Toward a Safe Archaeology Field School

Abstract

Archaeology field schools provide unique opportunities for firsthand exposure, team-based learning, and pre-professional experience. A participant's decision to pursue a career in archaeology may reflect initial fieldwork group experiences and individual interactions with field school leaders and staff. Today, safety, security, and equity policies along with staff and operational procedures that support them are essential for instructing and inspiring all who wish to experience archaeological fieldwork. Drawing on three decades of field school participation and administration, the author describes specific examples of fieldwork learning contexts as well as insights into operating a safe, secure, and welcoming field school. Conclusions include general guidelines that are applicable and desirable for short-term, season-long, or special skills field schools.

Archaeology in 2021: Repatriation, reclamation, and reckoning with historical trauma

“…These barriers need to be addressed through clear adjustments to archaeological culture, including fieldwork (Davis et al. 2021; Emerson 2021), publication practices (Heath‐Stout 2020), funding and career progression (Overholtzer and Jalbert 2021), and a greater understanding of holistic well‐being within the discipline (Eifling 2021; Klehm, Hildebrand, and Meyers 2021), including making meaningful change to remove barriers and increase accessibility.…”