Archaeology Magazine's Interactive Digs
Archaeology magazine is trying something very interesting on its web site this summer. All summer long, editors from the magazine will be conducting "interactive digs," visiting three archaeological sites, and sending back frequent reports to the website all the while. Recently, I had an interview with Mark Rose, Managing Editor at Archaeology, discussing the magazine's intentions.
Mark, what exactly do you mean by "interactive" digs?
Look, we're doing this on a shoestring, so don't come to us looking for lots of video clips showing golden calfs being plucked from the desert sands! What we can provide are bulletin boards, where people can ask the excavators questions from what's being found to living conditions in the field, and frequent updates--notes from the field, student journals, and lots of images. We want to convey the excitement, drudgery, and fine cuisine that make up the field experience.
Who are the departmental participants, and how did you pick them?
The Lott House excavation on our web site worked out so well last year that we decided to expand our horizons. Our webmaster, Amélie Walker, had worked with Belizean archaeologist Jaime Awe at the Maya site known as Baking Pot a few years ago. She heard about Awe's current project on Maya Caves and signed on. Elizabeth Himelfarb, one of our associate editors, hooked up with Martha Joukowsky, a former president of the Archaeological Institute of America who excavates at Petra. In 1997, Kristin Romey worked in Crimea with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and Kiev University's Underwater Research and Training Center. That summer they spotted the wreck of a medieval Italian ship. Excavations began last year, and Kristin, now an associate editor at Archaeology, returns for the second season in late July.
It's a terrific idea to include student input, and the bulletin board seems pretty active. Do you plan to incorporate any of these kinds of information into the magazine article about these projects?
So far we haven't really thought about print versions of any of these. The web is great for this sort of thing, and it may not translate into print. It might work as a sidebar to an article about a project or in an article about excavating rather than a single project.
Hey, Amélie Walker (webmaster for Archaeology magazine) how did you like your extra duties?
Sitting in front of a computer all day, one can forget what we are really writing about here at the magazine. It was nice to be able to get out into the field and really experience a dig again rather than just reading about it. Reporting directly from Belize via the web was the whole point of my trip, but it was a challenge. Not having an internet connection in the jungle, I had to get into town and hooked up to a phone line from time to time--not a normal concern when taking part in an excavation.
Mark, do you see the Archaeology magazine role in this as part of the educational experience for the students? That is, do you think the public archaeology aspects of the work are part of the experience for the students as well?
Archaeologists need to tell the public about archaeology, but how to do that isn't always taught. Using the web is a good way to reach the public, so this is a good opportunity for the students to learn. In this regard Alyssa Loorya and Chris Ricciardi of the Lott House project have done an outstanding job.
Starting this week, enjoy Elizabeth J. Himelfarb's experiences at the Brown University excavations at the Great Temple at Petra. Already on line are Amélie Walker's visit to the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance investigations at Maya cave sites; and last year's excavations at Brooklyn's Eighteenth-century Lott House. Watch later this summer for Kristin Romey's underwater archaeology exploration of an Italian shipwreck with Kiev University.
See ya
next week!
