Public Archaeology for the Twenty-First Century

In Public Archaeology for the Twenty-First Century, James F. Brooks and Jeremy M. Moss have collected essays from twenty-seven scholars and community members to illuminate archaeological sites like ancient ＂water courts＂ at Mound Key in Florida, the lost Black cemetery at Nashville Zoo, fur-trade-era Fort Michilimackinac, and Arizona’s Gila Bend Internment Camp. Each case offers readers an experience that enlivens the past while
speaking to the present.

These essays wrestle with key tensions in the fields of public archaeology. What do we mean by ＂public＂? Is this site public facing or public participating? Does ＂public＂ simply imply simplifications in scholarly rigor or does it require more creative attention to methods of analysis and interpretation to render stories sensible for those beyond the academy?

In the broadest sense, these chapters explore the relationship between archaeological practice, the representation of archaeology and history, and our varied publics. This requires not only consultation with varied stakeholders but also collaborative partnerships with descendant communities who have direct connections to the heritage resources we wish to share.

James F. Brooks (Editor)
JAMES F. BROOKS is the Carl and Sally Gable Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He is the author of Captives & Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands and Mesa of Sorrows: A History of the Awat’ovi Massacre. He has also edited several volumes, including Small Worlds: Method, Meaning, and Narrative in Microhistory;Keystone Nations: Indigenous Peoples and Salmon in the North Pacific; and Linking the Histories of Slavery: North American and Its Borderlands. Brooks also serves senior consulting editor of the Public Historian.

Jeremy M. Moss (Editor)
JEREMY M. MOSS is the chief of science and resource stewardship and archaeologist at Pecos National Historical Park in New Mexico. He has worked for the National Park Service for more than twenty years in archaeology, cultural and natural resource management, and historic preservation. This includes stops at Canyonlands NP, Chaco Culture NHP, Glen Canyon NRA, Petroglyphs NM, Saguaro NP, and Tumacacori NHP.