Bath Spa University, UK / L - P : Archaeology. Email: m.law@bathspa.ac.uk
Cite this as: Law, M. 2019 Beyond Extractive Practice: Bioarchaeology, Geoarchaeology and Human Palaeoecology for the People, Internet Archaeology 53. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.53.6
Too much of the work we might class as environmental archaeology can be characterised as extractive and linear. Samples of interest may be taken from a locality, but the results are seldom shared with people who may have an interest in that locality (beyond the dig director and readers of the subsequent publication), nor is the opportunity given to wider stakeholders to ask questions of the samples and find out about the things that interest them. This article argues that, to borrow the language of sustainability, a more circular and reciprocal approach, founded on wider community engagement, is in our best interest. Results of two surveys are presented. The first asked community archaeology groups in the UK about their experiences with experts in biological remains and archaeological soils and sediments. The second asked some of those very experts about their experiences of community engagement and co-creation, both in the UK and on international projects. Springing from this, an agenda is presented for a more inclusive, and more sustainable, bioarchaeology, geoarchaeology and human palaeoecology.
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