable impression on the public by serving as a resource of knowledge for people who are unfamiliar with archaeology and inspire history buffs.
(Re)construction of the image of the past. Imagination, interpretation and architecture in contemporary archaeological parks
Zoltán Major, Péter Müllner, Gergely Sági (University of Debrecen, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary)
We are to present our proposal made during the first half of 2022 in collaboration with the Mureş County Museum – Roman Limes Research Centre for the Archaeopark of Călugăreni.
Through our project we want to emphasize the complex relation between the different layers of the site and the importance of an appropriate architecture in the interpretation process of archaeological remains. We must also pay special attention to the controversy caused by the contemporary architecture, especially in historical environments. We deeply believe that the simplicity and sensitivity expressed in a modest contemporary architecture can easily help to understand such an abstract context which archaeological remains are for a non-professional visitor.
Unholy alliance? Archaeology, public and re-enactment in Romania
Fábián István (G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology, Romania)
One of the most interesting and in the same time controversial forms of relationships between community and public history/archaeology is historical reenactment or living history. Whereas in the Western European countries these concepts became part of bringing history “extra muros”, in Romania these concepts are quite vague (and sometimes misinterpreted). The aim of the presentation is to present a few theoretical and practical approaches like experimental archaeology, living history, storytelling and their expected outcomes for archaeological sites and the large public.
From unwanted to guests. Interacting with the local community during the two years of rescue
excavations at Sânpaul / Homoródszentpál
Sidó Katalin (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
In 2020 and 2021 during several months, rescue excavations were undertaken in Sânpaul/ Homoródszentpál in order to construct the sewage system in the village. Under the heart of the modern settlement and on most parts of it the roman military fort and vicus is located, this meant several hundreds of meters of trenches. Our team was, let’s say, not celebrated at all by the local community, with very few exceptions. Since the team stayed there for a longer period, we decided to organize different activities and workshops, so that the community would get acquainted with the roman history of their home. The first was the “Open Day of Archaeology”, when in the garden of the church presentations were held and some of the finds were exhibited. The visitors could also benefit of a tour of the excavations. The second activity was held on the European Day of Archaeology, when the visitors could listen to presentations, children could participate at museum pedagogical activities and see and participate at the military demonstrations of the Milites Marisiensis re-enactment group. As results, the community started to be interested, the Elders Group of the region invited us to hold a presentation, people started to be much more communicative, of which we all benefited.
Festival and festivities. Promoting the archaeological heritage of Călugăreni / Mikháza
Pánczél Szilamér Péter (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
Călugăreni/ Mikháza is a traditional village in Eastern Transylvania. In the 2nd and 3rd century AD, this region was part of the vast defensive system (limes) of the Roman Empire, protecting Dacia’s eastern frontier. Thanks to collaboration between the museum, the local community, and the local and regional authorities, the Călugăreni Archaeological Park was founded in 2015. The park is managed by the Roman Limes Research Centre of the Mureș County Museum with the purpose of protecting and presenting the archaeological site. In the past few years, The Time Box exhibition pavilions, the Compass Bellevue, the Corner points installations were built for the same purpose. Since 2013 the museum organises a Roman Festival and since 2020 a series of public events are taking place at the compound of the Archaeological park.
The case of the young explorers. Archaeology camp at the
Călugăreni / Mikháza Archaeological Park
Szilágyi Orsolya (Mureș County Museum, Romania)
While the Roman Festival and the Night of the Museums are the two biggest and most important events held at the Călugăreni / Mikháza Archaeological Park annually, the need for smaller scaled and longer programs dedicated to the local community arose after the development of the Archaeological Park. Thus came the idea of an archaeology camp for local children, where we could demonstrate why it is so important to protect and research archeological heritage. The first edition of the event in 2020 was only one day long and was more like an open day at the excavation. In the following two years the camp became a week-long program filled with workshops about Roman culture and archaeological field work. The case study at hand might serve as an example on how an on-site, small scale, long duration event can help build a relationship with the younger generations of the local community.